Add built-in serial port connection support

[CylAlon]

Pre-submit Checks

• I have searched Warp feature requests and there are no duplicates
• I have searched Warp docs and my feature is not there

Describe the solution you'd like?

Feature request: Built-in serial port connection support

Description

I would like Warp to support connecting to serial ports directly, similar to how a terminal connects to SSH or local shells.

This is a common workflow for embedded development. Many embedded devices, development boards, gateways, sensors, and MCU-based products output logs or accept commands through UART/serial interfaces. Developers often need to open a serial console to view boot logs, debug firmware, send AT commands, configure devices, or monitor runtime output.

Currently, this usually requires using external tools such as screen, minicom, picocom, or vendor-specific serial tools. It would be very useful if Warp could provide a native serial connection experience.

Proposed functionality

Warp could allow users to:

• Select an available serial port, such as /dev/tty.usbserial-*, /dev/tty.usbmodem-*, or COM ports on Windows
• Configure baud rate, data bits, parity, stop bits, and flow control
• Open the serial session in a normal Warp tab or pane
• Save serial connection profiles for frequently used devices
• Reconnect quickly after a device resets or the port disconnects
• Display serial output with Warp's existing terminal UI, search, copy, and pane features

Why this matters

Serial console access is one of the most common workflows in embedded systems development. Having this built into Warp would make it more convenient for developers working with MCUs, IoT devices, gateways, routers, sensors, and hardware products.

It would reduce the need to switch between Warp and separate serial terminal applications, and would make Warp more useful as a unified development terminal for both software and embedded hardware workflows.

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

No response

Additional context

No response

Operating system (OS)

Select an OS

How important is this feature to you?

1 (Not too important)

Warp Internal (ignore) - linear-label:39cc6478-1249-4ee7-950b-c428edfeecd1

None

[oz-for-oss]

@CylAlon

Here's what I found while triaging this issue:

This overlaps closely with existing request #8605 for native serial/console support, but I found only one likely duplicate, so I am not marking it as a duplicate under the current triage policy.

Maintainer details

I concluded that enhancement request for first-class serial/console sessions in Warp, overlapping one existing request but not meeting the duplicate threshold..

Triage summary

This is a product enhancement request for built-in serial/console connection support, including local serial port selection, line settings, tab/pane integration, saved profiles, and reconnect behavior.

Current code inspection points to a feature gap rather than an existing bug: Warp's local session path is PTY/shell-oriented (app/src/terminal/local_tty/mod.rs, app/src/terminal/local_tty/unix.rs, app/src/terminal/local_tty/spawner.rs, app/src/terminal/local_tty/shell.rs), remote TTY handling is websocket/SSH-proxy oriented (app/src/terminal/remote_tty/event_loop.rs), and tab config session types currently model terminal/agent-style panes (app/src/tab_configs/session_config.rs). I did not find substantive serial-port support or serial-port dependencies in the checkout.

Duplicate search found one closely related open request, #8605, for native serial/console support. Because the dedupe workflow requires at least two likely existing duplicates before applying the duplicate label, this issue should remain a standalone enhancement for now.

Suggested labels: enhancement, area:shell-terminal, area:window-tabs-panes, repro:unknown, triaged.

This is my automated analysis and may be incorrect. A maintainer will verify the details.

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[zachlloyd]

@oz-agent do any other terminals support this and is there a reference implementation available anywhere for us to see?

[oz-for-oss]

@zachlloyd

Yes — there are several relevant examples.

• Tabby is the closest modern/cross-platform reference: its README describes Tabby as a terminal emulator plus SSH/Telnet/serial client, and its serial feature list includes saved connections, readline input, hex byte-by-byte input/hexdump output, newline conversion, and automatic reconnection. The implementation lives in the open-source tabby-serial package.
• PuTTY has built-in serial support and is a useful smaller reference for the low-level backend shape: Windows uses CreateFile/SetCommState/overlapped I/O, while Unix uses open, termios, and its backend vtable to feed data into the terminal seat.
• Tera Term and commercial terminals such as ZOC also support serial/direct connections. Tera Term is open source and useful for Windows UI/COM-port enumeration patterns; ZOC is closed source but documents the expected product surface: Serial/Direct profiles, COM or /dev/cu.* port selection, baud/data/parity/stop/flow settings, host-directory entries, and quick connect.

Windows Terminal appears not to have native serial support today; its canonical thread is microsoft/terminal#1280, with duplicate requests pointing users toward external command-line serial clients/profiles instead. One note for this issue: #8605 is a very similar open Warp request, though I found only that one strong matching open issue, so it does not meet this workflow's duplicate threshold by itself.

Reasoning

Focused response to @zachlloyd's explicit follow-up on an already-triaged enhancement. No label changes are requested in response mode.

