Node.js PC/SC Smart Card Addon (nfc-reader-nodejs)

A native Node.js addon for interacting with PC/SC (Personal Computer/Smart Card) compatible smart card readers on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Features

• List Readers: Enumerate all connected PC/SC compliant smart card readers.
• Card Event Listener: Listen for card insertion/removal events on a specific reader.
• Automatic UID Reading: Automatically attempts to read the card's UID (using the standard FF CA 00 00 00 APDU) upon insertion when listening.
• Transmit APDUs: Send custom raw APDU (Application Protocol Data Unit) commands to the card and receive the raw response.
• Asynchronous Operations: Core I/O operations (transmit, background listening) are performed asynchronously to avoid blocking the Node.js event loop.

Prerequisites

This is a native addon, meaning it requires compilation on the target machine. Ensure you have the necessary build tools and PC/SC dependencies installed.

1. Node.js and npm

• Node.js (LTS version recommended)
• npm (usually comes with Node.js)

2. Build Tools (node-gyp)

• node-gyp requires Python (v3.x recommended) and a C++ compiler.
• Windows:
  • Install the current version of Python from python.org.
  • Install Visual Studio Build Tools (or a full Visual Studio version with C++ workload). You can install the necessary components by running this in an administrator PowerShell or CMD:

    npm install --global --production windows-build-tools

    (This installs Python and VS Build Tools components if needed).
• Linux:
  • Install Python, make, and a C++ compiler suite (like g++):

    # Debian/Ubuntu
    sudo apt update
    sudo apt install -y python3 make g++ build-essential
    
    # Fedora/CentOS/RHEL
    sudo dnf update
    sudo dnf install -y python3 make gcc-c++
    # or using yum: sudo yum install -y python3 make gcc-c++

• macOS:
  • Install Python from python.org or via Homebrew (brew install python).
  • Install Xcode Command Line Tools:

    xcode-select --install

3. PC/SC Library and Daemon

• Windows: The necessary Winscard library is part of the operating system. No extra steps are usually needed.
• Linux:
  • Install the PCSC-lite library and development headers:

    # Debian/Ubuntu
    sudo apt install -y libpcsclite1 libpcsclite-dev pcscd
    
    # Fedora/CentOS/RHEL
    sudo dnf install -y pcsc-lite pcsc-lite-devel pcsc-tools
    # or using yum

  • Ensure the pcscd daemon is running:

    sudo systemctl start pcscd
    sudo systemctl enable pcscd # Optional: start on boot
    # Verify status: systemctl status pcscd

• macOS:
  • Install PCSC-lite, usually via Homebrew:

    brew install pcsc-lite

  • Ensure the pcscd daemon is running. It should typically start automatically after installation or on demand. You can check using launchctl list | grep pcscd or ps aux | grep pcscd. If not running, you might need to start it (though this is less common on macOS): sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.ifdreader.plist (path might vary slightly).

Installation

Examples

• API: const pcsc = require('nfc-reader-nodejs');

npm install nfc-reader-nodejs