BrightSign Development Environment Setup

January 30, 2026 ยท View on GitHub

This guide helps you set up a local development environment for iterative BrightSign application development. After deploying your first "Hello World" application, use these tools and techniques to debug, log, and refine your application.

Table of Contents

  1. Connecting to Your Player
  2. Debugging Applications
  3. Logging and Diagnostics
  4. Network Configuration
  5. Tips for Iterative Development

Connecting to Your Player

Serial Connection

Serial connections provide direct access to the BrightSign shell for configuration and debugging.

Resources:

Quick Steps:

  1. Connect via serial cable (USB-to-serial adapter may be required)
  2. Use a terminal emulator (PuTTY, screen, minicom)
  3. Default settings: 115200 baud, 8N1
  4. Access BrightSign shell for diagnostics and commands

SSH Connection

SSH provides remote command-line access to your player (must be enabled first).

Prerequisites:

  • Player must be on the same network
  • SSH must be enabled in Local DWS or via a script
  • Know your player's IP address (see FAQ for methods)

Connection:

ssh brightsign@<IP_ADDRESS>
# OR
ssh brightsign@brightsign-<SERIAL_NUMBER>.local

Debugging Applications

HTML and Node.js Applications

Remote debugging allows you to use Chrome DevTools to inspect, debug, and profile your HTML/JavaScript/Node.js applications running on BrightSign players.

Resources:

Debugging Features:

  • Console output and errors
  • DOM inspection
  • JavaScript breakpoints
  • Network request monitoring
  • Performance profiling
  • Memory analysis

BrightScript Applications

BrightScript includes a telnet-based debugger for stepping through code and inspecting variables.

Resources:

Debugging Tips:

  • Use print statements for quick diagnostics
  • Leverage the message port for asynchronous event debugging
  • Check the autorun log for script errors and stack traces

Logging and Diagnostics

  1. BrightSignOS System Logs: System logs provide kernel-level diagnostics and OS events.
  2. Autorun Logs: Autorun logs show application startup, errors, and runtime issues.

Resources:

Access via Diagnostic Web Server (DWS):

  1. Navigate to http://<player-ip> (if Local DWS is enabled; see FAQ if not)
  2. Go to Log tab.

Access via Serial/SSH:

Optionally you can view the whole log output directly when connected via serial or SSH. See the Serial Connection or SSH Connection sections above.

Update Logging Level

Configure the logging level for the system logs to get more detailed output for debugging.

Access via DWS:

  1. Navigate to http://<player-ip>
  2. Go to Advanced -> BrightSignOS Logs to update the logging level.
  3. Or you can also do this using the Local DWS API.
  4. Set the desired logging level (eg. 3: Trace, 2: Info, 1: Warn, 0: Error).

Network Configuration

Tips for Iterative Development

Local Development Workflow

  1. Develop locally - Build and test on your development machine. You may need to mock BrightSign-specific APIs.
  2. Deploy to SD card - Copy files to SD card or use curl command to upload files via local network: 
    curl --location --request PUT 'http://{{player-ip}}/api/v1/files/sd' \
--digest -u 'admin:ldws-password' \
--form 'file[0]=@"/path/to/file"'
  3. Test on player - Boot player with your application
  4. Debug locally or remotely - Use Chrome Debugging or SSH debugger or BrightScript debugger
  5. Iterate - Make changes and redeploy

Best Practices

  • Version Control - Keep your code in Git
  • Test on Hardware - Don't rely solely on browser testing for HTML apps
  • Monitor Logs - Always check logs after deployment
  • Start Simple - Get basic functionality working before adding complexity
  • Use MCP Prompts - Leverage the BrightDeveloper MCP server for code generation and troubleshooting

Next Steps

Need help? Ask in GitHub Discussions or reach out via the BrightSign Support Community.