Command-Line Interface

Serial Studio accepts command-line arguments for automation, headless operation, and benchmarking. Pass --help to print the full list, or --version to print the version and exit.

serial-studio [options]

Options marked (Pro) are available only in commercial builds.

General

Option	Argument	Description
`-v`, `--version`		Print the application version and exit.
`-r`, `--reset`		Reset all application settings.
`-f`, `--fullscreen`		Launch the dashboard in fullscreen.
`--headless`		Run without a GUI (headless / server mode).
`--api-server`		Enable the API server on startup (port 7777).
`--dump-api-schema`	`file`	Write the API command registry (name, description, parameter schema per command) to a JSON file and exit. Input for SDK generators.
`-p`, `--project`	`file`	Load the specified project file.
`--profile`	`name`	Open the project under the named workspace profile instead of asking which one to show.
`-q`, `--quick-plot`		Enable quick-plot mode (auto-detect CSV data).
`-t`, `--fps`	`Hz`	Set the visualization refresh rate.
`-n`, `--points`	`count`	Set the number of data points per plot.
`--exit-after`	`seconds`	Quit gracefully after the given number of seconds (CI runs, PGO training).
`--simd`	`level`	Pin the vector kernels to `auto`, `scalar`, `sse4`, `avx2` or `neon` for this run only. The value is not saved, and an unknown or unsupported level falls back to `auto` and says so in the application log. See the acquisition pipeline.

Devices

Option	Argument	Description
`--uart`	`port`	Serial port (e.g. `/dev/ttyUSB0`, `COM3`).
`--baud`	`rate`	Serial baud rate (default 9600).
`--tcp`	`host:port`	Connect to a TCP server.
`--udp`	`port`	Bind to a local UDP port.
`--udp-remote`	`host:port`	UDP remote target.
`--udp-multicast`		Enable multicast mode for UDP.

Acquisition Pipeline Benchmark

Option	Argument	Description
`--benchmark-hotpath`		Run the in-process frame-extraction throughput benchmark and exit.
`--min-fps`	`fps`	Minimum frames/sec the benchmark must sustain (default 256000).
`--benchmark-frames`	`count`	Frames to push through the benchmark (default 1000000).
`--benchmark-seconds`	`seconds`	Wall-clock seconds the benchmark must sustain (default 10).
`--benchmark-output`	`file`	File the benchmark report is written to (default: stdout only, no file).
`--benchmark-channels`	`count`	Numeric channels in the synthetic benchmark project (default 8, max 4096).

Passing any of --min-fps, --benchmark-frames, --benchmark-seconds, or --benchmark-channels also runs the benchmark; --benchmark-hotpath alone uses the defaults shown above. At a width other than 8 the throughput targets are printed for reference but do not fail the run, because they were calibrated at 8 channels; the report states the width and which parser lane the Built-In rows took.

This is the headless form used in CI and deployment gating. For the interactive version with a per-phase results table, run it from the GUI via About > Benchmark; see the Benchmark Dialog. Both run the same HotpathBenchmark engine over the same pipeline.

Operator & Export (Pro)

Option	Argument	Description
`--no-toolbar`		Hide the main window toolbar at startup.
`--runtime`		Operator runtime mode: hide toolbar, quit when the operator disconnects. An unexpected device drop shows the reconfigure dialog instead of quitting.
`--deployment`	`file`	Open a deployment package (`.ssdeploy`) in a sealed runtime session. Passing a `.ssdeploy` file as the first positional argument does the same. The package's runtime options replace the display and export flags above; bus flags (`--uart`, `--tcp`, ...) and `--api-*` still apply. Cannot be combined with `--headless`. See Operator Deployments.
`--shortcut-path`	`path`	Path of the shortcut that launched the process.
`--csv-export`		Enable CSV export on startup.
`--mdf-export`		Enable MDF4 export on startup.
`--session-export`		Enable Historian recording on startup.
`--console-export`		Enable console log export on startup.
`--actions-panel`		Show the actions panel in operator runtime mode.
`--file-transmission`		Allow the File Transmission dialog in operator runtime mode.
`--taskbar-mode`	`mode`	Operator taskbar visibility: `shown`, `autohide`, or `hidden`.
`--taskbar-buttons`	`ids`	Comma-separated taskbar pin IDs for operator mode.
`--theme`	`name`	Override the application theme by name (e.g. `Default`, `Fluent Dark`, `Fluent Light`, `System`).

Licensing (Pro)

Option	Argument	Description
`--activate`	`key`	Activate a license key and exit.
`--deactivate`		Deactivate the current license instance and exit.
`--selftest-offline-license`		Run the offline-certificate verifier self-test vectors and exit.
`--validate-guards`		Verify that every embedded license guard passes in this binary and exit.

Session Verification (Pro)

Both verifiers re-record an archived Historian session in a child process and print a JSON verdict, so a deployment can gate on reproducibility without a GUI. Pair either with --headless for offscreen operation. The same work is available from the API through sessions.verify and sessions.regress.

Option	Argument	Description
`--verify-session`	`file`	Verify an archived historian database's reproducibility and exit; prints a JSON verdict.
`--verify-session-id`	`id`	Session id inside the `--verify-session` archive (default: the latest completed session).
`--verify-keep-regen`		Keep the temporary regenerated database for inspection.
`--regress-session`	`file`	Compare an archived session against a candidate project and exit; prints a JSON drift report.
`--regress-session-id`	`id`	Session id inside the `--regress-session` archive (default: the latest completed session).
`--regress-project`	`file`	Candidate project file for `--regress-session`.
`--regress-keep-regen`		Keep both temporary regenerated databases for inspection.

Modbus (Pro)

Option	Argument	Description
`--modbus-rtu`	`port`	Connect to a Modbus RTU device.
`--modbus-tcp`	`host[:port]`	Connect to a Modbus TCP server (port defaults to 502, the IANA-registered Modbus port). This differs from the GUI Modbus driver's own default of 5020 — check which surface you are configuring.
`--modbus-slave`	`address`	Slave address (1-247, default 1).
`--modbus-poll`	`interval`	Poll interval in ms (50-60000, default 100).
`--modbus-baud`	`rate`	RTU baud rate (default 9600).
`--modbus-parity`	`type`	RTU parity: `none`, `even`, `odd`, `space`, `mark` (default `none`).
`--modbus-databits`	`bits`	RTU data bits: `5`, `6`, `7`, `8` (default 8).
`--modbus-stopbits`	`bits`	RTU stop bits: `1`, `1.5`, `2` (default 1).
`--modbus-register`	`spec`	Add a register group `type:start:count[:slave]`; type is `holding`, `input`, `coils`, or `discrete`; start 0-65535, count 1-125; the optional slave 1-247 reads that block from another device on the same bus (repeatable).

CAN Bus (Pro)

Option	Argument	Description
`--canbus`	`plugin:interface`	Connect to a CAN bus (e.g. `socketcan:can0`, `peakcan:pcan0`).
`--canbus-bitrate`	`rate`	CAN bus bitrate in bps (default 500000).
`--canbus-fd`		Enable CAN-FD mode.