Research findings:

1. Tabby is the strongest open-source reference for Warp-like UX. The Tabby README says it is a configurable terminal emulator, SSH and serial client for Windows, macOS, and Linux, and lists an integrated serial terminal with saved connections, readline input, optional hex byte-by-byte input/hexdump output, newline conversion, and automatic reconnection: https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby. Source references:

   • tabby-serial/package.json describes the package as Serial connections for Tabby.
   • tabby-serial/src/services/serial.service.ts detects native vs Web Serial bindings, lists ports via the serial binding, and implements quick connect with path@baudrate parsing.
   • tabby-serial/src/api.ts defines SerialProfileOptions for port, baudrate, data bits, stop bits, parity, rtscts, xon/xoff/xany, slow send, input processing, and SerialSession, which wraps @serialport/stream and connects the serial stream into Tabby's terminal session pipeline.
   • tabby-serial/src/components/serialTab.component.ts implements serial tabs, reconnect hotkey handling, baud-rate changes, and user-visible open/closed service messages.
   • tabby-serial/src/components/serialProfileSettings.component.ts implements port and baud-rate autocomplete based on detected ports.

2. PuTTY provides compact low-level serial backend examples. Source references:

   • windows/winser.c opens Windows serial devices via CreateFile, handles COM10+ by prepending \\.\, configures baud/data/stop/parity/flow with DCB and SetCommState, sets comm timeouts, uses overlapped input/output handlers, and exposes a serial Break special: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/putty/master/windows/winser.c.
   • unix/uxser.c opens the serial line with open(... O_RDWR | O_NOCTTY | O_NDELAY | O_NONBLOCK), configures baud/data/stop/parity/flow using termios, disables canonical/echo/post-processing modes, and feeds bytes through PuTTY's backend/seat abstraction: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/putty/master/unix/uxser.c.
   • sercfg.c adds the Serial protocol option and standard serial configuration controls for line, speed, data bits, stop bits, parity, and flow control.

3. Tera Term is another open-source reference, especially for Windows UI behavior and COM-port enumeration. Docs describe support for serial port connections in Tera Term's terminal emulator feature set: https://teratermproject.github.io/manual/4/en/. Source references:

   • teraterm/teraterm/serial_pp.cpp contains serial settings dialog logic, baud/data/parity/stop/flow option lists, COM-port info display, and RTS/DTR/flow-control handling.
   • teraterm/ttpdlg/serialdlg.cpp routes the Serial Port setup page through its external setup tab.

4. ZOC is not a source reference, but it validates product expectations. Its docs list Serial/Direct and Serial/Modem connection types and options including COM or /dev/cu.* port names, speed, data bits, parity, stop bits, RTS/CTS, DSR/DTR, XON/XOFF, break duration, quick connection, host directory entries, and direct serial quick start: https://emtec.com/zoc/help/en/10439/connection-types-input-output-methods, https://emtec.com/zoc/help/en/10443/serial-modem-and-serial-direct-options, https://emtec.com/zoc/onlinehelp.html?t=topic-10224.html.

5. Windows Terminal is useful as a non-example. Feature Request: Dedicated serial port connection settings microsoft/terminal#1280 tracks dedicated serial port connection settings and remains open/backlogged. Support for USB Serial COM Port microsoft/terminal#12470 and lazygit #5210 were closed as duplicates of terminal Unable to display last line #1280. Maintainers there note users can add a profile around an external serial command-line client, but Terminal itself does not provide the serial-port backend.

Duplicate check: I enumerated open warpdotdev/warp issues via gh api --paginate and searched for serial/UART/COM/tty-related terms. #8605 (Feature Request: Native Serial/Console Connection Support (RS-232/USB-to-Serial)) is a strong similar open issue. The dedupe skill requires two or more likely existing duplicates before marking duplicate, and no recent closed canonical duplicate was found, so this response should mention #8605 as related context rather than request a duplicate label.

This is my automated analysis and may be incorrect. A maintainer will verify the details.

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[CylAlon]

Yes. Tabby supports this as a built-in feature.

It allows users to create a Serial connection profile, select a serial port, and configure common serial parameters such as baud rate, data bits, stop bits, parity, and flow control.

This is a good reference for the kind of workflow I had in mind for Warp.

[zachlloyd]

Ok, marking this as needs-mocks because we'd need to do some exploration here on how to fit this into the app and I'd want to play with the tabby implementation a bit.

[CylAlon]

Thanks, that makes sense.

I appreciate you taking a look. Tabby's implementation should be a useful reference for exploring how this could fit into Warp.

[zachlloyd]

of course. could be a cool feature.

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On Sun, May 3, 2026 at 2:19 PM CylAlon ***@***.***> wrote: *CylAlon* left a comment (warpdotdev/warp#9977) <#9977 (comment)> Thanks, that makes sense. I appreciate you taking a look. Tabby's implementation should be a useful reference for exploring how this could fit into Warp. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#9977 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ACCSUZJFXID3UUVQH2P6TKD4Y6ST5AVCNFSM6AAAAACYPDIUE6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHM2DGNRXGA4DGNRUG4> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>