benchci 0.1.0

Continuous Integration for Embedded Hardware

BenchCI

Run hardware-in-the-loop tests on real embedded devices — locally or in CI.

BenchCI is a lightweight test runner for embedded systems that lets you define hardware tests declaratively and execute them against real devices using UART, Modbus, and GPIO.

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⚡ Why BenchCI?

Testing embedded firmware usually looks like this:

• Flash firmware manually
• Open serial terminal
• Send commands
• Watch logs
• Write ad-hoc scripts
• Repeat for every release

👉 This does not scale.

BenchCI turns this into a repeatable, automated, CI-ready workflow.

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🧠 What BenchCI Does

BenchCI connects your CI pipeline directly to real hardware and allows you to:

• Flash firmware automatically
• Interact with devices over UART, Modbus RTU/TCP
• Control and monitor GPIO lines
• Validate behavior with structured test steps
• Generate reproducible test artifacts

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🏗️ How It Works

CI Pipeline / Developer
        │
        ▼
   benchci run
        │
        ▼
   BenchCI Agent
        │
        ▼
   Hardware Device

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🧰 CLI Workflow

BenchCI provides built-in tools to help you validate your setup:

• benchci doctor — check system dependencies
• benchci validate — validate configuration files
• benchci login — authenticate with BenchCI services

These commands help ensure reliable execution before running tests.

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🚀 Example (30 seconds)

Define your test suite:

name: firmware_tests

tests:

  - name: boot_ok
    steps:
      - expect_uart:
          contains: "[BOOT] OK"
          within_ms: 3000

  - name: ping
    steps:
      - send_uart: "PING\n"
      - expect_uart:
          contains: "PONG"
          within_ms: 1000

Run it:

benchci run -b board.yaml -s suite.yaml -a build/fw.elf

BenchCI will:

• flash firmware
• reset the device
• execute tests
• validate responses
• store logs and results

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🔌 Supported Interfaces

BenchCI is designed for real hardware interaction:

• UART communication
• Modbus RTU
• Modbus TCP
• Linux GPIO (input, output, edge detection)

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📦 Output Artifacts

Each run produces structured results:

benchci-results/
├── transport.log
├── flash.log
├── gpio.log
└── results.json

Perfect for CI pipelines and debugging.

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🔄 CI Integration

BenchCI is built for automation:

• GitLab CI support (example included)
• Works with any CI runner connected to hardware
• Agent-based execution for remote benches

See: examples/ci/gitlab

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📚 Documentation

Full documentation:

👉 https://docs.benchci.dev

Key topics:

• Quickstart
• Installation
• Board configuration
• Test suite definition
• CI integration
• Architecture

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📌 Repository Contents

This repository contains:

• documentation
• configuration examples
• CI integration examples
• helper tools

BenchCI source code is maintained in a private repository.

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💼 License

BenchCI is a commercial product.

To request access:

📧 [e-mail]