ComChan (Communication Channel)

A Blazingly Fast Serial Monitor for Embedded Systems and Serial Communication

Features • Installation • Documentation • Examples • Contributing

Table of Contents

ComChan (Communication Channel)
Examples
Feedback Form
OSCG Guidelines
- Contributor Guidelines
- Mentor Guidelines
Stargazers over time (Graph)

Installation

Choose your preferred installation method:

From crates.io

[!NOTE] The easiest way to install ComChan is via cargo install

# Install from source
cargo install comchan

# Install the binary directly (faster)
cargo binstall comchan

Verify the installation:

comchan --version

From AUR

For Arch Linux users, ComChan is available in the AUR (thanks to orhun!):

# Using yay
yay -S comchan

# Using paru
paru -S comchan

Using Homebrew

ComChan can be installed via Homebrew taps:

brew install Vaishnav-Sabari-Girish/taps/comchan

From source

Build from source for the latest development version:

# Clone from GitHub
git clone git@github.com:Vaishnav-Sabari-Girish/ComChan.git

# Or clone from Codeberg
git clone ssh://git@codeberg.org/Vaishnav-Sabari-Girish/ComChan.git

# Build and run
cd ComChan
cargo build --release
cargo run

Documentation

📚 The full documentation for ComChan can be found at vaishnav.world/ComChan

Common Commands

Basic Serial Monitor

Monitor serial output from your device:

comchan -p <port> -r <baud_rate>
# OR
comchan --port <port> --baud <baud_rate>

Example:

comchan -p /dev/ttyUSB0 -r 9600

Verbose Mode

Get detailed information about the serial connection:

comchan -p <port> -r <baud_rate> -v
# OR
comchan --port <port> --baud <baud_rate> --verbose

Log Mode

Save serial output to a log file:

comchan -p <port> -r <baud_rate> -l <log_file_name>
# OR
comchan --port <port> --baud <baud_rate> --log <log_file_name>

📄 View example log file

Serial Plotter

Visualize sensor data in real-time:

comchan --port <port> --baud <baud_rate> --plot
# OR
comchan -p <port> -r <baud_rate> --plot

Automatically Detect Serial Ports

Let ComChan find your serial device automatically:

# With default baud rate (9600)
comchan --auto

# With custom baud rate
comchan --auto --baud <baud_rate>
# OR
comchan --auto -r <baud_rate>

Example:

comchan --auto --baud 115200

Use a Configuration File

Starting from version 0.1.9, you can use a configuration file instead of command-line flags:

# Generate default configuration file
comchan --generate-config

This creates a config file at ~/.config/comchan/comchan.toml

Example Configuration:

# ComChan Configuration File
#
# This file contains default settings for comchan serial monitor.
# Command line arguments will override these settings.
#
# To use auto-detection, set port = "auto"
# Available parity options: "none", "odd", "even"
# Available flow control options: "none", "software", "hardware"

port = "auto"
baud = 9600
data_bits = 8
stop_bits = 1
parity = "none"
flow_control = "none"
timeout_ms = 500
reset_delay_ms = 1000
verbose = false
plot = false
plot_points = 100

[!NOTE] The default baud rate is 9600. You can customize it in the config file or override it with command-line flags (--auto, --port/-p, --baud/-r, --plot).

Features

Current Features ✅

Read Serial Data - Monitor incoming serial data from any serial port
Write to Serial Port - Send data to your serial device
Basic Logging - Save serial output to log files
Auto-Detect Serial Ports - Automatically find connected serial devices
Configuration Files - Use .toml files instead of command-line flags
Terminal-Based Serial Plotter - Visualize data in real-time with the --plot flag
Multiple Sensor Plotting - Plot multiple sensor values simultaneously with legends