wican-cli

Command-line tool for managing WiCAN Pro OBD-II WiFi devices.

View and save device configuration, toggle sleep mode, switch protocol modes, query SD card logs, check AutoPID values, manage vehicle profiles, and reboot — all from your terminal.

Installation

pip install wican-cli

Or with uv:

uv tool install wican-cli

Quick start

# Connect to WiCAN on its default AP address (192.168.80.1)
wican status

# Or specify a device address
wican --use 192.168.1.100 status

# Set up a config file to avoid typing the address every time
mkdir -p ~/.config/wican-cli
cat > ~/.config/wican-cli/config.yaml << 'EOF'
wican_addresses:
  home: "192.168.1.100"
  vpn: "10.8.0.50"
default_wican: home
EOF

# Now just use the named alias (or omit --use to auto-discover)
wican status
wican --use vpn status

Commands

Command	Description
wican config	View device configuration (optionally save to file)
wican sleep	View or modify sleep/power settings
wican status	Device status summary
wican protocol	View or switch CAN protocol mode
wican logs	List, download, or query SD card OBD log databases
wican autopid	Show latest AutoPID cached values
wican profile	View or upload vehicle profile (AutoPID configuration)
wican reboot	Reboot the device

Examples

# Save a config snapshot with credentials stripped
wican config --save --redact

# Enable sleep mode with 12.5V threshold
wican sleep --enable --voltage 12.5

# Switch to ELM327 mode for use with Torque/Car Scanner
wican protocol --set elm327

# Download all log databases from the SD card
wican logs --download

# Query a specific parameter from the latest log
wican logs --query SOC_BMS --limit 20

# Show AutoPID values filtered by name
wican autopid -f tyre

# View current vehicle profile
wican profile

# Upload a new vehicle profile and reboot to apply
wican profile --upload ioniq-2017.json --reboot

Configuration

wican-cli looks for configuration in this order:

1. WICAN_URL environment variable (overrides everything)
2. ./config.yaml (project-local)
3. ~/.config/wican-cli/config.yaml (user-global)

If none is found, it defaults to 192.168.80.1 (WiCAN's built-in AP).

Config file format

wican_addresses:
  home: "192.168.1.100"    # Device on local LAN
  vpn: "10.8.0.50"         # Device via VPN tunnel
  ap: "192.168.80.1"       # Direct AP connection (WiCAN default)
default_wican: home         # Which address to use by default

Use --use <name> to select a different address, or pass an IP/URL directly: --use 192.168.1.100.

When --use is omitted, the CLI probes the default address first, then falls back to other configured addresses automatically.

Global flags

Flag	Description
--use ADDR	Device address: named alias or IP/URL (auto-discovers if omitted)
--timeout SEC	Request timeout in seconds (default: 10)
--json	JSON output (available on most commands)
--version	Show version and exit

Shell completions

wican-cli uses argcomplete for tab completions in bash, zsh, and fish.

Global activation (all argcomplete-enabled tools)

# bash (add to ~/.bashrc)
activate-global-python-argcomplete

# zsh (add to ~/.zshrc)
autoload -U bashcompinit && bashcompinit
activate-global-python-argcomplete

# fish
register-python-argcomplete --shell fish wican | source

Per-command activation

# bash (add to ~/.bashrc)
eval "$(register-python-argcomplete wican)"

# zsh (add to ~/.zshrc)
autoload -U bashcompinit && bashcompinit
eval "$(register-python-argcomplete wican)"

# fish (add to ~/.config/fish/completions/wican.fish)
register-python-argcomplete --shell fish wican | source

Local development

Prerequisites: Python 3.10+ and uv.

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/philipkocanda/wican-cli.git
cd wican-cli

# Install dependencies (including dev extras)
uv sync --extra dev

# Run the CLI locally
uv run wican --help

# Run tests
uv run pytest

# Run tests with coverage
uv run pytest --cov

# Lint and format
uv run ruff check .
uv run ruff format .

What is WiCAN?

WiCAN Pro is an ESP32-based WiFi/BLE OBD-II adapter that supports multiple protocols (AutoPID, SLCAN, ELM327, SavvyCAN, RealDash). It can publish vehicle data via MQTT to Home Assistant, log to SD card, and provide a WebSocket terminal interface.

This CLI tool manages the device itself — it does not send CAN/OBD requests to the vehicle. For that, use tools like python-can, SavvyCAN, or Torque.

License

Public domain — see LICENSE (Unlicense).