ark devices discovers hardware over USB and running emulators through their
local launcher registry. It does not connect or authenticate. A missing emulator
registry is normal when no emulator is running. A registry whose listing
version this tool does not know is a failed source, reported as a warning. A
failed discovery source does not hide devices found through another source.
The reading view shows locator, name, serial, kind, environment and ready. JSON devices entries contain locator, kind, name, serial, image, environment and ready. environment and ready are launcher metadata for emulators and normally null for hardware, because USB discovery does not handshake. Other unavailable labels are null too. The reading view shows -; this does not mean unreachable or uninitialized. Use status for authenticated state, and do not gate hardware access on discovery's ready.
Select an exact locator (hardware:BUS:ADDR or emulator:PORT), unique serial, name or emulator image basename. The words hardware and emulator select the only device of that kind. There are no prefix matches or case folding; locator prefixes and the two kind names cannot be shadowed by labels.
USB addresses may change across reboot. Firmware verification searches by the reported serial, then authenticates the same identity key and checks the build. A discovery serial alone never proves which Ark returned.
Ark Emulator, from https://github.com/dark-bio/emulator, boots the real
firmware on this computer for development and demos. It keeps its data in a
plain file, so keep real data on hardware. ark-emulator start boots one and
prints its locator once the firmware accepts clients, and ark devices lists
it from then on. ark-emulator help agents covers starting, stopping and
wiping emulators from a script.
ark talks to an emulator exactly as to hardware, except for its identity and
its firmware. A fresh emulator has a self-signed identity, which ark status
reports, and it is enrolled before it pairs. ark enroll prints the Ark Hub
address where it gets an attested identity, in a browser. That identity lasts
30 days. Then the cloud refuses the device and ark genuine reports it
expired. ark-emulator stop, ark-emulator wipe and ark-emulator start
give a fresh device to enroll again.
The firmware is the build bundled with the emulator app, so
ark firmware update does not apply. A newer Ark Emulator release carries
newer firmware, and ark-emulator --version names the bundled build.
The environment order is --env, trusted attestation, emulator launcher report,
then release. An emulator image is bound to one environment when it first
boots, and ark-emulator start --env chooses it for a new image. The CLI
trusts release, staging and develop roots. An explicit --env that contradicts
the attestation warns; it changes routing, not trust. Develop and staging
routes produce one note per command, hidden by --quiet. The offline attested
label identifies the signer. Use genuine to check the Ark's current cloud
registration.
Develop and staging cloud and package hosts may require Cloudflare Access login. Install cloudflared when prompted. Interactive commands open a browser when login is needed and reuse the session afterward. Without a terminal, under --no-input, or with --json, login-required includes the manual login command. API and package hosts have separate credentials. Status remains usable offline.
Firmware checks cloud access before preparation. If login expires after the Ark has prepared the update, the CLI signs in and asks you to rerun the command; it never repeats a possible device approval automatically.