CanKit early preview: capability discovery, a ready-to-run CAN demo

Pkuyo — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 07:23:59 +0000

I’ve been building CanKit, a small, unified C# API for CAN bus.

🧪 A ready-to-run CAN listener/sender demo using CanKit

Connect to different devices/backends (Support PCan-Basic, Kvaser Canlib, ZlgCan, SocketCAN. And need install drivers first)
Send & receive frames
Set ID filters (if hardware not support will use software filter)
Flip between CAN 2.0 and CAN FD where supported
Periodic transmit window: build a list of frames with periods, enable/disable items, run/stop as a group.

🔍 capability discovery

Before opening a channel, query what the device supports (e.g., CAN FD availability, filter capabilities).
This reduces guesswork and speeds up bring-up.

✅ CI-friendly: fake backend

Hardware-less pipelines are real: the fake backend lets us run CI tests and examples without a CAN dongle attached.
If you’re evaluating CanKit in your own project, you can use this backend for your tests too.

🧩 What is CanKit?

CanKit is a C# library aiming to smooth over vendor differences so your app code stays portable.
It’s 0.3.2 and iterating quickly—expect changes while we stabilize the API with community feedback.

🗂️ Help fill the compatibility matrix (testers wanted!)

Have a CAN device? Please:

Run the demo
Share device model, backend, OS, bit rate, CAN 2.0 / FD, and whether filters worked
Include a short log or open an issue/PR

Even a quick “works on @ 250 kbps” is valuable.

Links

Repo: https://github.com/pkuyo/CanKit
Nuget: https://www.nuget.org/packages/CanKit.Core
Earlier intro (v0.2.0): https://dev.to/pkuyo/cankit-a-unified-c-api-for-can-bus-looking-for-testers-feedback-2m8k

CanKit: a unified c# API for CAN bus (looking for testers & feedback)

Pkuyo — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 03:13:18 +0000

Why I’m building this

When you jump between different CAN adapters, each SDK has its own model, types, and quirks. I wanted a single, clean API that lets you open a bus, send/receive frames, set filters, and do periodic TX—without rewriting everything for each vendor. That became CanKit.

What works today

One API surface for classic CAN 2.0 and CAN-FD
Open by endpoint strings or typed helpers; enumerate endpoints
Sync/async I/O, basic events (frame received, errors), filtering (mask/range), and periodic transmit
Adapters: PCAN-Basic (Peak), Kvaser CANlib, SocketCAN (Linux), ZLG
Targets: .NET Standard 2.0 and .NET 8

Note: Some behaviors vary by adapter (timeouts, hardware filters, error frames, periodic TX). The docs call out some differences and fallbacks.

Quick start

using CanKit.Core;
using CanKit.Core.Definitions;

// Open a bus (example: SocketCAN) and set classic bit timing
using var bus = CanKit.Core.CanBus.Open(
    "socketcan://can0#netlink",
    cfg => cfg.TimingClassic(500_000));

// Send a classic CAN frame
var frame = new CanClassicFrame(0x123, new byte[] { 0x11, 0x22, 0x33 });
bus.Transmit(new[] { frame });

If you prefer strongly-typed helpers, some adapters have them (e.g., Kvaser).

Roadmap / Where I need help

Broader device coverage & validation across OSes
Sharper adapter-specific docs and samples
Edge cases around timeouts/filters on certain devices

I’m actively improving things; bug reports, device notes, and PRs are super welcome.

How you can help

Try it with your adapter(s) and share logs or findings
Open issues for missing features, confusing docs, or rough edges
Send PRs—even small ones (typos, samples) help a lot
Suggest real-world use cases I should cover in samples

DEV Community: Pkuyo