Then she remembered the lab rumor: Proteus 8.9 and above had ESP32 models in the "Proton" section. She upgraded to Proteus 9.0. There it was: "ESP32-WROOM-32" — a fully simulation-ready model with WiFi, GPIO, and even dual-core emulation.
Serial communication is critical for debugging. Proteus has a (VIRTUAL TERMINAL) that acts as a serial monitor. proteus esp32 simulation