Serial Consoles in [yoe]

The yoe embedded build tool added serial console support that attaches to each machine's serial port, logs all console output, and exposes two commands — `yoe serial send ls` and `yoe serial log` — so agents such as Claude Code can drive real hardware instead of only QEMU. Serial ports are configured in `local.star` and identified by the USB adapter's device ID rather than `ttyUSB0` or `ttyUSB1`, so yoe finds the port after every reboot and replug. The feature pairs with yoe's existing diagnose skill, which gave agents the build log, toward an agent that builds an image, boots it on real hardware, and checks the result.

Embedded work usually means a serial terminal open in another window, and a search for whichever ttyUSB the board landed on today. The latest video https://youtu.be/Go0gEvf4JxI shows yoe taking over that job: it attaches to each machine’s serial console, logs everything, and gives agents like Claude Code a simple way to work with the device at the console level. That opens the door to more hardware-in-the-loop work, where an agent tests on the real board instead of only in QEMU. Configure a serial port for a machine and the yoe TUI gains a Serial tab. From the moment yoe starts, the tab streams console output from the device. It is output only, so you can scroll, jump to the top, or clear it without typing into the target by accident. Press enter to drop into an interactive terminal, much like tio . Run commands, then press ctrl-t q to return to the TUI. To skip the TUI entirely, yoe serial opens the same interactive console on its own. Only one can hold the port at a time; two clients on one port compete for the output, just as two tio sessions would. Two commands give an agent what it needs to drive the device: yoe serial send ls sends a command over the serial port. yoe serial log shows the most recent console output. Send a command, read what comes back, and decide what to do next. yoe also writes all serial output to a log file while it runs, so the agent can review the full boot history, not just the last few lines. Serial ports live in local.star , alongside your other local settings, with one entry per machine. yoe identifies each port by the USB adapter’s device ID instead of ttyUSB0 or ttyUSB1 . As long as a machine keeps the same adapter, yoe finds it after every reboot and replug, with no hunting required. yoe aims to remove friction from embedded work for both people and agents. The diagnose skill https://yoebuild.org/blog/ai-integration/ gave agents the build log; serial console support gives them the device itself. Together they move toward an agent that builds an image, boots it on real hardware, and checks the result. The full set of walkthroughs is on the Videos page https://yoebuild.org/videos/ . A few ways to go further: /new-machine and /new-module AI skills