Views
The mode picker in the pane header changes how the stream is displayed. All views read the same underlying data, so switching between them loses nothing — you can open a session in one view and switch to another afterwards, including on a session you recorded weeks ago.
The views
| View | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Console | Line-based log with timestamps and RX/TX colouring. The default. |
| TTY | A VT-100 terminal. Linux shells, MicroPython REPLs, menus that redraw. |
| Hex | Offset, hex, and ASCII dump of the raw bytes. Binary protocols and framing problems. |
| Plot | Graphs numeric values as they arrive. Requires Pro. |
| Modbus | Decodes Modbus RTU frames into function code, address, registers, and CRC status. Requires Pro. |
| Packet | Custom frame decoder — split by idle gap, delimiter, or fixed length, then name the fields. Requires Pro. |
Console or TTY
These two look similar but behave differently.
Use Console when your device prints lines that scroll past. You get timestamps, search, colouring by direction, and inline comments.
Use TTY when your device tries to control the screen — moving the cursor, clearing the display, drawing a menu, or colouring its own output with ANSI escape codes. In Console those escape codes would show up as noise.
If output looks garbled in Console, try TTY.
Hex
Hex shows the raw byte stream as offset, hex bytes, and printable ASCII.
Use it when you need to see exactly what arrived: an unexpected byte, a missing terminator, a framing problem, or a binary protocol that has no text form at all.
Plot
Plot graphs numeric values from the stream over time. Point it at a label in your output and it tracks that value as a channel.
Requires Pro.
Modbus
Modbus decodes Modbus RTU frames and shows function code, slave address, register values, and whether the CRC checks out.
Requires Pro.
Packet
Packet is a decoder for protocols Tracer does not know. You choose how frames are separated — by an idle gap on the line, by a delimiter byte, or by a fixed length — and then name the fields inside each frame.
Requires Pro.
Split view
Split the pane to show the same stream two ways at once. Each half has its own mode picker, so you can watch Console beside Hex while chasing a framing bug, or Console beside Plot while a value drifts.
Splitting is free. The Pro views are still Pro inside a split.
Pop-out windows
The ⧉ button moves a pane into its own window, which is how you put two ports
on two monitors.
Requires Pro.