The chip is highly integrated. You may need a breakout board (like NodeMCU), or simply deadbug it, in order to flash it. You can do it with arduino if you alrea

The chip is highly integrated. You may need a breakout board (like NodeMCU), or simply deadbug it, in order to flash it. You can do it with arduino if you already have one, but a simple standalone FTDI USB-to-serial stick would be sufficient. Then the module itself can run with very little external stuff - just power it with 3.3v, there are multiple options of doing so (but forget about a transformerless AC source, this thing eats up to 500mA). You may also want a simple debounced reset button, and that's it.