openbricks-dev 0.9.2

Host-side CLI for the openbricks MicroPython firmware — flash, list, run, download, and stop code on an openbricks hub over BLE.

openbricks-dev

Host-side CLI for openbricks hubs — the same UX as pybricks-dev, built on commodity Python tooling (bleak, esptool, mpremote). One tool for flashing, scanning, and (coming) running code over BLE.

Install

Recommended — with pipx so the CLI lands in an isolated venv and avoids the "externally managed environment" error on modern macOS / Linux distros:

pipx install openbricks-dev

Plain pip works too:

pip install openbricks-dev

For development against a repo checkout (editable install):

pipx install --editable tools/openbricks-dev    # or: pip install -e tools/openbricks-dev

Any install path pulls in bleak (cross-platform BLE), esptool, and mpremote.

Commands

flash — program a hub

openbricks-dev flash \
    --name RobotA \
    --port /dev/tty.usbserial-XXXX \
    --firmware native/micropython/ports/esp32/build-openbricks_esp32s3/firmware.bin

Writes the firmware image and bakes the hub's BLE advertising name into NVS. --name is mandatory: two hubs with the same name can't be individually addressed over BLE.

Port syntax: /dev/ttyUSB0 (Linux), /dev/cu.usbserial-* (macOS), COM5 (Windows).

Useful flags: --chip esp32s3, --baud 921600, --skip-erase (faster dev loop, keeps stale NVS).

list — scan for hubs

openbricks-dev list [--timeout 5.0] [--all]

Runs a BLE scan and prints every named device found, sorted by RSSI (strongest first). --all includes unnamed devices too.

run — stage and launch; button stops it; client exits on stop

openbricks-dev run -n RobotA examples/hello.py

Stages the script to /program.py (same target as download) and triggers the hub's launcher to execute it immediately. Output streams back to your terminal in real time.

• Button stop. Pressing the hub button while the program runs raises KeyboardInterrupt via the same launcher path download+button uses. The client sees the clean "stopped by button press" line and exits.
• Program completion. When the program finishes (or raises), the client disconnects and exits — same as pybricks-dev run.
• Script persists. Because run stages to /program.py, the hub can re-run the last program via a button press without another upload. download and run differ only in whether the client auto-launches after upload.

Stderr (e.g. exception tracebacks) arrives after stdout and is surfaced with a blank-line separator. No paste-mode === echo — raw-paste mode is clean.

stop — interrupt the running program

openbricks-dev stop -n RobotA

Sends a single Ctrl-C byte over the NUS REPL bridge, which MicroPython surfaces as KeyboardInterrupt. Useful when openbricks-dev run has already exited but the hub's still chewing on a long-running user program.

download — stage a script; hub button launches it

openbricks-dev download -n RobotA examples/wander.py

Writes the script to /program.py on the hub. The code does not run automatically. Place your robot, press the program button (GPIO 4), and the program starts. Press again to stop it mid-run — same UX as Pybricks Prime-hub pybricksdev download.

This works because the firmware ships a frozen main.py that:

1. Brings BLE + REPL bridge up immediately (so openbricks-dev run / download / stop are always reachable, even when no program is running).
2. Instantiates the board's Hub, which wires the BLE-toggle button (short-press on GPIO 5) with LED feedback.
3. Watches the program button (GPIO 4) via openbricks.launcher.run() — a short-press runs /program.py, a second short-press raises KeyboardInterrupt in the running program.

Two separate pins (4 for program, 5 for BLE toggle), each handled by short-press only — no duration-based dispatch.

Pass --path /alt.py to stage at a different filename (if you've written your own main.py that reads from there).

Tests

cd tools/openbricks-dev
PYTHONPATH=. python -m unittest discover -s tests -t .

No real hardware needed — esptool, mpremote, and bleak are mocked.