Nordic Wi-Fi WebDash

Project Overview

Introduction

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.

Supported hardware

Board	Build target
nRF7002DK	nrf7002dk/nrf5340/cpuapp
nRF54LM20DK + nRF7002EBII	nrf54lm20dk/nrf54lm20a/cpuapp + -DSHIELD=nrf7002eb2

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

Target Users

• Evaluator — grab a pre-built .hex from the Releases page, flash it, and follow the Evaluator Quick Start guide to reach the dashboard in under 5 minutes.
• Developer — clone the workspace, build from source, and customise the firmware; see Developer Guide for build setup and Documentation for product requirements, architecture, and per-module specs.

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Evaluator Quick Start

Evaluator path — no build environment needed. ~5 minutes.

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 — Connect 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.

Step 3 — Verify

Open http://192.168.7.1 (P2P_GO or SoftAP) or the IP printed in the terminal (STA or P2P_CLIENT) in any browser. The live dashboard shows button states, LED controls, and system information. http://nrfwebdash.local also works on hosts that support mDNS.

Buttons & LEDs

Buttons

Board	Buttons	Function
nRF7002DK	Button 1, Button 2	State and press count shown in dashboard and reported via /api/buttons
nRF54LM20DK + nRF7002EBII	BUTTON0, BUTTON1, BUTTON2	Same (BUTTON3 unavailable — shield pin conflict)

LEDs

Board	LEDs	Control
nRF7002DK	LED1, LED2	Controlled via dashboard (on / off / toggle) or /api/led
nRF54LM20DK	LED0, LED1, LED2, LED3	Same

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Developer Guide

Project Structure

nordic-wifi-webdash/
├── CMakeLists.txt          ← registers zego/button + zego/led via EXTRA_ZEPHYR_MODULES
├── Kconfig
├── prj.conf
├── west.yml
├── boards/                 ← per-board Kconfig fragments (button count, LED count)
├── docs/
│   ├── pm-prd/
│   │   └── PRD.md                 ← product requirements, features, acceptance criteria
│   ├── dev-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
│   └── qa-test/
│       └── QA-*.md               ← dated test + QA reports
├── src/
│   ├── main.c
│   └── modules/
│       ├── memory/
│       ├── mode_selector/
│       ├── network/
│       ├── webserver/
│       └── messages.h
└── ../zego/                ← sibling repo — external Zephyr modules
    ├── button/             ← zego/button: gesture detection, BUTTON_CHAN
    └── led/                ← zego/led: static/blink/breathe/marquee, LED_CMD_CHAN

Workspace Setup

West workspace is driven by west.yml. Which contains the ncs version this application based on, for example, the following content means ncs v3.3.0.

    - name: sdk-nrf
      path: nrf
      revision: v3.3.0
      import: true
      remote: ncs

Release versions follow the NCS version with a build counter suffix: v<ncs-version>.<build> (e.g. v3.3.0.1, v3.3.0.2). The major/minor/patch components always match the NCS version the firmware is based on, making it easy to identify which SDK a given release targets.

Use nRF Connect for VS Code or a shell initialized with the NCS toolchain.

Method 1 (Preferred) — Add to an existing NCS installation

If you already have a matching NCS version installed, reuse it directly — no re-downloading required.

Under a terminal with the toolchain:

cd /opt/nordic/ncs/<ncs-version>   # your existing NCS workspace root

git clone https://github.com/chshzh/nordic-wifi-webdash.git

# Switch the workspace manifest to nordic-wifi-webdash (one-time change)
west config manifest.path nordic-wifi-webdash

# Sync — NCS repos already present, only new project repos are cloned
west update

Method 2 — Fresh installation as a Workspace Application

Option A: nRF Connect for VS Code

Follow the custom repository guide.

Option B: CLI

west init -m https://github.com/chshzh/nordic-wifi-webdash --mr main <workspace-dir>
cd <workspace-dir>
west update

See the Nordic guide on Workspace Application Setup for details.

Build

# nRF7002DK
west build -p -b nrf7002dk/nrf5340/cpuapp -d build_nrf7002dk  -- -DSNIPPET=wifi-p2p

# nRF54LM20DK + nRF7002EBII
west build -p -b nrf54lm20dk/nrf54lm20a/cpuapp -d build_nrf54lm20dk  -- -DSNIPPET=wifi-p2p -DSHIELD=nrf7002eb2

Flash

First-time flash (erases all flash including NVS — Wi-Fi credentials will need to be re-provisioned):

# nRF7002DK
west flash -d build_nrf7002dk --erase

# nRF54LM20DK
west flash -d build_nrf54lm20dk --recover

Serial Monitor

Connect at 115200 baud. The device prints its IP address, Wi-Fi mode, and connection instructions at boot.

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/dev-specs/network-module.md; mode handling is in docs/dev-specs/mode-selector.md

Documentation

The full design documentation lives under docs/. Start with docs/dev-specs/overview.md, which maps every PRD requirement to the spec file that implements it and provides an architecture summary.

Document	Description
docs/pm-prd/PRD.md	Product Requirements — user perspective features, behavior, acceptance criteria, changelog
docs/dev-specs/overview.md	Start here — technical spec index, PRD-to-spec mapping, architecture summary, design decisions
docs/dev-specs/architecture.md	System architecture — module map, Zbus channels, SYS_INIT boot sequence, memory budget
docs/dev-specs/network-module.md	Network module — SoftAP / STA / P2P_GO / P2P_CLIENT paths, event handling, WPS
docs/dev-specs/mode-selector.md	Mode selector — app_wifi_mode shell command, NVS persistence, factory default
docs/dev-specs/webserver-module.md	Webserver module — HTTP server, REST API endpoints, DNS-SD, web UI
zego/button — button-spec.md	Button module — gesture detection (click, double-click, long press), Zbus BUTTON_CHAN; provided by zego/button
zego/led — led-spec.md	LED module — per-LED state machine (static, blink, breathe, marquee), Zbus LED_CMD_CHAN; provided by zego/led

Methodology

This project was developed using the chsh-sk-ncs-0-workflow skill — 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-sk-ncs-1-prd	docs/pm-prd/PRD.md
2 — Technical Design	Translate PRD into engineering specs	chsh-sk-ncs-2-spec	docs/dev-specs/*.md
3 — Implementation	Implement, debug, and optimise code from approved specs	chsh-sk-ncs-3.1-coding · chsh-sk-ncs-3.2-debug · chsh-sk-ncs-3.3-memopt	src/, passing build
4 — V&V	Verify code quality (no HW), then validate on hardware against PRD criteria	chsh-sk-ncs-4.1-verification · chsh-sk-ncs-4.2-validation	docs/qa-test/VERIFICATION-*.md + docs/qa-test/VALIDATION-*.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.

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License

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