Software & Programming
Brainboxes ships two kinds of software: the BB-Eco desktop app and CLI for managing devices, and language SDKs for embedding Brainboxes hardware in your own applications. Pick the one that matches what you're trying to do.
Tools
For discovery, configuration, monitoring, and firmware upgrades:
- BB-Eco — cross-platform desktop app and CLI for ED, ES, BB, and SW devices on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Replaces the legacy Windows-only Boost.IO Manager and Boost.LAN.
Programming SDKs
For applications that read I/O lines, drive serial ports, or talk to Brainboxes devices programmatically:
- .NET — C# and VB.NET via the Brainboxes.IO library
- Python — Python scripting for ED I/O and ES serial gateways
- Node-RED — visual flow programming with the Brainboxes Node-RED nodes
- Java — Java SDK for Brainboxes devices
API references
Full per-class / per-method documentation for each SDK:
- .NET API reference — Brainboxes.IO namespace
- Python API reference — Python module reference
- Node-RED API reference — node and message reference
- Java API reference — class and method reference
For the BB-Eco command-line tool itself:
- BB-Eco CLI reference — every command, subcommand, and option
- BB-Eco template JSON format — file format used by
bb-eco template export/apply/diff
Software reference
- .NET library reference — supported devices and class library reference
- Driver compatibility — Linux and Windows driver support by product range
- Release notes — BB-400 firmware and software update history
Explanation — concepts and design
Background reading on the architecture and design of each tool:
- BB-Eco — concepts and design — why BB-Eco exists, how it works, configuration as code, the discovery cache
- .NET concepts — library architecture and protocol concepts
- Python concepts — Python programming concepts
- Node-RED concepts — Node-RED flow programming concepts
- Java concepts — Java programming concepts
Which one should I use?
| If you want to… | Use |
|---|---|
| Discover, configure, monitor, or upgrade Brainboxes devices on your network | BB-Eco |
| Read I/O lines or drive serial ports from your own .NET application | .NET SDK |
| Script Brainboxes hardware from Python | Python SDK |
| Build a no-code data-flow integration with Brainboxes devices | Node-RED |
| Embed Brainboxes I/O in a Java application | Java SDK |
| Automate device management in a CI/CD pipeline | BB-Eco CLI |
BB-Eco and the SDKs are complementary — most deployments use both. BB-Eco commissions and maintains the devices; the SDKs read and write to them at runtime.