- What is BenchMesh?
- A free, open-source desktop app that puts every instrument on your bench - power supplies, multimeters, oscilloscopes, electronic loads, signal generators, LCR meters and spectrum analyzers - into one window, with live readings, controls and recording on one shared timeline.
- Which instruments does it support?
- Hundreds of models from manufacturers such as Rigol, Siglent, Keysight, OWON, Korad, Riden, GW Instek, Tenma and more. Each model is marked bench-tested, community-confirmed or awaiting confirmation; see the instruments page.
- How do instruments connect?
- USB (USB-TMC or USB-serial), RS-232 and LAN (SCPI raw socket or VXI-11 / LXI). Detect asks each port who is there and adds what it finds; an instrument is recognised by its identity, so it is found again on whatever port it is plugged into.
- Do I need NI-VISA or vendor drivers?
- No. BenchMesh talks USB-TMC itself. On Windows it can install Microsoft’s WinUSB driver for an instrument with one click; an installed VISA is used if you prefer.
- What does “recording on one timeline” mean?
- Any reading from any instrument can be added to a recording. All of them are sampled by one clock, so a supply’s current, a load’s voltage and a multimeter’s temperature line up second by second - on one chart and in one CSV.
- Does it need the internet or an account?
- No. The app runs fully offline. It only checks for updates and reads the community status of instruments at start; both are optional and fail silently.
- Can I automate it?
- Yes. The app has built-in flows (read, decide, set, wait, loop, sweep, record - with every change confirmed), an assistant that assembles flows from a description using your own AI provider key, and an MCP server for AI assistants such as Claude Code. Everything the UI does also goes through a local HTTP/WebSocket API with an OpenAPI description, for your own scripts or tools such as Node-RED. See the docs at /docs.
- My instrument is not listed. Can it be added?
- Usually without new software: instruments are described by declarative definitions (YAML). Ask on GitHub with a link to the programming manual.
- macOS says BenchMesh is damaged and can’t be opened. What now?
- The app is fine: it is not notarised by Apple yet, and macOS reports downloaded apps like that as “damaged” (or says Apple “could not verify” it). Once, after dragging BenchMesh into Applications, run in Terminal: xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/BenchMesh.app - then open it normally. Alternatively open it once, then System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway. Updates afterwards install from inside the app. Full steps: /docs/macos.
- Is it safe to control a power supply from the PC?
- Anything that energises an output needs two presses, every change is confirmed by reading the value back from the instrument, and the panel shows when an instrument did not confirm a change.