The snark in these comments! @geotp please don't be put off, this is great work.

Found it in recent days and couldn't have been better timing for what I needed to do.

I have it running well on a Heltec WiFi LoRa 32(V3) with very minor patches to support the CP2102 UART.

ESP32 Bit Pirate is an open-source firmware that transforms compatible devices into versatile multi-protocol hacking tools, inspired by the original Bus Pirate.

It can sniff, send, script, and interact with digital protocols such as I2C, UART, SPI, and 1-Wire through either a Serial CLI or a Web CLI. It also supports wireless technologies including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Sub-GHz, and RFID.

Install the firmware in one click with the ESP32 Bit Pirate Web Flasher. The Wiki provides detailed guides for every mode and command, while ESP32 Bit Pirate Scripts offers a collection of ready-to-use examples and utilities.

For additional hardware capabilities, the ESP32 Bus Expander adds extra radio interfaces, while the ESP32 Bit Pirate Dock provides compatibility with original Bus Pirate adapters and accessories.

@geotp Ignore a lot of the mean comments, this is an excellent project and something that I've being meaning to hack together for myself. Having web access to remotely debug I2C/UART is a literal godsend. I cannot wait to just drop in an ESP32 instead of having to connect a rats nest of wires.

I have an old v3.6 from Dangerous Prototypes that I still frequently use and works fine with a coding assistant over serial terminal for doing some wire-level debugging of firmware. I am definitely not interested in paying the Pi tax for a new one just to get improved scripting. The roughly $100 BP v6 price point means looking into a other analyzers is required. How does this ESP firmware really compare - can anyone who's used both say what's different other than wireless?

This is super cool, I love the idea of just having a $5 wifi UART

This looks great! The Bus Pirate was quite a good tool. For hardware hacking there is also Glasgow Interface Explorer, which I've been using recently with AI with much success.

The main difference is that Glasgow has an FPGA on-board, and you (or AI) can create applets for custom protocols and serious high-speed hacking.

Great!

I'd like to use as a serial-over-wifi adapter, for remote management of my SBCs.

Can anyone suggest a decent device for this, that relies on no soldering or 3d printing?

Ideally the device would expose a serial-over-USB port, so I can just plug in a USB-UART adapter.

Which supported boards will do 5V I/O?

This is actually really cool - I could have used something like this that supports looking for RTMP as well a couple months ago.

@geotp

Any reason why C1 is not supported?

It looks interesting, was it tested on T7 S3 ESP32-S3 Development Board?

compatible with Cardputer?

I’m curious about how you used LLMs here?

Also, to what extent you designed this vs the LLM copying it?

My concern is all these vibe coded projects with huge readmes and fake GitHub stars are essentially just copying the work of others, and don’t really do anything new.

The snark in these comments! @geotp please don't be put off, this is great work.

Found it in recent days and couldn't have been better timing for what I needed to do.

I have it running well on a Heltec WiFi LoRa 32(V3) with very minor patches to support the CP2102 UART.

True! Also a perfect timing for me.

Do you mind sharing the changes?

Thanks for your support

If you want, you can push the platformio env for your specific board to add it to the list of supported boards

This is super cool, I love the idea of just having a $5 wifi UART

This looks great! The Bus Pirate was quite a good tool. For hardware hacking there is also Glasgow Interface Explorer, which I've been using recently with AI with much success.

The main difference is that Glasgow has an FPGA on-board, and you (or AI) can create applets for custom protocols and serious high-speed hacking.

This is actually really cool - I could have used something like this that supports looking for RTMP as well a couple months ago.

ESP32 Bit Pirate is an open-source firmware that transforms compatible devices into versatile multi-protocol hacking tools, inspired by the original Bus Pirate.

For additional hardware capabilities, the ESP32 Bus Expander adds extra radio interfaces, while the ESP32 Bit Pirate Dock provides compatibility with original Bus Pirate adapters and accessories.

The two projects have fairly different directions, even though they overlap on most core wired protocol features.

The original Bus Pirate relies heavily on a more complex bytecode-style syntax for many lowlevel operations. The ESP32 version replaces most of that with simple, explicit commands that perform the same tasks through a more straightforward workflow

The ESP32 version also avoids flag heavy commands and uses interactive shells where appropriate. Its main additional strength is radio support not present on the original Bus Pirate, including WiFi, RFID/NFC, SubGHz, NRF24, FM, infrared, and Bluetooth.

It can also be controlled through the Web CLI from any phone, tablet, or device with a web browser, using integrated AI assistant to help with hardware task.

So it is not simply a cheaper Bus Pirate v6 clone

The BP V5 is only $42.50 and is still the most popular model, and is actively developed and supported. The BP6 has some fancier features that make it more expensive, but the Bus Pirate folks are very price sensitive and want to keep the tool as accessible as possible. (source: I'm a distributor for them).

