ESP32-C3 USB-C Connection - Do I need a USB-UART bridge?

[prestondavid]

I'm currently working on my own personal development board for ESP32-C3.

It needs a USB-C charging port that will charge a battery, but also be able to deploy code onto the esp32. I saw that there are two pins in the documentation that are D+ and D- (IO pins 19 and 18 for the WROOM). Since USB-C has D+ and D- pins, I'm wondering if I can just plug those directly into 19 and 18?

I've seems some tutorials where a UART bridge is made, but is that necessary?

[Sprite]

It needs a USB-C charging port that will charge a battery, but also be able to deploy code onto the esp32. I saw that there are two pins in the documentation that are D+ and D- (IO pins 19 and 18 for the WROOM). Since USB-C has D+ and D- pins, I'm wondering if I can just plug those directly into 19 and 18?

Yes, you can. Some commercial boards (e.g. the ESP32C3-SuperMini series) do that as well.

I've seems some tutorials where a UART bridge is made, but is that necessary?

Sometimes. On the C3, it's mostly when you need to debug deep sleep and other low power stuff, as the USB controller generally shuts down in deep sleep.