hidapi 0.1.5

Cross-platform Dart bindings for hidapi — the de facto C library for USB HID access. Compiles hidapi from vendored source via Dart build hooks.

hidapi

Dart FFI bindings for hidapi — the cross-platform C library for USB and Bluetooth HID device access.

Compiles hidapi 0.15.0 from source at build time via Dart build hooks. No system-level hidapi installation required.

Why this package?

• Pure Dart. No Flutter dependency. Works in CLI tools, servers, and any Dart application.
• Modern build. Uses Dart 3.10 native build hooks to compile hidapi from vendored source. No manual toolchain setup beyond a C compiler.
• Complete API. Wraps every public hidapi function — enumerate, open, read/write, feature and input reports, report descriptors, string queries, device info, and version introspection.

Platform support

Platform	Backend
Windows	windows/hid.c
macOS	mac/hid.c
Linux	linux/hid.c

Requirements

• Dart SDK >=3.10.0
• A C toolchain (MSVC, Clang, or GCC) reachable by native_toolchain_c
• Linux: libudev-dev (or equivalent)

Install

dart pub add hidapi

Usage

import 'package:hidapi/hidapi.dart';

void main() {
  hidInit();
  try {
    // List all HID devices (0, 0 = match any VID/PID)
    final devices = hidEnumerate();
    for (final d in devices) {
      print('${d.manufacturer} ${d.product} — ${d.path}');
    }

    // Open a specific device by path
    if (devices.isNotEmpty) {
      final dev = hidOpenPath(devices.first.path);
      try {
        dev.setNonBlocking(true);
        final data = dev.read(64, timeout: Duration(milliseconds: 100));
        print('Read ${data.length} bytes');
      } finally {
        dev.close();
      }
    }
  } finally {
    hidExit();
  }
}

API

Top-level functions: hidInit, hidExit, hidEnumerate, hidOpen, hidOpenPath, hidVersion, hidVersionStr.

HidDevice wraps an open device handle with methods for read/write, feature and input reports, report descriptors, string queries, and non-blocking mode.

See the API reference for full details.

How the build works

The Dart build hook downloads a pinned, SHA-256-verified hidapi tarball on first build and caches it. No manual steps beyond a C toolchain.

Upstream

libusb/hidapi — originally signal11/hidapi, now maintained under the libusb org.

Issues and contributions

File bugs and feature requests on the issue tracker.

License

See LICENSE.