Great!

I'd like to use as a serial-over-wifi adapter, for remote management of my SBCs.

Can anyone suggest a decent device for this, that relies on no soldering or 3d printing?

Ideally the device would expose a serial-over-USB port, so I can just plug in a USB-UART adapter.

Which supported boards will do 5V I/O?

It looks interesting, was it tested on T7 S3 ESP32-S3 Development Board?

The firmware can already be used as a serial over WiFi adapter through the Web CLI.

You do not need to connect a separate USB-UART adapter to it: simply connect the ESP32S3 UART pins directly to the board’s TX, RX, and GND pins.

Any ESP32S3 board could do it, see README for different types of supported devices

Ah, I see the M5 AtomS3 Lite has a grove, which is probably robust enough for me.

Great!

Thanks for the support

https://github.com/AndreiVladescu/ESP32-Bit-Pirate-Dock

It supports voltages from 1.8 V to 5 V when used with the dock

I don't think there's any common 5V esp32 boards. You should be able to wire up some level shifters to connect it to 5V (or a range of other voltages). Sparkfun sells boards with a TXS0108E on it as well as simpler transistor based ones.

It works on all ESP32S3 boards with at least 8 MB of flash. Check the README for more details

@geotp

Any reason why C1 is not supported?

What do you mean by C1? Do you mean the ESP32-C3 or C5? If so, they are not supported mainly for performance and hardware capability reasons

compatible with Cardputer?

Yes, it is compatible with both Cardputer models and many other devices, including the $5 ESP32S3 clone

True! Also a perfect timing for me.

Do you mind sharing the changes?

I’m curious about how you used LLMs here?

Also, to what extent you designed this vs the LLM copying it?

My concern is all these vibe coded projects with huge readmes and fake GitHub stars are essentially just copying the work of others, and don’t really do anything new.

You can see in the git commit log how it has progressed slowly over a period of one year to get here.

So at least it is not a weekend vibe coded AI slop.

I’m not sure I fully understand the question.

The implementation is entirely new and was built specifically for this project, it is not copied from another project. LLMs were used as development tools, but the architecture, feature selection, integration, testing, and overall direction were designed and validated by contributors and me.

Thanks for your support

If you want, you can push the platformio env for your specific board to add it to the list of supported boards

Happy to PR. I'll do in 2 parts, as needs the platformio env as well as UART-aware serial init in adapters and terminal.

+1 for V3 support, and if there's anything I can do to help with V4 support, let me know. I've not got the most free time, but would be happy to contribute if possible.

The two projects have fairly different directions, even though they overlap on most core wired protocol features.

It can also be controlled through the Web CLI from any phone, tablet, or device with a web browser, using integrated AI assistant to help with hardware task.

So it is not simply a cheaper Bus Pirate v6 clone

One thing in BP v6's favor is the RP2350 - which can be put into operation as a "data-cap analyser for GPIO" - true - but it can also be programmed for use as a full protocol tap for embedded projects which will also integrate the RP2350, or something like it, in an embedded design.

The ESP32 is great - I will get a couple for my toolbox, sitting alongside my own ancient Bus Pirate and things - but the RP2350 is a bit more BOM-friendly, imho. All of these things can be used to bring-up an embedded system - I'd really want to use the BP v6 to bring up an embedded system with an IO package I could emulate/integrate with the RP2350 on both sides of the design ..

Due to this obviously AI-generated response (thus codebase) - I'll pass.

The firmware can already be used as a serial over WiFi adapter through the Web CLI.

You do not need to connect a separate USB-UART adapter to it: simply connect the ESP32S3 UART pins directly to the board’s TX, RX, and GND pins.

Any ESP32S3 board could do it, see README for different types of supported devices

Yes, it is compatible with both Cardputer models and many other devices, including the $5 ESP32S3 clone

I’m not sure I fully understand the question.

Ah, I see the M5 AtomS3 Lite has a grove, which is probably robust enough for me.

Great!

Thanks for the support

https://github.com/AndreiVladescu/ESP32-Bit-Pirate-Dock

It supports voltages from 1.8 V to 5 V when used with the dock

It works on all ESP32S3 boards with at least 8 MB of flash. Check the README for more details

Happy to PR. I'll do in 2 parts, as needs the platformio env as well as UART-aware serial init in adapters and terminal.

+1 for V3 support, and if there's anything I can do to help with V4 support, let me know. I've not got the most free time, but would be happy to contribute if possible.

What do you mean by C1? Do you mean the ESP32-C3 or C5? If so, they are not supported mainly for performance and hardware capability reasons

You can see in the git commit log how it has progressed slowly over a period of one year to get here.

