hcitool

bluetooth Host Controller Interface tool for monitoring, configuring

TLDR

List the local Bluetooth adapters

$ hcitool dev

Discover nearby devices

$ hcitool scan

Inquire, showing device class and clock offset as well

$ hcitool inq

Scan for Bluetooth Low Energy devices

$ hcitool lescan

Read the friendly name of a remote device

$ hcitool name [00:11:22:33:44:55]

Dump a remote device's features and firmware version

$ hcitool info [00:11:22:33:44:55]

Show the adapter's active connections

$ hcitool con

Read the signal strength of a connection

$ hcitool rssi [00:11:22:33:44:55]

Check the link quality of a connection

$ hcitool lq [00:11:22:33:44:55]

Work with a specific adapter when more than one is present

$ hcitool -i [hci0] scan

SYNOPSIS

hcitool [options] command [command-parameters]

hcitool is a Bluetooth Host Controller Interface tool for monitoring, configuring connections, and sending commands to Bluetooth devices. It provides low-level access to Bluetooth functionality for diagnostics and advanced configuration.The tool can discover nearby devices, query device information, manage connections, and configure link parameters. It operates at the HCI layer, below the higher-level profiles like A2DP or HFP.

PARAMETERS

-i hciX

Use the specified HCI device instead of the first available one.

scan

Scan for discoverable Bluetooth devices

lescan

Scan for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices

dev

List local Bluetooth adapters

name bdaddr

Get remote device name

info bdaddr

Get remote device information

lq bdaddr

Get link quality

tpl bdaddr type

Get/set transmit power level

Display link policy

auth bdaddr

Request authentication

con

Display active connections

cc bdaddr

Create connection

dc bdaddr

Disconnect

INSTALL

sudo apt install bluez

sudo dnf install bluez

sudo pacman -S bluez

sudo apk add bluez-deprecated

sudo zypper install bluez

brew install bluez

nix profile install nixpkgs#bluez

CAVEATS

Deprecated in favor of bluetoothctl in modern BlueZ versions. May require root privileges for some operations. Some features depend on Bluetooth adapter capabilities.

HISTORY

hcitool is part of the BlueZ Bluetooth protocol stack for Linux. While functional, it's considered legacy and bluetoothctl from BlueZ 5 is recommended for most operations on modern systems.

RESOURCES

Source code