PN532 CLI

The open-source PN532 CLI is the recommended interface for standard PN532 hardware and PN532Killer on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It detects the connected device and checks commands against its advertised capability set.

Choose a release channel

Channel	Source	Recommended for
Stable	main branch / stable release	Established reader, writer, magic-tag, emulator-load, and mode workflows
Beta	dev branch / beta.* prerelease	CLI firmware upgrade, emulator export, MFKey helpers, Static Nested, dictionary and recovery workflows

The repository currently publishes the beta channel from the dev branch. There is no remote branch literally named beta; beta builds are tagged as beta.<commit>. Download a packaged build from the PN532 CLI releases page, or install the branch from source below.

Beta software

The dev branch can diverge from main. Confirm command help in the installed build, use only official PN532Killer firmware, and keep backups before writing tags, emulator slots, or device firmware.

Install the beta from source

Requirements:

• Python 3.9 or later
• Git
• Access to the USB serial port, or a TCP/UDP serial bridge for normal commands
• A C compiler and POSIX-compatible shell only when building the optional MFKey/Static Nested helpers yourself

git clone --branch dev https://github.com/whywilson/pn532-python.git
cd pn532-python
python3 -m pip install -r script/requirements.txt
python3 script/pn532_cli_main.py

On Windows, use python instead of python3 when appropriate. Packaged beta releases already bundle platform builds and the helper executables.

To run MFKey32v2, MFKey64, or Static Nested from a source checkout, build their native helpers once:

chmod +x script/build_helpers.sh
./script/build_helpers.sh

The script creates build/mfkey32v2, build/mfkey64, and build/staticnested (with .exe on Windows-compatible toolchains).

Connect

Auto-detect a device

pn532> hw connect

Searches serial ports and identifies PN532 or PN532Killer.

Or provide an explicit transport:

hw connect -p COM3
hw connect -p /dev/ttyUSB0
hw connect -p tcp:192.0.2.10:5000
hw connect -p udp:192.0.2.10:5000

Then check the firmware:

hw version

Close other applications that may own the serial port. Firmware upgrade requires a direct local serial port, not a TCP/UDP bridge.

Discover commands

Enter a group without a subcommand to see its installed-version help:

hw
hw led
hf
hf mf
hf mf sniffer
hf mfu
hf 15

Use debug on to display low-level traffic and debug off to return to normal output.

Shared reader workflows

These commands are registered for standard PN532 and PN532Killer:

hf 14a scan
hf mf rdbl --blk 4 -a -k FFFFFFFFFFFF
hf mf dump -k keys.json --file classic.json --bin classic.bin
hf mfu rdbl -b 4

The beta adds dictionary checking and integrated MIFARE Classic workflows:

hf mf chk --key FFFFFFFFFFFF --dump-keys found-keys.txt
hf mf mfoc -k keys.txt -O card.bin
hf mf autopwn -k keys.txt -O card.bin --show-missing

See MIFARE Classic recovery for the exact distinctions and safety boundaries.

PN532Killer beta workflows

hw mode r
hw led on
hf 15 scan
hf mf eRead -s 1 --json --bin
hf mfu eRead -s 1 --json --bin
hf 15 eread -s 1 --json --bin
hf mf sniffer setuid -u 11223344
hw mode s -t 0
hf mf mfkey32v2 --show-raw

The beta can also update PN532Killer firmware directly:

hw connect -p COM3
hw fw --bin PN532Killer-firmware.bin

Follow the interactive DFU instructions exactly. See Firmware update before using this command.

Beta command changes

• hf sniff setuid moved to hf mf sniffer setuid.
• hf mf eRead, hf mfu eRead, and hf 15 eread export emulator data.
• hf mf mfkey32v2, mfkey64, and staticnested retrieve PN532Killer data and invoke bundled native helpers.
• hf mf hardnested is currently a compatibility/fallback entry that routes to nestedattack; it is not a native hardnested solver.
• The dev command tree currently does not register the stable branch's ntag read and ntag write commands. Use the stable channel when those high-level NDEF commands are required.

See the complete beta command reference.