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what is usbsentry fr?

axialforge/usbsentry — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

2PythonAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5LicenseSetup · easy

tl;dr

A lightweight Windows 11 tray app that watches your USB devices and alerts you the moment a new one is connected.

vibe map

mindmap
  root((USBSentry))
    What it does
      Monitors USB devices
      Alerts on new connections
      Shows COM ports and drives
    Tech stack
      Python
      Windows tray app
    Use cases
      Find ESP32 COM port fast
      Trust known devices
      Export connection history
    Audience
      Developers
      Hardware hobbyists

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what do people make with this?

VIBE 1

Get notified instantly whenever a USB device is plugged into your Windows machine.

VIBE 2

Quickly find the COM port for an ESP32 or Arduino without opening Device Manager.

VIBE 3

Only get alerted about unfamiliar devices by trusting the ones you already own.

VIBE 4

Keep a history log of every USB connection event for later review.

what's the stack?

PythonWindows

how it stacks up fr

axialforge/usbsentry0-bingwu-0/live-interpreter010zx00x1/faresnipe
Stars222
LanguagePythonPythonPython
Setup difficultyeasymoderateeasy
Complexity2/52/52/5
Audiencedevelopergeneralgeneral

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

how do i run it?

Difficulty · easy time til it works · 5min

Downloaded exe triggers a Windows SmartScreen warning since it is not code-signed.

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

in plain english

USBSentry is a small Windows 11 tray app that keeps an eye on every USB device plugged into your computer. It runs quietly in the system tray, and the moment you plug something new in, it lets you know and logs the event. The main window shows a live list of connected devices, including each one's type, status, manufacturer, and hardware ID. For serial devices like an ESP32 or Arduino board, it shows the COM port, for USB drives, it shows the drive letter, so you do not have to dig through Windows Device Manager to find that information. New device alerts can appear as a Windows toast notification, an in-app banner, or a sound, and each of these can be turned on or off separately. There is also an unrecognized-device mode: once turned on, USBSentry treats everything already plugged in as trusted and only alerts you when something unfamiliar shows up, matched by its hardware ID rather than which port it is in. Right-clicking a device lets you trust, untrust, or hide it, and right-clicking a serial device gives a shortcut to copy its COM port or a ready-made flash command for tools like esptool. The app supports dark, light, or Windows-matched themes, adjustable text size, and keeps a history log you can export. You can either download a ready-made executable from the releases page or run it from source with Python, using pip to install two required packages. Since the executable is not code-signed, Windows SmartScreen may show a warning the first time you run a downloaded copy. The README explains how to get past that warning. Under the hood, USBSentry works by running the built-in Get-PnpDevice command, filtering results to the USB bus, and comparing each scan to the previous one. It needs no special drivers and no admin rights. The project is licensed under Apache License 2.0, which allows free use, modification, and commercial distribution as long as the copyright notice is kept.

prompts (copy fr)

prompt 1
Help me install and run USBSentry from source on my Windows 11 machine.
prompt 2
Explain how USBSentry's unrecognized-device trust mode decides what counts as new.
prompt 3
Show me how to build a standalone USBSentry.exe using PyInstaller.
prompt 4
Walk me through getting past the Windows SmartScreen warning for USBSentry.

Frequently asked questions

what is usbsentry fr?

A lightweight Windows 11 tray app that watches your USB devices and alerts you the moment a new one is connected.

What language is usbsentry written in?

Mainly Python. The stack also includes Python, Windows.

What license does usbsentry use?

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

How hard is usbsentry to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is usbsentry for?

Mainly developer.

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