TCF standardizes the API and protocol for communicating with embedded systems for debugging, tracing, file transfer, terminal access and other services.

The key benefits of TCF (compared to gdb, ssh and related tools) are its flexible componentized structure which allows vendor-neutral plugging of individual services, as well as performance and robustness for complex multi-core systems. TCF is lightweight and easy to port. The protocol supports auto-discovery of peers, transparent proxying / tunneling, and security via SSL if desired.

An exemplary agent is provided in C; language bindings for peers exist in plain Java, Python and Lua to support scripting and automated tests. With Target Explorer, a full-blown system management suite and debugger is provided as an Eclipse plugin.