Nordic Wi-Fi WebDash

Nordic Wi-Fi WebDash is a browser-based demo and reference application for Nordic nRF7x Wi-Fi development kits. The device hosts the dashboard itself, so users can monitor buttons, control LEDs, and inspect system state directly from a browser without relying on cloud services.

The firmware supports four Wi-Fi operating modes: SoftAP, STA, P2P_GO, and P2P_CLIENT. The selected mode is stored in NVS and can be changed at runtime with the app_wifi_mode shell command. Default on fresh flash is P2P_GO.

Connect to the device via Wi-Fi and open the dashboard in your browser:

Project Overview

Introduction

This project is designed for two common use cases:

• Evaluator — grab a pre-built .hex from the Releases page, flash it, and follow the Quick Start guide to reach the dashboard in two steps.
• Application Developer — clone the workspace, build from source, and customise the firmware; see Developer Info for build setup and Documentation for product requirements, architecture, and per-module specs.

Supported hardware:

• nRF7002DK (nrf7002dk/nrf5340/cpuapp)
• nRF54LM20DK + nRF7002EBII (nrf54lm20dk/nrf54lm20a/cpuapp + shield)

Features

• Four Wi-Fi modes: SoftAP, STA, P2P_GO (device is Group Owner), and P2P_CLIENT (device joins phone's group)
• Runtime mode switching with app_wifi_mode [softap|sta|p2p_go|p2p_client]
• Browser dashboard for button status, LED control, and system information
• REST API for /api/system, /api/buttons, /api/leds, and /api/led
• Gzip-compressed static web assets served from flash
• mDNS hostname support via http://nrfwebdash.local
• Modular architecture based on SMF + Zbus
• Startup banner with firmware version string (git tag on CI / v<NCS>-dev locally), module boot sequence with SYS_INIT priorities, and periodic reminders (SSID/PIN) until a client connects

Project Structure

nordic-wifi-webdash/
├── CMakeLists.txt
├── Kconfig
├── prj.conf
├── west.yml
├── docs/
│   ├── PRD.md                     ← product requirements, features, acceptance criteria
│   └── specs/
│       ├── overview.md            ← spec index, PRD-to-spec mapping, architecture summary
│       ├── architecture.md        ← module map, Zbus channels, SYS_INIT boot order
│       ├── network-module.md      ← SoftAP / STA / P2P_GO / P2P_CLIENT paths
│       ├── mode-selector.md       ← app_wifi_mode shell command, NVS persistence
│       ├── webserver-module.md    ← HTTP server, REST API, DNS-SD, web UI
│       ├── button-module.md       ← GPIO button monitoring, SMF events
│       └── led-module.md          ← LED control, Zbus-commanded
├── src/
│   ├── main.c
│   └── modules/
│       ├── button/
│       ├── led/
│       ├── memory/
│       ├── mode_selector/
│       ├── network/
│       ├── webserver/
│       └── messages.h

Quick Start

This section is intentionally short so an evaluator can get to a working dashboard quickly.

Step 1 - Flash the firmware

Download the pre-built .hex for your board from the Releases page, then open nRF Connect for Desktop -> Programmer, select your board, add the .hex file, and click Erase & Write.

Board	Release page
nRF7002DK	Latest release
nRF54LM20DK + nRF7002EBII	Latest release

Step 2 - Choose Wi-Fi mode and open the dashboard

Open a serial terminal at 115200 baud and follow the instructions printed by the firmware.

• P2P_GO (default on fresh flash): the P2P group and WPS PIN (12345678) are auto-started at boot — no shell commands needed; on the phone open Wi-Fi Direct, wait for the DK to appear, select it, enter PIN 12345678, then open http://192.168.7.1 or http://nrfwebdash.local
• P2P_CLIENT: run app_wifi_mode P2P_CLIENT, reboot, the device auto-starts peer discovery; on the phone enable Wi-Fi Direct, then run wifi p2p connect <MAC> pbc on the device and accept on the phone; open the IP shown in the terminal
• SoftAP: run app_wifi_mode SoftAP, reboot, connect to Wi-Fi WebDash_AP with password 12345678, then open http://192.168.7.1
• STA: run app_wifi_mode STA, reboot, then run wifi connect -s <SSID> -p <password> -k 1 and open the http://<DHCP-IP> shown in the terminal

At any time, you can switch modes with uart:~$ app_wifi_mode [softap|sta|p2p_go|p2p_client]. The choice is saved to NVS and survives reboot.

Developer Info

This section covers environment setup, build commands, and configuration. For product requirements, architecture decisions, and per-module specs, see the Documentation section below.

Environment Setup

• nRF Connect SDK v3.3.0-rc2
• West workspace driven by west.yml
• nRF Connect for VS Code or a shell initialized with the NCS toolchain

Build From Source

# nRF7002DK
west build -p -b nrf7002dk/nrf5340/cpuapp -- -DSNIPPET=wifi-p2p

# nRF54LM20DK + nRF7002EBII
west build -p -b nrf54lm20dk/nrf54lm20a/cpuapp -- -DSNIPPET=wifi-p2p -DSHIELD=nrf7002eb2

Flash with:

west flash

Workspace Setup

This repository is a workspace application. The normal flow is:

1. Initialize the workspace from west.yml.
2. Run west update.
3. Build and flash for the target board.

For product context and implementation details, start at docs/specs/overview.md — it maps every PRD requirement to the spec file that implements it.

