From the workbench · Open source
Canvaz for CAN bus analysis, Pigtail for serial debugging, and Snout for exploring firmware memory usage. Open-source tools for embedded development on Windows and Linux, built to help with my work and personal projects, and shared in the hope they help with yours.
Explore the toolsCAN buses. Serial ports. Firmware memory. A little less guesswork.
01 / The tools
From bus traffic to firmware builds,
make sense of what your device is doing.
CAN ANALYZER01See what’s happening on the bus.
Trace, decode, plot, and simulate CAN traffic in one place. Turn raw frames into meaningful signals with DBC files, then follow them live.
SERIAL TERMINAL02Keep the conversation with your device.
A serial terminal built for real debugging sessions. Follow devices through resets, find what matters in the log, and plot the numbers behind the text.
FIRMWARE EXPLORER03Find where your firmware’s memory goes.
Open a build folder or ELF file to explore Flash and static RAM usage. Find the largest contributors and compare saved builds, with analysis staying on your computer.
On Ubuntu? Install with apt below ↓ · Other downloads are available on GitHub.
02 / From download to workbench
Add the repository once.
Keep your tools up to date with Ubuntu.
Open a terminal and install the tools needed to fetch the repository’s signing key.
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ca-certificates curlSave the public signing key and register the package source. You only need to do this once.
(
set -e
key_file=$(mktemp)
trap 'rm -f "$key_file"' EXIT
curl -fsSL https://rustypig91.github.io/rusty-apt/rusty.asc -o "$key_file"
sudo install -D -m 644 "$key_file" /etc/apt/keyrings/rusty.asc
echo 'deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/rusty.asc] https://rustypig91.github.io/rusty-apt stable main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/rusty.list
sudo chmod 644 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/rusty.list
)Install all three, or keep only the package names you want. Then launch them from your applications menu.
sudo apt update
sudo apt install canvaz pigtail snoutUpdate alongside your other system packages.
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgradeRemove any tools you no longer need.
sudo apt remove canvaz pigtail snoutPackages and repository setup: Rusty APT documentation
03 / Made for the debugging session
The details that help when a frame table,
a scrolling terminal, or a size total is only the beginning.
CAN ANALYZER
A conventional CAN workflow can mean juggling a trace viewer, a decoder, and a plotting tool. Canvaz brings those steps into one workspace, with support for the protocols behind the frames.
SERIAL TERMINAL
A conventional serial terminal gets you connected and shows the output. Pigtail adds ways to keep that session useful through device resets, repeated commands, and long streams of logs.
FIRMWARE EXPLORER
A firmware size total tells you how much memory a build uses. Snout helps you find what contributes to that total and understand what changed after a rebuild.
I build tools to solve the problems I run into at work and in my personal projects.
Sometimes it’s a CAN signal that’s hard to follow. Sometimes it’s a serial device that disappears halfway through a debugging session. Sometimes it’s a firmware build that’s running out of memory. These tools grow out of those everyday moments.
I’m developing Canvaz, Pigtail, and Snout as open source because I hope they can be useful to others, too. Sharing them is also a way to learn: different hardware, different workflows, and fresh ideas can help me make them better over time.
They’re ongoing projects, shaped by real use. If one helps you, or you see a way to improve it, I’d love to hear about it.
05 / Build along
Try them on your hardware. Report a bug. Suggest a feature.
Or jump into the code and help make the next version better.