So at least it is not a weekend vibe coded AI slop.

Not sure 600,000 commits by one person in a year, most concentrated in a few months over the year, counts as “slowly”.

Due to this obviously AI-generated response (thus codebase) - I'll pass.

I’m French and my English isn’t very good, so please excuse me for using a translator. Feel free to take a look at the codebase

ESP32 Bit Pirate

Logo banner of the ESP32 Bit Pirate firmware

ESP32 Bit Pirate is an open-source firmware that turns your device into a multi-protocol hacker's tool, inspired by the legendary Bus Pirate.

It supports sniffing, sending, scripting, and interacting with various digital protocols (I2C, UART, 1-Wire, SPI, etc.) via a serial terminal or web-based CLI. It also communicates with radio protocols like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Sub-GHz and RFID.

Use the ESP32 Bit Pirate Web Flasher to install the firmware in one click. See the Wiki for step-by-step guides on every mode and command. Check ESP32 Bit Pirate Scripts for a collection of scripts.

For hardware extensions, see the ESP32 Bus Expander for additional radio interfaces, and the ESP32 Bit Pirate Dock to use original Bus Pirate adapters and accessories.

Demo showing the different mode of the ESP32 Bit Pirate firmware Demo showing the LittleFS file system of the ESP32 Bit Pirate firmware

Features

Interactive command-line interface (CLI) via USB Serial or WiFi Web.
Modes for:
- HiZ (default)
- I2C (scan, glitch, slave mode, dump, eeprom)
- SPI (eeprom, flash, sdcard, slave mode)
- UART / Half-Duplex UART (bridge, read, write)
- 1WIRE (ibutton, eeprom)
- 2WIRE (sniff, smartcard) / 3WIRE (eeprom)
- DIO (Digital I/O, read, pullup, set, pwm)
- Infrared (send, record, universal remote)
- USB (HID, flashrom, storage, usb-uart)
- Bluetooth (BLE HID, scan, spoofing, sniffing)
- Wi-Fi / Ethernet (sniff, deauth, nmap, netcat)
- JTAG (scan, SWD, openOCD)
- LED (animations, set LEDs)
- I2S (test speakers, mic, play sound)
- CAN (sniff, send and receive frames)
- SUBGHZ (analyze, record, replay)
- RFID (read, write, clone)
- RF24 (scan, send, receive)
- FM (analyze, broadcast)
- CELL (dump sim card, sms, call)
Protocol sniffers I2C, UART, SPI, 1Wire, 2wire, CAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, SubGhz.
Baudrate auto-detection, AT commands and various tools for UART.
Registers manipulation, EEPROM dump tools, identify devices for I2C.
Read all sort of EEPROM, Flash and various others tools for SPI.
Scripting using Bus Pirate-style bytecode instructions or Python.
Device-B-Gone command with more than 80 supported INFRARED protocols.
Direct I/O management, PWM, servo, GPIOs state.
Analyze radio signals and frequencies on every bands.
Near than 50 addressable LEDs protocols supported.
Ethernet and WiFi are supported to access networks.
Import and export data with the LittleFS over HTTP.
Pirate assistant to help you with the firmware.
USB-Uart dongle, SPI programmer, logic analyzer and more.

Supported Devices

Device		Description
ESP32 S3 Dev Kit		More than 20 available GPIO, 1 button
M5 Cardputer		2 GPIO (Grove), screen, keyboard, mic, speaker, IR TX, SD card, battery, standalone mode
M5 Cardputer ADV		12 GPIO (Grove, Header), screen, keyboard, mic, speaker, IR TX, SD card, IMU, battery, standalone mode
M5 Stick S3		13 GPIO (Grove, Header), screen, mic, speaker, IR TX, IR RX, IMU, 3 buttons, battery
M5 StampS3		9 GPIO (exposed pins), 1 button
M5 AtomS3 Lite		8 GPIO (Grove, Header), IR TX, 1 buttton
LILYGO T-Display		13 GPIO (1 Qwicc), screen, 2 buttons
LILYGO T-Embed		9 GPIO (Grove, Header), screen, encoder, speaker, mic, SD card
LILYGO T-Embed CC1101		4 GPIO (2x Qwiic), screen, encoder, speaker, mic, SD Card, CC1101, PN532, IR TX, IR RX , battery
LILYGO T-Embed CC1101 Plus		4 GPIO (2x Qwiic), screen, encoder, speaker, mic, SD Card, CC1101, NRF24, PN532, IR TX, IR RX , battery
Seeed Studio Xiao S3		9 GPIO (exposed pins), 1 button

Other ESP32-S3-based Boards
- All boards based on the ESP32-S3 can be supported, provided they have at least 8 MB of flash.
- You can flash the s3 dev-kit firmware onto any ESP32-S3 board.
- Keep in mind that the default pin mapping in the firmware may not match your specific board.

