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BLE Scanner

About​

BLE Scanner is a command-line tool for scanning nearby Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices on Windows. The application supports two primary modes:

  • Print Mode: Scans BLE advertisements and prints results to the console, with an option to export them to a JSON file.

  • Top Mode: Displays the closest BLE devices in a table, ordered by signal strength (RSSI).

System Requirements​

Installation​

On Windows, BLE Scanner is available as a Scoop package, which automates installation and upgrades.

Using Scoop, installing the application is as easy as:

> scoop bucket add ble-scanner-cli https://github.com/relbis-labs/ble-scanner.git
> scoop install ble-scanner-cli

Usage​

View Available Commands​

Run the following to see available commands:

ble-scanner-cli

Example output:

BLE Scanner 1.0.0

BLE Scanner scans nearby Bluetooth Low Energy devices.

Usage: ble-scanner-cli [command] [options]

Options:
  --version     Show version information.
  -?|-h|--help  Show help information.

Commands:
  print         Scans BLE devices and prints the results to the console and a file.
  top           Scans BLE devices and displays them in a table ordered by RSSI in descending order.

Run 'ble-scanner-cli [command] -?|-h|--help' for more information about a command.

Scan BLE devices and print results​

Run the following command:

> ble-scanner-cli print

Example output

...
{
   "Advertisement": {
      "DataSections": [
         {
            "DataType": 1,
            "Data": "42"
         },
         {
            "DataType": 255,
            "Data": "99:E3:EB:D8:F7:09:3F:9E:FE:C4:75:3C:C1:D9:B7:19:41:7E:BA:45:0A:15:8D:CC:DB"
         }
      ],
      "Flags": 6,
      "LocalName": "Device-4452",
      "ManufacturerData": [
         {
            "CompanyId": "004C",
            "Data": "97:33:94:5F:42:3A:02:07:44:CA:3E:CE:BC:4C:53:81:79:A0:0F:F2:4D:27:B8",
            "iBeacon": {
               "Uuid": "dd10efd2-1380-4afc-add4-a9edd937c5f8",
               "Major": 22338,
               "Minor": 45676,
               "TxPower": -59
            }
         }
      ],
      "ServiceUuids": [
      ]
   },
   "AdvertisementType": 0,
   "BluetoothAddress": "15:91:85:11:26:48",
   "BluetoothAddressType": 1,
   "IsAnonymous": false,
   "IsConnectable": true,
   "IsDirected": false,
   "IsScannable": true,
   "IsScanResponse": false,
   "RawSignalStrengthInDBm": -76,
   "Timestamp": "2025-08-25T14:06:22.0554039+01:00",
   "TransmitPowerLevelInDBm": null
}
...

Optional parameters:

  • --mac-address-filter <MAC Address> - Show only results from a specific MAC address.
  • Use --output-file-name <File Name> - Save results to a JSON file.

Scan BLE devices and display devices with the strongest signal at the top​

Run:

ble-scanner-cli top

The screen will display a live-updating grid of detected devices, ordered by signal strength.

Example:

Top Command

To view details of a device, select it and press F3.

Example:

Device Details

Troubleshooting​

Problem: The application cannot start scanning.​

Solution: Ensure your system has a compatible Bluetooth adapter and that Bluetooth is enabled.

Changelog​

See Releases

Data Collection​

BLE Scanner may collect basic usage statistics for diagnostic purposes. It does not collect personal data or any information from scanned BLE devices.

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