---
id: smp
version: "4.1.0"
license: Apache-2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# smp — Simple Management Protocol (SMP) for remotely managing MCU firmware

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 304.3K/mo

## What it is and what it does

SMP is a Python implementation of the Simple Management Protocol, a specification for remotely managing MCU firmware. It handles the core serialization and deserialization logic needed to encode and decode SMP messages according to the protocol specification. The library depends on cbor2 for CBOR encoding, crcmod for checksum calculation, pydantic for data validation, and eval-type-backport for type support across Python versions.

The package is narrowly scoped to protocol codec functionality—it does not provide transport mechanisms (serial, Bluetooth, UDP). For end-to-end device communication, users typically pair it with smpclient (which adds transport layers) or smpmgr (a CLI tool). This separation of concerns makes smp lightweight and reusable in custom management applications.

Use it for:

- Build custom firmware management tools that need to encode/decode SMP protocol messages for MCU communication.
- Integrate SMP protocol support into embedded device testing frameworks or CI/CD pipelines.
- Develop firmware update or diagnostic utilities that communicate with Zephyr-based or SMP-compatible embedded systems.
- Create protocol analyzers or packet inspectors for debugging SMP-based device management traffic.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Serializes and deserializes the Simple Management Protocol (SMP), enabling communication with MCU firmware for remote management tasks.

Yes, if you need to work with SMP protocol messages in Python. The library is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, supports modern Python versions, and carries a permissive license. Install friction is low. The narrow scope (codec only, no transport) is intentional and appropriate—pair it with smpclient if you need full device communication.

## Install

pip install smp
uv add smp
poetry add smp

## Installing smp

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel and four runtime dependencies. Active maintenance with a release 72 days ago and recent commits; supports Python 3.9 through 3.13.

License in practice: Apache-2.0 permissive license allows use in most projects, including proprietary software, with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

pip install smp

import smp

# Serialize/deserialize SMP messages using the library's codec functions
message = smp.encode(...)  # encode SMP message
decoded = smp.decode(...)  # decode SMP message

Requires Python 3.9 or later; SMP itself handles only protocol serialization—transport (serial, BLE, UDP) requires smpclient library.

Verify before relying:

- What specific SMP protocol version(s) this implementation targets or supports.
- Whether the library provides high-level message builders or only low-level codec functions.
- Performance characteristics or throughput limits for typical message sizes.

## Package facts

- License: Apache-2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 304.3K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

SMP serialization deserialization, simple management protocol, MCU firmware remote management, device management protocol, embedded device communication, firmware management protocol, SMP protocol implementation, embedded-systems, protocol-codec, device-management

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/smp) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/smp/)