diff --git a/frontends/PyCDE/integration_test/test_software/esi_test.py b/frontends/PyCDE/integration_test/test_software/esi_test.py
index 4eeeabbe8cb1..352968fc56bf 100644
--- a/frontends/PyCDE/integration_test/test_software/esi_test.py
+++ b/frontends/PyCDE/integration_test/test_software/esi_test.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import esiaccel as esi
 
 import sys
+import time
 
 platform = sys.argv[1]
 acc = esi.AcceleratorConnection(platform, sys.argv[2])
@@ -87,12 +88,30 @@ def read_offset_check(i: int, add_amt: int):
 ################################################################################
 
 data = 10234
+# Blocking write interface
 send.write(data)
-got_data = False
 resp = recv.read()
 
 print(f"data: {data}")
 print(f"resp: {resp}")
 assert resp == data + add_amt
 
+# Non-blocking write interface
+data = 10235
+nb_wr_start = time.time()
+
+# Timeout of 5 seconds
+nb_timeout = nb_wr_start + 5
+write_succeeded = False
+while time.time() < nb_timeout:
+  write_succeeded = send.try_write(data)
+  if write_succeeded:
+    break
+
+assert (write_succeeded, "Non-blocking write failed")
+resp = recv.read()
+print(f"data: {data}")
+print(f"resp: {resp}")
+assert resp == data + add_amt
+
 print("PASS")
diff --git a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/include/esi/Ports.h b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/include/esi/Ports.h
index c025cbfa085c..c6fdf466428c 100644
--- a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/include/esi/Ports.h
+++ b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/include/esi/Ports.h
@@ -83,9 +83,15 @@ class WriteChannelPort : public ChannelPort {
   virtual void disconnect() override { connected = false; }
   virtual bool isConnected() const override { return connected; }
 
-  /// A very basic write API. Will likely change for performance reasons.
+  /// A very basic blocking write API. Will likely change for performance
+  /// reasons.
   virtual void write(const MessageData &) = 0;
 
+  /// A basic non-blocking write API. Returns true if the data was written.
+  /// It is invalid for backends to always return false (i.e. backends must
+  /// eventually ensure that writes may succeed).
+  virtual bool tryWrite(const MessageData &data) = 0;
+
 private:
   volatile bool connected = false;
 };
diff --git a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/lib/backends/Cosim.cpp b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/lib/backends/Cosim.cpp
index 42cc8bc25150..b49f4f0cff13 100644
--- a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/lib/backends/Cosim.cpp
+++ b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/lib/backends/Cosim.cpp
@@ -203,6 +203,11 @@ class WriteCosimChannelPort : public WriteChannelPort {
                                ". Details: " + sendStatus.error_details());
   }
 
+  bool tryWrite(const MessageData &data) override {
+    write(data);
+    return true;
+  }
+
 protected:
   ChannelServer::Stub *rpcClient;
   /// The channel description as provided by the server.
diff --git a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/lib/backends/RpcServer.cpp b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/lib/backends/RpcServer.cpp
index 341b7b40a5b1..8db71d8c251b 100644
--- a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/lib/backends/RpcServer.cpp
+++ b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/lib/backends/RpcServer.cpp
@@ -124,6 +124,10 @@ class RpcServerWritePort : public WriteChannelPort {
 public:
   RpcServerWritePort(Type *type) : WriteChannelPort(type) {}
   void write(const MessageData &data) override { writeQueue.push(data); }
+  bool tryWrite(const MessageData &data) override {
+    writeQueue.push(data);
+    return true;
+  }
 
   utils::TSQueue<MessageData> writeQueue;
 };
diff --git a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/lib/backends/Trace.cpp b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/lib/backends/Trace.cpp
index f6e89826fee8..c8405a25b6e9 100644
--- a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/lib/backends/Trace.cpp
+++ b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/lib/backends/Trace.cpp
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ struct esi::backends::trace::TraceAccelerator::Impl {
   void adoptChannelPort(ChannelPort *port) { channels.emplace_back(port); }
 
   void write(const AppIDPath &id, const std::string &portName, const void *data,
-             size_t size);
+             size_t size, const std::string &prefix = "");
   std::ostream &write(std::string service) {
     assert(traceWrite && "traceWrite is null");
     *traceWrite << "[" << service << "] ";
@@ -93,14 +93,15 @@ struct esi::backends::trace::TraceAccelerator::Impl {
 
 void TraceAccelerator::Impl::write(const AppIDPath &id,
                                    const std::string &portName,
-                                   const void *data, size_t size) {
+                                   const void *data, size_t size,
+                                   const std::string &prefix) {
   if (!isWriteable())
     return;
   std::string b64data;
   utils::encodeBase64(data, size, b64data);
 
