Awesome Web Serial

Awesome resources for serial communication using the browser. Includes these very awesome APIs: Web Serial, Web Bluetooth, Web USB, Web HID, Web MIDI, Sensor, and Gamepad.

Contents

• Code utilities
• Documentation / Implementation / Tutorials
• Demos
  • Terminals
• Applications
• Compatible Devices

Code utilities

• fromWebSerial - RxJS Ninja utility function that returns the serial read data as an Observable, and can also receive an Observable to use as a write stream.

Documentation / Implementation / Tutorials

• MDN Official Documentation - includes a deep dive into the API, example code, browser support, and other helpful links.
• Google Codelab Getting Started with Web Serial - Easy to follow starter project for use with the BBC micro:bit.
• web.dev tutorial - goes into detail about various aspects of the API, includes details about signals and streams.

Demos

• Custom controller and music game using Web Serial - A kind of proof of concept of building a gaming system using just a few components, a microcontroller, and the Web Serial API (along with 2D canvas and Web Audio).
• Web Serial API Example Project - A slightly more advanced "hello world" with a live demo (requires a serial device running the project's micropython code). Utilises 2 variable resistor values controlling 2 Web Audio API oscillators.

Terminals

• PWA serial terminal - Offline-capable serial terminal by Google Chrome Labs to demonstrate Web Serial API.
• Windows XP -inspired web serial controller - Fun demonstration of a serial communication tool that resembles the UI of the Windows XP desktop.

Applications

• Kaluma IDE - Browser-based IDE for a JavaScript runtime for the RP2040 that loads code onto the chip via Web Serial.
• Piper MAKE - Educational platform that uses a Blockly-like visual programming tool to write code and load it onto a Raspberry Pi Pico from the browser. Also, has a novel use of the File System Access API.
• Adafruit ESP bootloader flashing tool - "WebSerial ESPTool designed to be a web-capable option for programming ESP32-S2 boards". There's also a tutorial and the code is available on Github.
• Espruino IDE - An entire web-based IDE for programming the Espruino range of boards. Includes built-in tutorials, guides, and the IDE even has auto-complete.

Compatible Devices

• BBC micro:bit - Educational microcontroller with tonnes of peripherals and lots of kid-friendly programming tools and projects, many based in the browser.
• Raspberry Pi Pico - ARM-based, cheap, microcontroller that can be programmed with Arduino C, Micropython, Circuitpython, and has serial available via its built-in USB port.
• Arduino Uno - Entry-level microcontroller that can be used for web serial projects.