Bluetooth

nmrs supports Bluetooth network connections through NetworkManager's Bluetooth integration with BlueZ. This covers Bluetooth PAN (Personal Area Network) and DUN (Dial-Up Networking) profiles.

Prerequisites

BlueZ must be running (the Linux Bluetooth stack)
The Bluetooth device must be paired using bluetoothctl or another pairing tool before nmrs can connect
The Bluetooth adapter must be powered on

Listing Bluetooth Devices

use nmrs::NetworkManager;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> nmrs::Result<()> {
    let nm = NetworkManager::new().await?;

    let devices = nm.list_bluetooth_devices().await?;
    for device in &devices {
        println!("{}", device);
    }

    Ok(())
}

The BluetoothDevice struct provides:

Field	Type	Description
`bdaddr`	`String`	Bluetooth MAC address
`name`	`Option<String>`	Device name from BlueZ
`alias`	`Option<String>`	User-friendly alias
`bt_caps`	`u32`	Bluetooth capability flags
`state`	`DeviceState`	Current connection state

The Display implementation shows devices as alias (role) [MAC].

Connecting

Connecting requires a device name and a BluetoothIdentity:

use nmrs::{NetworkManager, models::{BluetoothIdentity, BluetoothNetworkRole}};

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> nmrs::Result<()> {
    let nm = NetworkManager::new().await?;

    let identity = BluetoothIdentity::new(
        "C8:1F:E8:F0:51:57".into(),
        BluetoothNetworkRole::PanU,
    )?;

    nm.connect_bluetooth("My Phone", &identity).await?;
    println!("Bluetooth connected!");

    Ok(())
}

Network Roles

Role	Description
`BluetoothNetworkRole::PanU`	Personal Area Network User — most common for phone tethering
`BluetoothNetworkRole::Dun`	Dial-Up Networking — for modem-style connections

BluetoothIdentity Validation

BluetoothIdentity::new() validates the Bluetooth MAC address format. It returns a ConnectionError if the address is invalid.

Connecting to the First Available Device

A practical pattern is to list devices and connect to the first one:

use nmrs::{NetworkManager, models::BluetoothIdentity};

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> nmrs::Result<()> {
    let nm = NetworkManager::new().await?;

    let devices = nm.list_bluetooth_devices().await?;
    if devices.is_empty() {
        println!("No Bluetooth devices found");
        println!("Make sure the device is paired with bluetoothctl");
        return Ok(());
    }

    let device = &devices[0];
    println!("Connecting to: {}", device);

    let identity = BluetoothIdentity::new(
        device.bdaddr.clone(),
        device.bt_caps.into(),
    )?;

    let name = device.alias.as_deref()
        .or(device.name.as_deref())
        .unwrap_or("Bluetooth Device");

    nm.connect_bluetooth(name, &identity).await?;
    println!("Connected!");

    Ok(())
}

Forgetting a Bluetooth Connection

Remove a saved Bluetooth connection profile:

#![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
let nm = NetworkManager::new().await?;

nm.forget_bluetooth("My Phone").await?;
}

If the device is currently connected, it will be disconnected first before the profile is deleted.

Errors

Error	Meaning
`ConnectionError::NoBluetoothDevice`	No Bluetooth adapter found
`ConnectionError::InvalidAddress`	Invalid Bluetooth MAC address format
`ConnectionError::Timeout`	Connection took too long
`ConnectionError::NoSavedConnection`	No matching profile found (for forget)

Pairing Devices

nmrs does not handle Bluetooth pairing — that's the responsibility of BlueZ. Use bluetoothctl to pair devices before connecting with nmrs:

# Start bluetoothctl
bluetoothctl

# Scan for devices
scan on

# Pair with a device
pair C8:1F:E8:F0:51:57

# Trust the device (allows auto-reconnection)
trust C8:1F:E8:F0:51:57

# Exit
exit

After pairing, the device will appear in list_bluetooth_devices().

Next Steps

Device Management – list all network devices including Bluetooth
Connection Profiles – manage saved connections
Error Handling – handle Bluetooth-specific errors

nmrs Documentation