Exploration Options

GATT exploration discovers the structure of services, characteristics, and descriptors on a connected device. Three option classes — ServiceExplorationOptions, CharacteristicExplorationOptions, DescriptorExplorationOptions — control depth, caching, and UUID filtering. See each type's generated page for the full property list.

GATT Hierarchy

Device
├── Service (e.g., Heart Rate Service)
│   ├── Characteristic (e.g., Heart Rate Measurement)
│   │   ├── Descriptor (e.g., Client Characteristic Configuration)
│   │   └── Descriptor (e.g., Characteristic User Description)
│   └── Characteristic (e.g., Body Sensor Location)
│       └── Descriptor
└── Service (e.g., Battery Service)
    └── Characteristic (e.g., Battery Level)
        └── Descriptor

ExplorationDepth (ServicesOnly / Characteristics / Descriptors) controls how far down this tree exploration goes; ServiceExplorationOptions.Depth is a convenience property computed from the underlying ExploreCharacteristics/ExploreDescriptors booleans.

Static Factory Methods

Prefer these over manually constructing options:

await device.ExploreServicesAsync(ServiceExplorationOptions.ServicesOnly);
await device.ExploreServicesAsync(ServiceExplorationOptions.WithCharacteristics);
await device.ExploreServicesAsync(ServiceExplorationOptions.Full); // + descriptors

Best Practices

  • Only explore as deep as you need — WithCharacteristics instead of Full if you don't need descriptors.
  • Filter services when possible via ServiceUuidFilter — targeted exploration is faster than exploring everything.
  • Rely on caching — repeated calls with the same options reuse the cached result rather than re-exploring.
  • Explore step-by-step for conditional logic — discover services first, then explore characteristics only on the ones you actually care about: 
    await device.ExploreServicesAsync(ServiceExplorationOptions.ServicesOnly);

foreach (var service in device.GetServices())
{
    if (IsRequiredService(service.Uuid))
        await service.ExploreCharacteristicsAsync(CharacteristicExplorationOptions.Full);
}
  • Validate required services after discovery: 
    await device.ExploreServicesAsync(ServiceExplorationOptions.ServicesOnly);

var missing = requiredServiceUuids.Where(uuid => !device.GetServices().Any(s => s.Uuid == uuid)).ToList();
if (missing.Count > 0)
    throw new InvalidOperationException($"Device missing required services: {string.Join(", ", missing)}");
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