Serial: requestPort() method

When the user first visits a site it will not have permission to access any serial devices. A site must first call requestPort() to prompt the user to select which device the site should be allowed to control.

This method must be called via transient activation. The user has to interact with the page or a UI element in order for this feature to work.

options Optional

An object with the following properties:

filters Optional

A list of objects containing vendor, product, or Bluetooth service class IDs used to filter the specific device types made available for the user to request a connection to. If no filters are specified, the user is presented with a list of every available device to choose from. Filters can contain the following values:

bluetoothServiceClassId Optional

An unsigned long integer or string representing a Bluetooth service class ID. This can be a 16- or 32-bit UUID alias, any valid UUID, or a valid name from a GATT assigned services key.

usbVendorId Optional

An unsigned short integer that identifies a USB device vendor. The USB Implementors Forum assigns IDs to specific vendors.

usbProductId Optional

An unsigned short integer that identifies a USB device. Each vendor assigns IDs to its products.

allowedBluetoothServiceClassIds Optional

A list of unsigned long integers and/or strings representing Bluetooth service class IDs. Bluetooth ports with custom service class IDs are excluded from the list of ports presented to the user unless the service class ID is included in this list. This is true whether you filter the list or not.

A Promise that resolves with an instance of SerialPort.

SecurityError DOMException

The returned Promise rejects with this error in either of the following situations:

• A serial Permissions Policy blocks the use of this feature.
• A user permission prompt was denied.

NotFoundError DOMException

The returned Promise rejects with this exception if the user does not select a port when prompted.

This example prompts the user to select a device via requestPort() when a <button> is pressed. It does not include a filter, which means that the selection list will include all available devices:

<button id="connect">Connect</button>

const connectBtn = document.getElementById("connect");
connectBtn.addEventListener("click", () => {
  try {
    const port = await navigator.serial.requestPort();
    // Connect to port or add it to the list of available ports
  } catch (e) {
    // The user didn't select a device
  }
});

In this case, a filter is passed to requestPort() with a USB vendor ID to limit the set of devices shown to the user to only USB devices built by a particular manufacturer.

connectBtn.addEventListener("click", () => {
  const usbVendorId = 0xabcd;
  try {
    const port = await navigator.serial.requestPort({ filters: [{ usbVendorId }] });
    // Connect to port or add it to the list of available ports
  } catch (e) {
    // The user didn't select a device
  }
});

Although most devices expose SPP-based communication through the standardized Bluetooth Classic Serial Port Profile, some use custom radio frequency communication (RFCOMM) based services. These devices have a Service Class ID that is not in the standard Bluetooth UUID range.

You need to pass the allowedBluetoothServiceClassIds list to requestPort() to access these custom RFCOMM-based services:

const myBluetoothServiceUuid = "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef";

// Prompt user to select any serial port
// Access to the custom Bluetooth RFCOMM service above will be allowed
const port = await navigator.serial.requestPort({
  allowedBluetoothServiceClassIds: [myBluetoothServiceUuid],
});

You can also use the bluetoothServiceClassId filter key when calling requestPort() to prompt the user with a list of filtered Bluetooth serial ports identified by Service Class IDs:

const myBluetoothServiceUuid = "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef";

// Prompt the user to select Bluetooth serial ports with
// the custom Bluetooth RFCOMM service above.
const port = await navigator.serial.requestPort({
  allowedBluetoothServiceClassIds: [myBluetoothServiceUuid],
  filters: [{ bluetoothServiceClassId: myBluetoothServiceUuid }],
});