teslausb-go

A ground-up rewrite of TeslaUSB as a single Go binary with an embedded React web UI, targeting the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W.

The original project spans roughly 14,000 lines of bash, Python, and JavaScript. This rewrite replaces it with approximately 3,500 lines of Go and TypeScript. The scope is deliberately narrower: dashcam/sentry footage only (no music or lightshow), NFS-only archiving, and a single webhook notification channel.

Features

• USB mass storage gadget -- presents a virtual USB drive to the Tesla for dashcam and sentry recording
• NFS archiving with rsync -- mounts a remote NFS share and syncs footage when the car is parked on WiFi
• BLE or webhook keep-awake -- prevents the car from sleeping during archive via Bluetooth LE or an HTTP webhook
• Temperature monitoring -- reads the Pi's CPU temperature with configurable warning and caution thresholds
• Real-time web dashboard -- embedded React UI showing system state, temperatures, and archive progress
• Self-updating -- update the binary via the command line without touching config or footage

Quick Start

Prerequisites

1. Flash Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit, Bookworm) to an SD card using Raspberry Pi Imager.
2. In the imager, configure WiFi credentials and enable SSH before writing.
3. Insert the SD card into a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W and boot it.

Install

SSH into the Pi and run:

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TerrifiedBug/teslausb-go/main/install.sh | sudo bash

The installer downloads the binary and tesla-control, installs required system packages (exfatprogs, nfs-common, rsync, bluez, etc.), configures the USB gadget overlay, creates a systemd service, and prompts for a reboot.

Tesla Vehicle Settings

Recent Tesla firmware cuts power to USB ports when the car sleeps. To keep the car awake during archiving:

1. Safety → Sentry Mode: Set to ON
2. Exclude Home: Unchecked

This ensures Sentry Mode is active when you arrive home, keeping the car (and USB power) awake while teslausb-go archives footage. After archiving completes, teslausb-go turns Sentry Mode off so the car can sleep and conserve battery.

Option A: BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy)

Pair the Pi directly with your car via Bluetooth. No external services needed.

1. In the teslausb-go web UI: enter your VIN and click Pair, then tap your NFC key card on the center console
2. After archiving, teslausb-go sends sentry-mode off via BLE

Option B: Webhook

Use an external service like Home Assistant to turn Sentry Mode off after archiving.

1. In the teslausb-go web UI: set keep-awake method to Webhook and enter your webhook URL
2. After archiving, teslausb-go sends a webhook with {"awake_command":"stop"}
3. Your automation turns off Sentry Mode via the Tesla integration

Example Home Assistant automation:

triggers:
  - trigger: webhook
    webhook_id: teslausb-keep-awake
    allowed_methods: [POST]
    local_only: false
actions:
  - choose:
      - conditions:
          - condition: template
            value_template: "{{ trigger.json.awake_command == 'stop' }}"
        sequence:
          - action: switch.turn_off
            target:
              entity_id: switch.your_car_sentry_mode

Configure

After reboot, open http://teslausb.local in a browser and fill in your NFS server, share path, and keep-awake settings.

Configuration

All configuration is managed through the web UI and stored at /mutable/teslausb/config.yaml. The file can also be edited directly. The available keys are:

nfs:
  server: "192.168.1.100"       # NFS server IP or hostname
  share: "/volume1/TeslaCam"    # NFS export path

keep_awake:
  method: "ble"                 # "ble" or "webhook"
  vin: ""                       # Vehicle VIN (required for BLE)
  webhook_url: ""               # Webhook URL (required for webhook method)

notifications:
  webhook_url: ""               # URL for archive/error notifications

temperature:
  warning_celsius: 70           # Threshold for warning state
  caution_celsius: 60           # Threshold for caution state

WiFi is configured via Raspberry Pi Imager, not in this file.

Development

Requirements

• Go 1.22+
• Node.js 20+

Commands

# Run locally with example config
make dev

# Start the React dev server with hot reload
make dev-web

# Build the web UI and embed it, then build the host binary
make build-web && make build

# Cross-compile for Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W (linux/arm64)
make build-arm64

# Run tests
make test

# Remove build artifacts
make clean

The make dev target builds the Go binary and runs it with config.yaml.example. The web dev server (make dev-web) runs separately via Vite for frontend development.

Architecture

State Machine

The system operates as a state machine with five states:

away --> arriving --> archiving --> idle --> away

• away -- the car is disconnected from WiFi (driving or parked elsewhere)
• arriving -- WiFi connection detected; the system prepares to archive
• archiving -- footage is being synced to the NFS share via rsync; keep-awake is active
• idle -- archiving is complete; the system waits quietly
• away -- WiFi drops; the USB gadget is re-presented for recording

Internal Packages

The internal/ directory contains the following packages:

Package	Purpose
archive	NFS mount and rsync-based footage sync
ble	Bluetooth LE keep-awake via tesla-control
config	YAML config loading and validation
disk	Backing file and partition management
gadget	USB mass storage gadget setup
monitor	CPU temperature monitoring
notify	Webhook notifications
state	State machine and transitions
system	Hostname, reboot, and system-level operations
update	Binary self-update from GitHub releases
web	HTTP server and embedded React static files
webhook	Webhook-based keep-awake

Embedded Web UI

The React frontend (in web/) is built with Vite and TypeScript. At build time, the compiled assets are copied into internal/web/static/ and embedded into the Go binary using embed.FS, so there are no external files to deploy.

Updating

Update the binary via the web UI or from the command line:

sudo teslausb update

Updates download the latest release from GitHub and replace the binary in place. Configuration (/mutable/teslausb/config.yaml) and recorded footage are never modified.

License

MIT