stuart

stuart - Simple Terminal UART is a TUI for communicating with serial ports

Features

• Keep Open - Ports are kept open when a device disconnects and automatically reconnect when the device is back
• VT100/ANSI emulation - full color and cursor support
• Local Echo - show typed text for devices that don't return it themselves
• Scrollback buffer - up to 10,000 lines, mouse and keyboard scrolling
• Insert / Control modes - vim-inspired controls
• Line Mode - send every character instantly or a whole line at once
• Config file - configure defaults for interacting with devices in a central config file
• Port Selection - Select available ports and view information about them
• Pause connection - Connection can be paused, freeing the port for flashing firmware or other operations
• Clipboard copy - copy entire scrollback with c
• Flush scrollback - clear the screen with f
• Settings dialogue - baud rate, data bits, stop bits, parity, flow control; changes apply immediately
• Shell completions - bash, zsh, fish, elvish, powershell

Demo

Install

Arch Linux (AUR)

# Binary package
yay -S stuart-bin

# Build from source
yay -S stuart

Cargo

# will install 'stuart' binary
cargo install stuart-cli

Prebuilt binaries

Download from the releases page for Linux, Windows (x86_64) and macOS (aarch64).

Usage

Usage: stuart [OPTIONS] [PORT]

Arguments:
  [PORT]  Serial port to open

Serial Settings:
  -b, --baud <BAUDRATE>      Baud rate
  -d, --data-bits <BITS>     Data bits [possible values: 5, 6, 7, 8]
  -s, --stop-bits <BITS>     Stop bits [possible values: 1, 2]
  -p, --parity <PARITY>      Parity [possible values: none, even, odd]
  -f, --flow-control <FLOW>  Flow control [possible values: none, software, hardware]

Behavior:
  -e, --local-echo
          Echo typed characters locally (for devices that don't echo)
      --input-mode <MODE>
          Send every character instantly or a whole line at once [possible values: direct, line]
      --outgoing-newline <NEWLINE_ENCODING>
          Encoding to send to the device when pressing Enter [possible values: cr, lf, crlf]
      --incoming-newline <NEWLINE_ENCODING>
          Newline encoding expected from the device [possible values: cr, lf, crlf]
      --no-lock
          Don't lock the port
  -k, --keep-open
          Keep terminal open and reconnect if the device disconnects [default]
      --no-keep-open
          Exit to port select when device disconnects

Extra:
      --create-config        Write a default config file
      --completions <SHELL>  Generate shell completions [possible values: bash, elvish, fish, powershell, zsh]

Options:
  -h, --help     Print help
  -V, --version  Print version

Examples:

# open port selection screen
stuart

# connect directly
stuart /dev/ttyACM0

# connect at 9600 baud
stuart /dev/ttyUSB0 -b 9600
stuart -b 9600 /dev/ttyUSB0

Key Bindings

Port Selection

Key	Action
↑ / ↓ / j / k	Navigate
Enter	Open port
s	Settings
r	Refresh port list
q	Quit

Terminal - Control Mode

Enter control mode with Ctrl+Esc or Ctrl+Space.

Note

For Ctrl+Esc to work, your terminal emulator has to support the kitty keyboard protocol, which most modern emulators do. If not, only Ctrl+Space will work.

Key	Action
a / i	Enter insert mode
↑ / ↓ / j / k	Scroll
esc	Scroll to bottom
f	Flush screen
c	Copy scrollback to clipboard
+ / -	Cycle baud rate
p	Pause port
s	Settings
del	Disconnect → port select
q	Quit

Terminal - Insert Mode

All keypresses are forwarded to the device. Press Ctrl+Esc to return to control mode.

Settings

Key	Action
↑ / ↓	Navigate
← / →	Cycle value
Enter	Edit baud rate (type custom value)
Esc	Close

Building from Source

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/stuart
cd stuart
cargo build --release
# binary at target/release/stuart

Configuration

Use the --create-config argument to create a new default configuration. Priority order of connfiguration values is: Application Defaults -> Config file -> CLI arguments, with CLI arguments having the highest priority.

Shell Completions

# zsh
stuart --completions zsh > ~/.zfunc/_stuart

# bash
stuart --completions bash > /etc/bash_completion.d/stuart

# fish
stuart --completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/stuart.fish

# elvish and powershell also supported

Contributing

Contributions are welcome, but make sure to file an issue first to discuss features and implementation.