-  *traceWrite << "write " << id << '.' << portName << ": " << b64data
-              << std::endl;
+  *traceWrite << prefix << (prefix.empty() ? "w" : "W") << "rite " << id << '.'
+              << portName << ": " << b64data << std::endl;
 }
 
 std::unique_ptr<AcceleratorConnection>
@@ -192,6 +193,11 @@ class WriteTraceChannelPort : public WriteChannelPort {
     impl.write(id, portName, data.getBytes(), data.getSize());
   }
 
+  bool tryWrite(const MessageData &data) override {
+    impl.write(id, portName, data.getBytes(), data.getSize(), "try");
+    return true;
+  }
+
 protected:
   TraceAccelerator::Impl &impl;
   AppIDPath id;
diff --git a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/python/esiaccel/esiCppAccel.cpp b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/python/esiaccel/esiCppAccel.cpp
index 8b7730ae8e87..d23eb4581c9e 100644
--- a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/python/esiaccel/esiCppAccel.cpp
+++ b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/python/esiaccel/esiCppAccel.cpp
@@ -232,11 +232,18 @@ PYBIND11_MODULE(esiCppAccel, m) {
                              py::return_value_policy::reference);
 
   py::class_<WriteChannelPort, ChannelPort>(m, "WriteChannelPort")
-      .def("write", [](WriteChannelPort &p, py::bytearray &data) {
+      .def("write",
+           [](WriteChannelPort &p, py::bytearray &data) {
+             py::buffer_info info(py::buffer(data).request());
+             std::vector<uint8_t> dataVec((uint8_t *)info.ptr,
+                                          (uint8_t *)info.ptr + info.size);
+             p.write(dataVec);
+           })
+      .def("tryWrite", [](WriteChannelPort &p, py::bytearray &data) {
         py::buffer_info info(py::buffer(data).request());
         std::vector<uint8_t> dataVec((uint8_t *)info.ptr,
                                      (uint8_t *)info.ptr + info.size);
-        p.write(dataVec);
+        return p.tryWrite(dataVec);
       });
   py::class_<ReadChannelPort, ChannelPort>(m, "ReadChannelPort")
       .def(
diff --git a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/python/esiaccel/types.py b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/python/esiaccel/types.py
index 1b1041247522..8ee716259bdc 100644
--- a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/python/esiaccel/types.py
+++ b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/python/esiaccel/types.py
@@ -314,19 +314,26 @@ def __init__(self, owner: BundlePort, cpp_port: cpp.WriteChannelPort):
     super().__init__(owner, cpp_port)
     self.cpp_port: cpp.WriteChannelPort = cpp_port
 
-  def write(self, msg=None) -> bool:
-    """Write a typed message to the channel. Attempts to serialize 'msg' to what
-    the accelerator expects, but will fail if the object is not convertible to
-    the port type."""
-
+  def __serialize_msg(self, msg=None) -> bytearray:
     valid, reason = self.type.is_valid(msg)
     if not valid:
       raise ValueError(
           f"'{msg}' cannot be converted to '{self.type}': {reason}")
     msg_bytes: bytearray = self.type.serialize(msg)
-    self.cpp_port.write(msg_bytes)
+    return msg_bytes
+
+  def write(self, msg=None) -> bool:
+    """Write a typed message to the channel. Attempts to serialize 'msg' to what
+        the accelerator expects, but will fail if the object is not convertible to
+        the port type."""
+    self.cpp_port.write(self.__serialize_msg(msg))
     return True
 
+  def try_write(self, msg=None) -> bool:
+    """Like 'write', but uses the non-blocking tryWrite method of the underlying
+        port. Returns True if the write was successful, False otherwise."""
+    return self.cpp_port.tryWrite(self.__serialize_msg(msg))
+
 
 class ReadPort(Port):
   """A unidirectional communication channel from the accelerator to the host."""