Getting Started

🔧 Flash the firmware
- Use the ESP32 Bit Pirate Web Flasher to burn the firmware directly from a web browser.
- You can also burn it on M5Burner, in the StickS3, AtomS3, M5StampS3 or Cardputer category.
🔌 Connect via Serial or Web
- Serial: any terminal app (see Connect via Serial)
- Web: configure Wi-Fi and access the CLI via browser (see Wi-Fi Connection)
🧪 Use commands like:
```
mode
help
scan
sniff
...
```

Wiki

📚 Visit the Wiki for detailed documentation on every mode and command.

Includes:

Terminal mode - About serial and web terminal.
Mode overviews - Browse supported modes.
Serial setup - Serial access via USB.

The wiki is the best place to learn how everything works.

Scripting

🛠️ Automate interactions with the ESP32 Bit Pirate using Python scripts over serial.

Examples and ready-to-use scripts are available in the repository: ESP32 Bit Pirate Scripts.

Including: Logging data in a file, eeprom and flash dump, interracting with GPIOs, LED animation...

Expander

🔌 Expand the capabilities of the ESP32 Bit Pirate with additional hardware modules. The Expander adds support for the WiFi 5 GhZ or other radio protocols.

A Cardputer connected to an expander C5

Dock

🔧 A docking station for the ESP32 S3 DevKit designed to work with original Bus Pirate adapters.
It allows you to plug and use the original Bus Pirate ecosystem of adapters and accessories.

The ESP32 Bit Pirate dock board

(Coming soon)

Command-Line Interfaces

The ESP32 Bit Pirate firmware provides three command-line interface (CLI) modes:

Interface	Advantages	Ideal for...
Web Interface	- Accessible from any browser - PC, tablets, mobiles - Works over Wi-Fi - No cables needed	Quick tests, demos, headless setups
Serial Interface	- Faster performance - Instant responsiveness - Handles large data smoothly	Intensive sessions, frequent interactions
Standalone	- Only for the Cardputer - On device keyboard - On device screen	Portable sessions, Quick tests

All interfaces share the same command structure and can be used interchangeably (more details).

Mobile Web Interface over WiFi

An iPhone screenshot showing the Bit Pirate firmware web interface

Standalone Mode for the Cardputer

A Cardputer running the ESP32 Bit Pirate in standalone mode

Using the ESP32 Bit Pirate to speak UART over WiFi

A demo Using the ESP32 Bit Pirate firmware with UART

Contribute

See How To Contribute section, which outlines a simple way to add a new command to any mode.

Visuals Assets

See images, logo, presentations, photo, video, illustrations. These visuals can be freely used in blog posts, documentation, videos, or articles to help explain and promote the firmware.

Warning

⚠️ Voltage Warning: Devices should only operate at 3.3V or 5V.

Do not connect peripherals using other voltage levels — doing so may damage your ESP32.

⚠️ Usage Warning: This firmware is provided for educational, diagnostic, and interoperability testing purposes only.

Do not use it to interfere with, probe, or manipulate devices without proper authorization.

Avoid any unauthorized RF transmissions (e.g., sub-GHz) that could violate local regulations or disrupt networks and communications.

The authors are not responsible for any misuse of this software or hardware, including legal consequences resulting from unauthorized access or signal emission.

Always stay within the bounds of your country’s laws and responsible disclosure policies.

Not sure 600,000 commits by one person in a year, most concentrated in a few months over the year, counts as “slowly”.

Where do you see 600k commits? Are you talking about 600k lines of code? If so, the project includes libraries in the `lib` folder, notably a large screen library called `tft_espi` which must be 500k lines on its own (which has since been removed, that's why you see -500k lines)

I know the codebase inside and out, feel free to ask

There are 1300 commits. What is everyone smoking today?

I’m French and my English isn’t very good, so please excuse me for using a translator. Feel free to take a look at the codebase

Ok! Sorry, the translation is kinda rough and seems rigid and robotic.

I know the codebase inside and out, feel free to ask

There are 1300 commits. What is everyone smoking today?

Ok! Sorry, the translation is kinda rough and seems rigid and robotic.

Hacker Times

Hacker Times

ESP32 Bit Pirate, a Hardware Hacking Tool with WebCLI That Speaks Every Protocol

Discussion

Discussion

ESP32 Bit Pirate

Features

Supported Devices

Getting Started

Wiki

Scripting

Expander

Dock

Command-Line Interfaces

Mobile Web Interface over WiFi

Standalone Mode for the Cardputer

Using the ESP32 Bit Pirate to speak UART over WiFi

Contribute

Visuals Assets

Warning