Getting a TrailCurrent module running just got a lot easier. The new web flasher lets you program any module directly from your browser. Pick the module, pick a release, plug it in over USB, click flash. That's it.
Who this is for
Not everyone who picks up a TrailCurrent module wants to clone a repo, install ESP-IDF, and build firmware from source. Plenty of people just want a working device. If that's you, the web flasher is the shortest path from a bare board to a running module. No toolchain, no command line, no SDK install, no local Python. The firmware binaries we ship on GitHub releases are the same ones the flasher writes to your board, so you get exactly what we run ourselves.
If you do want to change code, nothing about that workflow has changed. The repos are still there, the build instructions are still there, and everything still works the way it always has. The web flasher is just an easier on-ramp for everyone who isn't there yet.
How it works
Open the flash page, pick the module you're programming from the list, and pick which release you want. The page pulls the binaries straight from the matching GitHub release, so the version you see on the page is the version that lands on your board. Plug the module into a USB port, click the flash button, pick the serial port your browser shows you, and the flasher handles the rest — erase, write, verify, done.
Browser requirements
The flasher uses the Web Serial API to talk to your board, which is what makes the whole zero-install experience work. Web Serial is only available in Chromium-based browsers on desktop operating systems, so to keep things straightforward:
- Use a desktop browser. Chrome, Edge, or Opera all work. Brave and other Chromium forks also work as long as Web Serial is enabled.
- Desktop OS only. Windows, macOS, Linux, and ChromeOS are supported. Mobile browsers on iOS and Android do not expose Web Serial.
- Firefox and Safari will not work. Neither browser currently implements Web Serial. The flasher detects this and will tell you so up front rather than failing partway through.
- USB data cable required. Some USB-C cables are power-only and won't show up as a serial device. If your browser doesn't see the board, try a different cable before anything else.
On Linux you may also need to be in the dialout group (or equivalent) so your user has permission to open serial devices. That's a one-time setup and the page links to instructions if you hit it.
Why we built it
Every hour somebody spends wrestling with a toolchain is an hour they don't spend actually using the thing they just bought or built. The web flasher removes an entire category of friction for the people who were never going to write firmware anyway, and it gives the people who do write firmware a dead-simple way to reset a board back to a known-good release when something goes sideways.
Give it a try: trailcurrent.com/flash. If you hit a snag, open an issue on the repo for whichever module you were flashing and we'll take a look.