System Servicesserialterminalcommunicationhardwareqt

CuteCom

CuteCom is a graphical serial terminal similar to minicom, designed for hardware developers to communicate with devices. It supports line-oriented interfaces, file transfer protocols, and hexadecimal input/output.

Description

CuteCom is a graphical serial terminal aimed mainly at hardware developers or others needing a terminal to interact with their devices. It provides a user-friendly alternative to command-line tools like minicom, featuring a line-oriented interface rather than character-oriented. Key capabilities include support for xmodem, ymodem, and zmodem protocols for file transfers, which require the lrzsz package, along with hexadecimal input and output options.

Use cases include debugging embedded systems, testing serial peripherals, and performing low-level device communication during hardware development. The tool is built using the Qt library, ensuring a cross-platform graphical experience.

Configuration and sessions are stored in the user's personal file at ~/.config/CuteCom/CuteCom5.conf, allowing persistence of connection parameters for repeated use.

How It Works

CuteCom operates as a Qt-based graphical application that establishes serial port connections to devices. It implements a line-oriented interface for sending and receiving data, supports X/Y/ZMODEM protocols via the lrzsz package for file transfers, and provides hexadecimal mode for raw binary data handling. Sessions with predefined parameters are loaded from the configuration file ~/.config/CuteCom/CuteCom5.conf.

Installation

bash
sudo apt install cutecom

Flags

-h, --helpprints a short help message
-s, --session <session_name>opens a previously defined session. A new Session with default connection parameters is created when a session with this name can not be found in the config file

Examples

Launches the graphical serial terminal with default settings
cutecom
Displays a short help message with usage information
cutecom -h
Opens a previously defined session named 'mysession', or creates a new one with default parameters if not found
cutecom -s mysession
Shows the help message using the long form flag
cutecom --help
Loads the 'default' session from the configuration file ~/.config/CuteCom/CuteCom5.conf
cutecom --session default
Installs CuteCom and its dependencies on Kali Linux
sudo apt install cutecom
Updated 2026-04-16kali.org ↗