AFCOM is a desktop serial communication client for talking to microcontrollers, sensors, modems, development boards and any other device that exposes a serial interface. Scan ports, configure every common line setting, watch incoming data with ANSI colours, and send commands — all from a clean native Qt interface.
Formerly known as Serial Communication GUI Program.
- Cross-platform — Windows, Linux and macOS; automatic COM/tty port discovery.
- Complete serial configuration — baud rate, data bits, parity, stop bits, flow control, timeout and line ending.
- Real terminal — scrollable output with ANSI colour support and optional timestamps.
- Live statistics — RX/TX byte counters and connected-device details.
- Comfortable sending — multi-line input, Enter to send, configurable CR/LF handling.
- Save your logs — write terminal output to a text file at any time.
- Make it yours — dark/light themes, English/Turkish UI, terminal font and size.
- Distraction-free mode — Basic View hides the configuration panel.
- No telemetry, no account, no cloud — everything runs locally.
| Dark theme | Light theme |
|---|---|
|
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| Preferences | Basic View |
|---|---|
 |
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English and Turkish interfaces are included.
Download the latest build from GitHub Releases:
| File | Description |
|---|---|
AFCOM_Client_v1.9.1_win64_setup.exe |
Per-user installer — Start Menu shortcut, optional desktop shortcut, clean uninstall |
AFCOM_v1.9.1_portable_win64.exe |
Portable single-file executable — no installation required |
The installer does not require administrator rights. Windows 10 or newer is recommended; Windows 11 is fully supported.
pip install afcom
afcomAFCOM is a pure-Python package. On Linux you may need the system Qt/Tk
libraries that ship with your distribution; PySide6 wheels bundle Qt itself.
Requirements: Python 3.10+, pip, and a virtual environment.
git clone https://github.com/mcagriaksoy/Serial-Communication-GUI-Program.git
cd Serial-Communication-GUI-Program
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements.txt
python main.pyOn Linux, if the application cannot create a window, install the usual Qt/X11
runtime packages for your distribution (for example libxcb-cursor0 on recent
Debian/Ubuntu releases).
- Connect your device and click ⟳ Scan ports.
- Select the port and match the serial settings to your device.
- Click CONNECT. The status dot turns green when the port is open.
- Type a command in the send box and press Enter (or click Send).
- Incoming data appears in the terminal. Use File → Save As… to keep a log.
| Setting | Options / notes |
|---|---|
| Baud rate | 110 … 921600 (115200 is selected by default) |
| Data bits | 5, 6, 7, 8 |
| Parity | None, Even, Odd, Mark, Space |
| Stop bits | 1, 1.5, 2 |
| Flow control | None, XON/XOFF, RTS/CTS, DSR/DTR |
| Timeout | 0.1 – 5 seconds |
| Line ending | None, LF, CR, CRLF (appended when sending) |
If you are unsure about your device's settings, start with 115200 8-N-1, no flow control — the most common configuration for development boards.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Enter in the send box |
Send the current data |
Ctrl+Enter |
Send (from the Send button shortcut) |
Ctrl+A |
Select all terminal text |
Ctrl+C |
Copy selected terminal text |
- ANSI colours are rendered, so coloured firmware logs remain readable.
- Timestamps can be enabled in Settings → Preferences to prefix received lines.
- Clear empties the on-screen terminal; Edit → Clear Buffers also clears the send box.
- Connection → Reset Terminal clears both buffers and resets the RX/TX counters.
- View → Basic View hides the side panel for a wider terminal.
- Help → Check for Updates compares your version with the latest GitHub tag.
- Preferences are stored per user:
- Windows:
%APPDATA%\AFCOM\settings.json - macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/AFCOM/settings.json - Linux:
~/.config/afcom/settings.json
- Windows:
No ports are listed. Reconnect the device, install its USB-serial driver
(CH340, CP210x, FTDI, etc.) and click Scan ports again. On Linux, make sure
your user is in the dialout group:
sudo usermod -aG dialout "$USER"
# log out and back in, then reconnect the deviceThe port is busy. Close any other terminal application using the device. Only one program can own a serial port at a time.
Garbled or missing output. The baud rate, data bits, parity or stop bits do not match the device. Check the device documentation and reconnect.
Connection drops unexpectedly. Some adapters are sensitive to flow control. Try Flow: None, a longer timeout, or a different USB cable/port.
pip install afcom installs an old version. Upgrade explicitly:
python -m pip install --upgrade afcommain.py Application entry point
src/
app.py QApplication bootstrap
main_window.py Main window controller
serial_worker.py Background serial reader (QThread)
serial_ports.py Cross-platform port discovery
settings_store.py JSON preferences
settings_dialog.py Preferences dialog
theme.py Adwaita-inspired light/dark palettes
translations.py English / Turkish strings
actions.py Menu actions (save, about, help, updates)
ansi.py ANSI colour → HTML
ui_loader.py Loads / regenerates Qt Designer UI modules
constants.py Metadata, paths and defaults
ui/
*.ui Qt Designer layouts (source of truth)
theme.qss Central stylesheet template
build_ui.py Regenerate the Python UI modules
test/ pytest unit tests
installer/afcom.iss Inno Setup installer script
scripts/build_windows.py PyInstaller release build helper
The ui/*.ui files are the single source of truth. Edit them in Qt Designer
(or manually) and regenerate the Python modules with:
python ui/build_ui.pyAt startup the application also regenerates any .ui file that is newer than
its generated .py equivalent, so you normally do not need to run this by hand.
pip install -r requirements.txt pytest
pytest test/pip install -r requirements.txt pyinstaller
pyinstaller main.specFor the versioned Windows release build:
python scripts/build_windows.py
# -> dist/AFCOM_v<version>_portable_win64.exeOn Windows, compile the installer with Inno Setup after the portable build:
ISCC.exe /DVersion=1.9.1 `
/DSourceExe=dist\AFCOM_v1.9.1_portable_win64.exe `
/DOutputDir=release-artifacts installer\afcom.issReleases are driven by version tags. The single source of truth is
APP_VERSION in src/constants.py, and it must match the
tag without the leading v.
# 1. Bump APP_VERSION, commit and push master
git add -A
git commit -m "Release v1.9.1"
git push origin master
# 2. Tag the same commit and push the tag
git tag v1.9.1
git push origin v1.9.1Pushing a v* tag runs two GitHub Actions workflows:
release.yml— verifies the tag, builds the Windows portable executable with PyInstaller and the per-user installer with Inno Setup, then publishes both to a GitHub Release.publish-pypi.yml— builds the sdist/wheel and publishes AFCOM to PyPI with Trusted Publishing (OIDC). If the version already exists on PyPI, publishing is skipped safely.
Every released executable receives a signed build-provenance attestation:
gh attestation verify AFCOM_v1.9.1_portable_win64.exe \
--repo mcagriaksoy/Serial-Communication-GUI-Program| Platform | Installer / executable | PyPI package | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 10/11 (x64) | ✅ portable + installer | ✅ | ✅ |
| Linux (x64) | — | ✅ pip install afcom |
✅ |
| macOS (Intel/Apple Silicon) | — | ✅ pip install afcom |
✅ |
Serial hardware support depends on the operating system drivers. Common USB adapters (CH340, CP210x, FTDI, PL2303) work through their standard drivers.
Contributions, bug reports and feature requests are welcome.
- Report bugs via GitHub Issues
- Open a pull request with a clear description and keep the existing code style
- Run
pytest test/before submitting
Released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 by @mcagriaksoy.
AFCOM uses Qt for Python (PySide6), licensed under LGPLv3.
Made for engineers, makers and anyone who still loves a good serial port.