The Future of Pentesting: Kode Dot based AI-Powered BadUSB

🧵 Background

For years, “BadUSB-style” tools have been a staple in pentesting labs, cybersecurity workshops, and maker communities. They’re fascinating devices: small, fast, and perfect for demonstrating how automated keyboard injections work. But despite all their popularity, the workflow has barely evolved. You still write a DuckyScript file by hand, flash it, test it, adjust timing, ref lash… it’s slow, rigid, and anything but interactive.

I began wondering: what if a device could actually understand what you want, in plain language, and write the keystrokes for you?Not just a script editor — but something you could talk to.

The more I imagined it, the more it made sense. A BadUSB that doesn’t just run payloads but generates them, adapts them, and executes them live. No re-flashing, no coding, no manual timing adjustments. You describe your goal, the device thinks through the steps, writes a DuckyScript sequence, and immediately performs it.

That idea turned into BadGPT — a voice-driven, AI-powered automator built on the Kode Dot.

• The concept is simple but surprisingly powerful:
• You press the touchscreen or top button.
• Kode Dot records your voice with its I²S microphone.
• The audio is sent to an AI model configured to generate the commands.
• The firmware parses the answer, displays the text, and executes the macro over USB HID in real time.

You say:

“Open the terminal and create a Python file.”

And seconds later, the device has already typed everything for you — including correct indentation, editor quirks, delays, and navigation.

It’s not about hacking machines. It’s about automation, rapid prototyping, testing workflows, and exploring how AI can generate real-world actions instantly. It’s also a fun demonstration of how LLMs, audio processing, and hardware automation come together in a tiny form factor.

But the magic isn’t just the AI.It’s the hardware powering it.

🧩 Why the Kode Dot Makes This Possible

BadGPT exists because Kode Dot brings together the exact features this idea needs — all in something literally smaller than a credit card.

• ESP32-S3 with native USB OTGEssential for acting as a USB keyboard and sending keystrokes precisely.
• High-quality I²S microphoneLets the device capture clean voice audio for the AI model.
• AMOLED touchscreenProvides the UI for recording, responses, status updates, and interaction.
• Real-time UI/UX layerAnimated assistant eyes, status transitions, and on-screen typewriter effects.
• Wi-Fi connectivityFor sending audio to the model and retrieving structured responses.
• Modular ecosystemYou’re not limited to software macros. You can combine keyboard sequences with GPIO triggers, servo motion, or future modules.

And the best part is that Kode Dot is fully open-source, so every part of BadGPT — audio capture, AI integration, DuckyScript execution, UI management, and even the PMIC setup — is transparent, modifiable, and hackable.

This project is meant to show what happens when you push the device beyond what most people expect from a microcontroller. It’s a glimpse into how AI will increasingly blur the line between “software commands” and “physical interfaces.”

🚀 Available Now on Kickstarter

The Kode Dot is live right now on Kickstarter, and the community has pushed it further than we ever imagined.

• The IR module stretch goal has already been unlocked.
• The campaign is very close to unlocking NFC/RFID, which would turn Kode Dot into the most versatile maker tool available today:

If this project shows anything, it’s how much potential there is when makers get tools that combine hardware, AI, and creativity in the same tiny device.

Kode Dot is well on its way to becoming the ultimate all-in-one maker tool — and this is just one of the crazy things you can build with it.