How-tos
Connect to a console cable
Transit AI supports USB-to-serial console cables (FTDI, Silicon Labs, Prolific) for out-of-band access to network gear. The same agent and terminal that drive SSH sessions drive console sessions identically.
Cable compatibility: Not every USB-to-serial cable has been tested with Transit AI — but this one has, and is a safe starting point if you don’t already own one.
Platform support: macOS only in v1. Windows and Linux are planned follow-ups.
When does the console section appear?
The Console cables section in the sidebar is hidden when no cables are plugged in. Plug a USB-to-serial cable into your machine and the section appears at the bottom of the sidebar above the account chip.
If the cable’s chip is detected but no /dev/cu.* node appears,
macOS hasn’t loaded the driver. Transit AI surfaces this with a
“FTDI/SiLabs/Prolific driver not loaded — install the VCP driver
and approve in System Settings → Privacy & Security” warning.
Most cables ship with macOS-compatible drivers; the Silicon Labs
CP210x is a common one.
Open the console-connect dialog
- Find the cable in the Console cables section of the sidebar.
- Click the row. The Console connect dialog opens.
Fields
| Field | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Junos | Selects the per-vendor permit list (same as SSH devices). |
| Baud | 9600 | Common rates: 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, 115200. Most network gear is 9600. |
| Data bits | 8 | Almost always 8. |
| Parity | None | Almost always None. |
| Stop bits | 1 | Almost always 1. |
| Flow control | None | Some older gear uses RTS/CTS hardware flow control. |
The defaults (Junos / 9600 8N1 / no flow) match the majority of network device configurations.
Steps
- Plug the USB-to-serial cable into your Mac and the device’s console port (an RJ45 → USB cable for Cisco, a DB9 → USB cable for older Juniper / Arista, etc.).
- Approve any driver prompt your OS surfaces.
- Confirm the cable appears in the Console cables section in the sidebar.
- Click the row.
- Pick the Vendor that matches the device on the other end.
- Tweak the serial settings if your device deviates from 9600 8N1.
- Click Connect. A new tab opens with the console session.
Mid-session unplug
If you yank the cable mid-session, the tab is marked ended (same UX as an SSH session whose remote closed). The scrollback survives until you close the tab; press Enter to reconnect once the cable is plugged back in.
What’s the same as an SSH session
- Vendor selection uses the same per-vendor permit list.
- The AI reads scrollback the same way (with secrets stripped out) and proposes commands through the same approval dialog.
- Multi-line paste confirmation, syntax highlighting, quick copy/paste — all per-device toggles that apply to console sessions identically.
What’s different
- No host-key TOFU prompt (it’s a local serial port, not a remote host).
- No authentication step at the Transit AI layer — auth happens at the device’s login prompt over the serial line.