TagTinker
Educational ESL research tools for Flipper Zero
Protocol study, signal analysis, and controlled display experiments on authorized lab hardware
Owner-authorized lab ESL display experiment
Overview
TagTinker is an educational electronic shelf label (ESL) research project for Flipper Zero.
It is intended solely for:
- protocol study,
- signal analysis,
- interoperability research,
- and controlled display experiments on ESL hardware that you personally own or are explicitly authorized to test.
This project is maintained as a home-lab and research tool. It is not intended for use against deployed retail systems, commercial infrastructure, or third-party equipment.
Important Notice
Use this project only on hardware that:
- you personally own, or
- you have explicit permission to study and test in a controlled environment.
Do not use this project:
- in stores,
- on deployed retail systems,
- on third-party equipment,
- on production infrastructure,
- to alter prices, product information, or operational displays,
- to interfere with commercial operations,
- to bypass pairing, authorization, access controls, or security measures,
- or in any manner that is unlawful, unauthorized, or harmful.
The publication of this source code does not grant permission to access, modify, transmit to, or interfere with any third-party system or device.
Project Scope
This repository is limited to research and lab use, including:
- educational study of infrared ESL communication,
- display and protocol experiments on authorized test hardware,
- local tooling for preparing monochrome display assets,
- controlled diagnostics and signal observation for interoperability research.
This README intentionally does not include installation, deployment, targeting, or operational instructions for use against deployed systems.
Features
- Lab-only ESL protocol study tools
- Controlled display experiments for authorized test hardware
- Single-device research functions for text, image, test-pattern, and LED-response experiments
- Local image preparation utility in
tools/tagtinker.html
Responsible Use
TagTinker is published for legitimate educational, research, and interoperability purposes only.
You are solely responsible for ensuring that any use of this project complies with:
- applicable law,
- property rights,
- contractual restrictions,
- operator policies,
- and all required permissions and authorizations.
If you do not own the hardware or do not have explicit authorization to test it, do not use this project on that hardware.
No Affiliation
This project is an independent research effort.
It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, authorized by, or sponsored by any ESL manufacturer, retailer, or system operator.
Any brand names or product names referenced in the source tree or documentation are used only where necessary for descriptive, compatibility, or research purposes.
Security and Disclosure
This repository is intended to support lawful research and interoperability work.
If you are a vendor, operator, or security researcher and believe some part of this repository raises a concrete security concern, please open a responsible disclosure issue or contact the maintainer privately with sufficient detail.
Distribution Policy
This repository contains source code for research purposes.
To reduce the risk of misuse, this project does not provide:
- hosted binaries,
- prebuilt application files,
- automated deployment packages,
- or step-by-step operational instructions for use on deployed systems.
Credits
This project builds on public reverse-engineering research by furrtek and related community work.
Please see the upstream project for prior research context and historical protocol analysis.
License
Licensed under GPL-3.0.
See LICENSE for details.
If this project incorporates or adapts GPL-covered upstream work, the corresponding notices and licensing terms apply accordingly.
Warranty Disclaimer
This project is provided “as is”, without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.
Maintainer Statement
This project is maintained as a narrowly scoped educational and research repository.
The maintainer does not authorize, encourage, or condone use against third-party devices, deployed retail systems, or any environment without explicit permission.