DashKit Cabana Bridge

DashKit Cabana Bridge converts DashKit's BLE CAN stream into a real-time feed for Cabana.

How it works

The bridge discovers and connects to a DashKit peripheral over BLE, receives binary-encoded CAN frames, serializes them into Cap'n Proto cereal::Event messages (OpenPilot format), and publishes them to a MSGQ PubSocket on the "can" endpoint. Cabana (or any MSGQ consumer) can then subscribe and visualize the CAN data in real time.

DashKit (BLE) → BLECentral.swift → msgq_bridge.cpp → MSGQ "can" → Cabana

Data flow

1. BLE Discovery — Scans for a peripheral named "DashKit" and connects automatically.
2. CAN Reception — Subscribes to BLE notifications on the DashKit CAN characteristic.
3. Parsing — Decodes the DashKit binary protocol: [count][bus:1 addr:4LE len:1 data:N]...
4. Serialization — Builds Cap'n Proto cereal::Event messages with monotonic timestamps.
5. Publishing — Sends serialized bytes to the MSGQ ring buffer at /tmp/msgq_can.

Prerequisites

• macOS 13+ (uses CoreBluetooth)
• Swift 5.9+
• Cap'n Proto libraries via Homebrew:

  brew install capnp
  

Build and run

swift build
.build/debug/DashKitBridge

For a release build:

swift build -c release
.build/release/DashKitBridge

The process will scan for DashKit, connect, and begin publishing CAN frames. Press Ctrl+C for graceful shutdown.

Usage with Cabana

1. Start DashKitBridge — it will begin publishing on the "can" MSGQ endpoint.
2. Launch Cabana
3. Select "Device" tab, and MSGQ
4. Load DBC
5. Click "OK"

License

MIT