Serial Port for VSCode
A full-featured serial port tool built right into VS Code: monitor a port's
output live, send and receive data as hex or ASCII, toggle RTS/DTR, run
multiple ports in parallel, log sessions to file, and save/reuse send
templates — all from the Activity Bar, without leaving your editor.
Features
- Live per-port terminal — an interactive terminal for each open port,
color-coded by TX/RX direction, with optional timestamps.
- Hex or ASCII, independently for send and receive.
- Multiple ports open in parallel, each with its own session card:
live config, byte counters, and controls.
- RTS/DTR control per port — handy for boards that reset on a DTR/RTS
edge (e.g. Arduino, ESP8266/ESP32).
- Session logging to file — record a port's traffic to a timestamped
log file in your workspace (or wherever
serialPort.saveLogAt points).
- Reusable send templates — save frequently-sent hex/ASCII payloads and
fire them at any open port with one click.
- Works transparently from WSL — open a WSL-remote VS Code window and
add a physical Windows COM port with zero manual configuration; see
WSL support below.
Getting started
- Open the Serial Port view in the Activity Bar.
- Pick a port from the dropdown and click + to add it as a session.
- Click the session's toggle button to open it — a terminal appears; type
and press Enter to send.
- Expand Default Settings to change baud rate, data bits, parity, stop
bits, or hex send/receive defaults for newly-added sessions. Each
session can also override these while open.
WSL support
If your VS Code window is connected to a WSL remote workspace, this
extension still talks to physical Windows COM ports with no manual
configuration. It declares extensionKind: ["ui"], so VS Code always runs
it on the machine hosting the UI (Windows), while workspace-facing APIs
(vscode.workspace.fs, integrated terminals) are transparently proxied to
the actual WSL workspace. Practically: port I/O happens on Windows, and your
logs/templates land in the WSL filesystem you're working in.
Extension Settings
All settings are under serialPort.* and configurable via the Settings UI,
settings.json, or the panel's own Default Settings section:
| Setting |
Description |
serialPort.defaultBaudRate |
Default baud rate for newly-added ports. |
serialPort.defaultDataBits |
Default data bits (5/6/7/8). |
serialPort.defaultParity |
Default parity (none/even/odd/mark/space). |
serialPort.defaultStopBits |
Default stop bits (1/1.5/2). |
serialPort.defaultHexSend / defaultHexRecv |
Default hex mode for send/receive. |
serialPort.saveLogAt |
Folder for session log files. Supports the ${workspaceFolder} token. |
serialPort.txColor / serialPort.rxColor |
Terminal colors (CSS hex) for sent/received bytes. |
serialPort.sendTemplates |
Reusable send templates (usually managed via the panel UI). |
Requirements
None beyond VS Code itself — the native serial bindings ship inside the
extension.
Known limitations
- RTS/DTR and reset-on-connect behavior varies by board; if your board
resets unexpectedly on open, check its RTS/DTR wiring.
License
MIT — see LICENSE.
Development
npm install
npm run watch # incremental esbuild build
Press F5 in VS Code to launch an Extension Development Host with the
extension loaded — the Serial Port icon appears in the Activity Bar.
npm run lint # eslint
npm test # compiles + runs the extension test suite
npm run package # production bundle (dist/extension.js)
Packaged with @vscode/vsce.
Never commit a Marketplace personal access token; pass it via the
VSCE_PAT environment variable to vsce publish instead.
