esp32-serial-logging_skill

Overview

This skill provides real-time serial log monitoring for ESP32 and other microcontrollers. It captures device serial output to a file so you can monitor logs live, search for errors, and archive output for postmortem analysis. Use it to speed up debugging, trace crashes, and validate device behavior over time.

How this skill works

The skill connects to the device serial port at a chosen baud rate and redirects incoming bytes into a rotating or single log file. It supports live tailing of the log for immediate visibility and uses simple shell filters (grep, tail) to surface errors, boot messages, or specific patterns. Controls for starting, stopping, and clearing the capture are included to reproduce and analyze issues deterministically.

When to use it

• Debugging firmware crashes, panics, or asserts
• Investigating unexpected reboots or boot-sequence problems
• Monitoring runtime behavior during long tests or field trials
• Capturing logs for bug reports or support tickets
• Filtering for specific events like WiFi, errors, or button presses

Best practices

• Confirm the correct serial port and baud rate before starting capture (common: 115200 or 460800)
• Clear or rotate the log before reproducing an issue to keep traces focused
• Run capture as a background process and record the PID so you can stop it cleanly
• Use tail -f combined with grep to watch only relevant messages in real time
• Store logs with timestamps and device identifiers for correlation across runs

Example use cases

• Start a background capture to /tmp/device.log, reproduce a crash, then grep for ERROR or Backtrace
• Tail logs during an over-the-air update to verify boot loader and firmware messages
• Filter runtime telemetry for WiFi disconnections or DHCP failures during field tests
• Record long-term behavior (power cycles, reboots) to analyze intermittent issues
• Capture serial output from multiple devices by running separate captures per port and naming files by device ID