# Serial Port Terminal

Tempest is a built-in **serial port terminal** for any USB-to-UART device — Arduino, Raspberry Pi GPIO console, Cisco / MikroTik console cables, ESP32 / ESP8266 boards, FTDI adapters, you name it. Same tab-based UI as your SSH connections, with auto-port-detection so you don't have to remember whether your cable is `/dev/tty.usbserial-A50285BI` today.

## Add a serial connection

1. Click `+` → **Serial**.
2. Tempest auto-discovers connected serial ports. Pick yours from the dropdown — or paste a path manually.
3. Set the baud rate (default 9600; 115200 is common for modern boards; 1200 for very old equipment).
4. Save and connect.

Common port paths:

| Platform | Typical path                                         |
| -------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| macOS    | `/dev/tty.usbserial-XXXX` or `/dev/tty.usbmodemXXXX` |
| Linux    | `/dev/ttyUSB0`, `/dev/ttyACM0`                       |
| Windows  | `COM3`, `COM4`, etc.                                 |

## Common baud rates

| Use case                  | Baud             |
| ------------------------- | ---------------- |
| Arduino default           | 9600             |
| Arduino fast / ESP32      | 115200           |
| Raspberry Pi UART console | 115200           |
| Cisco console             | 9600             |
| Legacy industrial gear    | 1200, 2400, 4800 |

## Pro feature

Serial connections require **Tempest Pro**.

## Permissions

* **macOS**: works out of the box — macOS allows user access to FTDI / CDC-ACM devices.
* **Linux**: your user must be in the `dialout` group to access `/dev/ttyUSB*` without sudo:

  ```bash
  sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER
  # log out and back in
  ```
* **Windows**: USB-serial drivers must be installed (FTDI, CH340, CP210x, etc. — plug it in once and Windows usually auto-installs).

## When to use this vs. minicom / screen / PuTTY

* **Tempest** when you also use SSH and want one client for both — same tabs, same theme, same key bindings.
* **screen / minicom** when you're already living in a Unix shell and the serial device is the only thing you need.
* **PuTTY** when you need a dead-simple Windows-only single-purpose tool.

## See also

* [Telnet Client](/connect-to-servers/connect-to-telnet-servers.md) — many serial devices also expose a Telnet management interface
* [SSH Port Forwarding](/connect-to-servers/ssh-port-forwarding.md) — tunnel a remote serial-over-IP server through SSH


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