In the pic below you can see I have basically temporarily mimicked a "NodeMCU" using an FTDI so I can flash it.
I can find no reliable info on flashing the 12-F with AT commands that has an SDK I can download thats modern... everything seems to be gated behind google drive access requests and random things like that. Any pointers would be much appreciated.
This is my setup:

I plan to use the 12-F as a shield of sorts attached to a Mega2560 so I have all the pins I need for a project im building.