Browser-based build and flashing support for Nordic devices

[ncohen]

Hi Nordic team,

We are developing a browser-based development platform for Nordic Semiconductor devices.

The objective is to provide a workflow similar to nRF Connect for Desktop, but entirely through a web application:

Configure → Build → Connect Device → Flash → Test

We would like to understand what official Nordic support is available for implementing this.

Specifically, do you provide or plan to provide any of the following:

1. A JavaScript/TypeScript API or SDK for detecting connected Nordic development kits from a web browser.
2. Browser-based access to Nordic devices using WebUSB, Web Serial, WebHID, or another supported browser transport.
3. An API for programming Nordic devices over the onboard J-Link debugger directly from a browser.
4. A browser-compatible equivalent of nrfutil device, allowing us to:
   
   
   • enumerate connected devices
   • identify the board/SoC
   • obtain the serial number
   • erase
   • program
   • verify
   • reset
   • recover
5. Any API or service for remotely building nRF Connect SDK / Zephyr projects in the cloud.
6. Any official API that nRF Connect for Desktop uses internally which could also be integrated into a third-party web application.
7. Support for SEGGER J-Link WebUSB on Nordic development kits, particularly the nRF54L15 DK and nRF54LM20 DK.

Our preferred architecture is:

Cloud
→ build firmware using nRF Connect SDK
→ send the generated firmware to the browser
→ browser detects the connected Nordic DK
→ browser programs the device directly over USB

We would ideally like to avoid requiring users to install a separate local desktop application or background service.

If direct browser-based J-Link/SWD programming is not currently supported, could you advise what architecture Nordic would recommend for implementing this?

We are particularly interested in any existing APIs, SDKs, libraries, internal tools, reference implementations, or upcoming functionality that could help us build this correctly around the Nordic ecosystem.

Best regards,

Netanel 

[Amanda Hsieh]

Hi, 

Users are welcome to explore new solutions using our publicly available tools, provided all licensing terms are met. Please note that we do not offer active support, guidance, or assistance for custom development.

Regards,
Amanda H.

[ncohen]

Hi Amanda,

Thanks for the reply, but I think my question may have been misunderstood.

I am not asking Nordic to provide custom development work, implementation guidance, or engineering assistance for our project.

I am asking a much more specific product/tooling question:

Does Nordic currently provide, expose, or plan to expose any official API, SDK, browser interface, or supported mechanism that allows a third-party web application to:

• discover connected Nordic development kits;
• identify the board, SoC and serial number;
• program, erase, verify, reset or recover a device;
• access functionality equivalent to nrfutil device;
• communicate with the onboard J-Link debugger through WebUSB, WebSerial or another browser-compatible transport; and/or
• submit nRF Connect SDK builds through an official Nordic cloud/build API?

We are perfectly capable of implementing the platform ourselves. What we are trying to avoid is unnecessarily reimplementing functionality that may already exist internally or publicly within Nordic’s developer tooling.

The architectural question is simply whether Nordic currently supports, or has a recommended public interface for:

Browser → Nordic DK → J-Link/SWD

rather than requiring:

Browser → locally installed native application → J-Link/SWD.

If the answer is simply that no such browser-compatible API or interface currently exists, that is completely fine. We just need a clear technical answer so that we can choose the correct architecture.

If possible, could you please forward this question to whoever is responsible for nRF Util, nRF Connect for Desktop, device programming tools, or developer tooling APIs?

Regards,

Nate

[Amanda Hsieh]

Unfortunately, there is no such browser-compatible API at this time.