# Flexbar - USB connected hardware touchscreen input bar

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flexbar-usb-connected-hardware-touchscreen-input-bar/96831>\
**Category:** Share Your Projects\
**Created:** [30 April 2025 15:44 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flexbar-usb-connected-hardware-touchscreen-input-bar/96831 "2025-04-30T15:44:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [30 April 2025 15:44 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flexbar-usb-connected-hardware-touchscreen-input-bar/96831/1 "2025-04-30T15:44:21Z")

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So I backed [this project on Kickstarter](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1735591421/flexbar-a-versatile-and-fully-customizable-touch-bar-solution?ref=ksr_email_backer_pledge_collection_successful) a while back and should be getting the actual device imminently.

One of its nice features is the ability to extend the features with Node.js based plugins.

So naturally, that got me to thinking - how could I use it with Node-RED. And UIBUILDER for Node-RED of course. 🙂

First thing that came to mind was a plugin that would allow you to pass custom data to a custom MQTT topic! You could then easily use the bar to trigger Node-RED flows (and much more of course - direct control of MQTT connected IoT devices!)

Well, you can bet I'll be doing that. 🧙

The possibilities seem endless and I've loads of ideas. But let me know in this thread if you can think of something interesting. I will, of course, share any plugins that I develop.

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**Author:** ![marcus-j-davies](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/marcus-j-davies/32/103435_2.png) [@marcus-j-davies](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/marcus-j-davies)\
**Post date:** [30 April 2025 17:32 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flexbar-usb-connected-hardware-touchscreen-input-bar/96831/2 "2025-04-30T17:32:47Z")

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I like the look of that!

Are you sure, you're not a secret Apple fan?

 ![Screenshot 2025-04-30 at 18.27.57](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/e/6/e669de4ffbe677362fcf3f30d668496ecf72f9eb.png)  
Anyway, that was just an opportunity for me 😈

But, I do actually like the looks of it.  
Could you run it on Battery? and place them around the house?

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**Author:** ![Sean-McG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/sean-mcg/32/54677_2.png) [@Sean-McG](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Sean-McG)\
**Post date:** [30 April 2025 17:37 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flexbar-usb-connected-hardware-touchscreen-input-bar/96831/3 "2025-04-30T17:37:03Z")

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Presumably it uses the usb for comms, so standalone it wouldn't be able to talk to anything else ?

For something other than a keyboard addon, there are lots of ESP powered touch screens on the market these days.

e.g.

> [@Using openHASP with Node-Red](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/using-openhasp-with-node-red/81457):
>
> Like many others thinking of you @BartButenaers wink I have long been looking for a good solution to interacting with NR from a wall mounted device. I have seen and made various iterations of small screens etc, but they always look a bit too homemade to be acceptable to the non technicals in the home roll_eyes However there now seems to be a plethora of relatively cheap and powerful, touch screen switch plates on the market. I'm currently experimenting with one at the moment. see [https:/…](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/new-shelly-wall-display/80961)

@TotallyInformation when you get it perhaps you can figure out if it might be possible to interface it to an ESP, could be an interesting form factor for a smart home interface 😉

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**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [30 April 2025 21:56 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flexbar-usb-connected-hardware-touchscreen-input-bar/96831/4 "2025-04-30T21:56:13Z")

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> [@marcus-j-davies](#):
>
> Are you sure, you're not a secret Apple fan?

Oh yes - totally sure! I do have a MacBook Pro though with a bar - it has a very naff keyboard. It very rarely gets used. I can't even be bothered to put Windows on it as it has the very weird Apple UK keyboard.

> [@marcus-j-davies](#):
>
> Could you run it on Battery? and place them around the house?

Yes and no. A lot of features such as the custom plugins require the Designer app to be running on the desktop.

There is a pro version now on Kickstarter that will maybe do more as it is more powerful (and bigger). Haven't had a chance to look at the cost yet though. The battery would power it though. And you can certainly connect it to a phone. Albeit with more limited capabilities.

> [@Sean-McG](#):
>
> Presumably it uses the usb for comms, so standalone it wouldn't be able to talk to anything else ?

It has some native capabilities and you can run it in HID mode so it is quite versatile in that sense.

> [@Sean-McG](#):
>
> For something other than a keyboard addon, there are lots of ESP powered touch screens on the market these days.

What really caught my eye is that the Designer uses node.js for the back-end and VueJS for the front-end on the bar. So eminently hackable for the likes of us. 🙂

> [@Sean-McG](#):
>
> @TotallyInformation when you get it perhaps you can figure out if it might be possible to interface it to an ESP, could be an interesting form factor for a smart home interface

Well, if you have an ESP with a USB interface and a HID driver, you could at the very least send keyboard clicks to the ESP so that should be perfectly possible with a bit of lateral thinking.

I'm afraid though, that this one is going to be wedded to my PC.

I've long wanted some physical device on the PC for things like video recordings, music, extra keyboard, etc. There are plenty of dedicated devices out there but they are too expensive for me, this came in at a decent price along with the massive flexibility.

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**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [30 April 2025 22:08 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flexbar-usb-connected-hardware-touchscreen-input-bar/96831/5 "2025-04-30T22:08:21Z")

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Apparently the Flexbar uses a esp32s3 🙂

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**Author:** ![Sean-McG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/sean-mcg/32/54677_2.png) [@Sean-McG](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Sean-McG)\
**Post date:** [30 April 2025 22:20 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flexbar-usb-connected-hardware-touchscreen-input-bar/96831/6 "2025-04-30T22:20:30Z")

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Ah! - so you will be flashing it with Tasmota then  
🤣

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**Author:** ![krambriw](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/krambriw/32/5429_2.png) [@krambriw](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/krambriw)\
**Post date:** [1 May 2025 05:43 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flexbar-usb-connected-hardware-touchscreen-input-bar/96831/7 "2025-05-01T05:43:59Z")

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> [@TotallyInformation](#):
>
> esp32s3

The esp32s3 has both wifi and bt integrated so it should be possible to connect wireless. Unless not disabled by purpose

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [1 May 2025 08:20 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flexbar-usb-connected-hardware-touchscreen-input-bar/96831/8 "2025-05-01T08:20:19Z")

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I think it has been disabled. Probably to free up space for the other programming. I'm going to see if I can dig into the FlexDesigner code though. There are some features that don't need FlexDesigner running but your own custom plugins do need it. 🤔💭

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [1 May 2025 20:26 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flexbar-usb-connected-hardware-touchscreen-input-bar/96831/9 "2025-05-01T20:26:14Z")

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I know I'm probably the only person on here with one of these. But my first custom plugin is up on GitHub. Not published yet as only part of it works.

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/c/6/c662faf7102fe1881c4dc77f8bd4f377dcfe3612.png)

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/5/d/5dbc0be55cd778512981a1dcbcd233085c4a4f19.png)

Colours, size, text, icon, etc can be changed of course. That is native to the designer app.

The Send widget works already - click the widget on the bar and the MQTT message is sent.

The subscribe widget not working yet but I know how to get the value to update on the bar's display so easy enough to do.

> **[GitHub - TotallyInformation/FlexBar-MQTT-Plugin: A custom plugin for FlexBar and FlexDesigner...](https://github.com/TotallyInformation/FlexBar-MQTT-Plugin)**
>
> A custom plugin for FlexBar and FlexDesigner containing widgets that: Publishes a message to an MQTT Broker; Subscribes to an MQTT topic and displays the current value.

So we can already see how the bar can interact with Node-RED. 🙂