Configuration

Key application settings are in prj.conf:

CONFIG_APP_WIFI_SSID="WebDash_AP"
CONFIG_APP_WIFI_PASSWORD="12345678"
CONFIG_APP_HTTP_PORT=80
CONFIG_NET_HOSTNAME="nrfwebdash"

Developer Notes

• nRF54LM20DK + nRF7002EBII loses one button because of shield pin conflicts; BUTTON0–BUTTON2 remain available
• STA connections are intentionally session-based to avoid unwanted reconnects when returning to other modes
• Default mode on fresh flash is P2P_GO — switch to SoftAP or STA with app_wifi_mode if preferred
• The startup banner prints firmware version (Version: <tag> on CI / v<NCS>-dev locally), aligned board/MAC/mode labels, and a module list with SYS_INIT boot priorities — useful for orientation when reading serial logs
• SoftAP and P2P_GO both log connectivity instructions every 300 s until the first client connects; the reminders stop automatically on first connection
• mDNS behavior and module responsibilities are in docs/specs/network-module.md; mode handling is in docs/specs/mode-selector.md

Troubleshooting

• SoftAP not reachable: verify the terminal shows the expected IP and SoftAP instructions
• STA not reachable: confirm the device received a DHCP IP and use that address first
• mDNS not resolving: test the printed IP before investigating hostname resolution on the host OS
• Build issues: confirm the workspace is using NCS v3.3.0-rc2 and the correct board/shield combination
• P2P_GO not working: ensure build uses -DSNIPPET=wifi-p2p; group is auto-started at boot — check the terminal for errors if it fails
• P2P_CLIENT not finding peers: verify -DSNIPPET=wifi-p2p is used; phone's Wi-Fi Direct must be active

Web Interface

The firmware serves a live dashboard. Connect to the device via Wi-Fi and open the printed IP (or http://nrfwebdash.local) in any browser.

Button Status Panel

Displays real-time status for all available buttons.

• Current state (Pressed/Released)
• Press count
• Board-aware button naming and count

LED Control Panel

Provides per-LED control for supported boards.

• ON
• OFF
• Toggle

System Information

The dashboard also reports:

• Active Wi-Fi mode and SSID
• Device IP address and MAC
• Connected client IP
• Uptime

Documentation

Document	Description
docs/PRD.md	Product Requirements — features, behavior, acceptance criteria, changelog
docs/specs/overview.md	Start here — spec index, PRD-to-spec mapping, architecture summary, design decisions
docs/specs/architecture.md	System architecture — module map, Zbus channels, SYS_INIT boot sequence, memory budget
docs/specs/network-module.md	Network module — SoftAP / STA / P2P_GO / P2P_CLIENT paths, event handling, WPS
docs/specs/mode-selector.md	Mode selector — app_wifi_mode shell command, NVS persistence, factory default
docs/specs/webserver-module.md	Webserver module — HTTP server, REST API endpoints, DNS-SD, web UI
docs/specs/button-module.md	Button module — GPIO monitoring, SMF press/release events, board differences
docs/specs/led-module.md	LED module — per-LED state machine, Zbus-commanded via LED_CMD_CHAN

The PRD describes what the device should do and for whom. The engineering specs describe how — each module spec maps back to PRD requirements and documents the state machine, Kconfig options, API, and test cases for that module.

REST API

All API endpoints use JSON.

GET /api/system

Returns active mode, device IP, device MAC, connected HTTP client IP, SSID, uptime, and board name.

Example response:

{
  "mode": "P2P_GO",
  "device_ip": "192.168.49.1",
  "device_mac": "AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF",
  "client_ip": "192.168.49.100",
  "ssid": "DIRECT-xx-WebDash",
  "uptime_s": 120,
  "board": "nrf54lm20dk"
}

GET /api/buttons

Returns current button states and press counts.

Example response:

{
  "buttons": [
    {"number": 0, "name": "Button 1", "pressed": false, "count": 5},
    {"number": 1, "name": "Button 2", "pressed": true, "count": 12}
  ]
}

GET /api/leds

Returns current LED states.

Example response:

{
  "leds": [
    {"number": 0, "name": "LED1", "is_on": true},
    {"number": 1, "name": "LED2", "is_on": false}
  ]
}

POST /api/led

Controls a single LED.

Example request:

{
  "led": 1,
  "action": "on"
}

Supported actions: on, off, toggle

Development Methodology

This project was developed using the chsh-ncs-workflow — a four-phase lifecycle for NCS/Zephyr IoT projects where each phase has a dedicated AI skill:

Phase	Focus	Skill	Output
1 — Product Definition	What the device should do, for whom, and why	chsh-pm-prd	docs/PRD.md
2 — Technical Design	Translate PRD into engineering specs	chsh-dev-spec	docs/specs/*.md
3 — Implementation	Implement code from approved specs	chsh-dev-project	src/, passing build
4 — QA & Test	Validate the build against PRD criteria	chsh-qa-test	TEST-*.md, QA-*.md

Each phase feeds the next: requirements drive specs, specs drive code, code drives tests. Issues loop back to the right phase — code bugs to Phase 3, spec gaps to Phase 2, new requirements to Phase 1.

Supporting skills: chsh-dev-commit (logical git history), chsh-dev-mem-opt (flash/RAM analysis).

References

• nRF Connect SDK Documentation
• Zephyr State Machine Framework
• Zephyr Zbus
• nRF70 Series Wi-Fi

Contributing

This project follows Nordic Semiconductor coding standards. Contributions are welcome.

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Nordic Semiconductor ASA

SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-Nordic-5-Clause