User Interface

After Simple IoT is started, a web application is available on port :4223 (typically http://localhost:4223). The default user/pass is admin/admin.

The interface has two views, and the header switches between them:

• Nodes is the tree of everything the instance knows about: devices, groups, users, rules, and their settings. This is where configuration is done, and the rest of this page describes it.
• Dashboards show live values from any nodes on one page: gauges, status, trends, and process mimics. See Dashboards.

Signing in lands on the user’s home dashboard when one is set, on the dashboard list when any dashboard is visible to the user, and on the node tree otherwise.

Basic Navigation

Opening Nodes presents a tree of nodes.

Each node has its own address: opening a node’s detail changes the address to /nodes/<id>, and opening that address later shows the tree expanded down to the node. The link button in a node’s detail copies the address. The interface follows the system’s light or dark setting, and the moon and sun button in the header switches between them.

The interface also:

• Remembers what you had open. The nodes you expanded and the details you opened come back when you reload the page or sign in again on the same browser.
• Searches the tree. The search box in the header shows the nodes whose description, type, or ID contains what you type, with the nodes above them, and hides the rest. The first search loads the whole tree, so it can take a moment on a large one. Clearing the box returns the tree to how it was.
• Works from the keyboard. Tab to the tree, then use the up and down arrows to move between nodes, right to expand a node or step into it, left to collapse it or step out to its parent, and Enter to open or close its detail. In a node’s form, Enter saves and Escape discards.
• Shows each node’s type and status. A label after each node names its type. The dot to the left of a node is red when it reports an error, orange when it is offline, and gray when it is disabled.
• Marks unsaved changes. An edited field’s label turns blue, and the save and discard buttons stay in view until the change is saved or discarded. A short notice confirms each save, add, move, and delete; an error stays until it is dismissed.
• Asks before losing changes. With unsaved edits, closing the tab, leaving the page, or signing out asks first.

The Node is the base unit of configuration. Each node contains Points which describe various attributes of a node. When you expand a node, the information you see is a rendering of the point data in the node.

You can expand/collapse child nodes by clicking on the arrow to the left of a node.

You can expand/edit node details by clicking on the dot to the left of a node.

Live updates

The page keeps one connection to the server and shows changes as they happen: a value a device reports, a node someone else adds, or a setting you change in another tab appear without a refresh. Expanding a node fetches its children, and the arrow shows a spinner until they arrive; expanding again after collapsing fetches them afresh. A connecting... badge next to the logo means the connection is down and the page is trying again; when it is back, what is on screen is fetched again. Being removed from a group, or a password change, closes the connection, and an expired sign-in returns you to the sign-in page.

Adding nodes

Child nodes can be added to a node by clicking on the dot to expand the node, then clicking on the plus icon. A list of available nodes to add will then be displayed:

Some nodes are populated automatically if a new device is discovered, or a downstream device starts sending data.

Deleting, Moving, Mirroring, and Duplicating nodes

Simple IoT provides the ability to re-arrange and organize your node structure.

To delete a node, expand it, and then press the delete icon.

To move or copy a node, expand it and press the copy icon. Then expand the destination node and press the paste icon. You will then be presented with the following options:

• move - moves a node to new location
• mirror - is useful if you want a user or device to be a member of multiple groups. If you change a node, all the mirror copies of the node update as well.
• duplicate - recursively duplicates the copied node plus all its descendants. This is useful for scenarios where you have a device or site configuration (perhaps a complex Modbus setup) that you want to duplicate at a new site.

After a mirror or a duplicate, the copied node stays on the clipboard, so you can paste it into several destinations in a row, such as mirroring a shared variable into each device at a site. A move clears it. Press the x next to the clipboard entry at the top of the page to clear it yourself.

Mirroring a node that talks to hardware (a Modbus IO, a Shelly IO, a GPIO line, an MQTT connection) gives you a view of it rather than a second copy that runs. The instance where the node actually lives keeps talking to the device, and the mirror displays the same values wherever you put it. This is what makes it safe to mirror a sensor from inside a device into a group you share with someone, and mirrors are labeled in the tree so it is clear that nothing runs there. Controls still work from a mirror: setting a value on one travels to the device that owns the node, and the result comes back.

Mirroring a node into several devices shares it with all of them. A setpoint or schedule kept on the upstream and mirrored into each device at a site arrives on every one, and a change made in the portal reaches them all. Each device sees the current values as soon as the mirror is added, and removing a mirror removes the node from that device only. A change made on one device reaches the upstream but not the other devices, so keep values that several devices depend on where they are set: on the upstream. See a node reaches every device it is mirrored into.

Some nodes belong under a particular parent and are found through it: a Modbus IO under its Modbus node, a rule condition under its rule. For these, mirror is the only option offered, because moving one somewhere else would leave it where nothing looks for it.

Deleting a node where it lives also removes its mirrors, so a deleted sensor does not leave entries behind in the groups it was mirrored into. Removing a mirror leaves the node itself alone.

If you have mirrors that were created before this behavior existed, they keep working the way they did. To bring one up to date, remove the mirror and mirror it again from the node where it lives.

Raw Node View

If a node is expanded, a raw node button is available that allows you to view the raw type and points for any node in the tree. It is useful at times during development and debugging to be able to view the raw points for a node.

After the raw button is pressed, the type and points are displayed:

Unknown nodes will also be displayed as raw nodes.

Points can also be edited, added, or removed in raw mode.

A custom node type can also be added by specifying the node type when adding a node. This can be useful when developing new clients or external clients that run outside of the SImple IoT application.

Graphing and dashboards

Dashboards show live values, gauges, status, and trends from any nodes on one page. For graphs over stored history, Simple IoT also works with Grafana.

Custom UIs

See the frontend reference documentation.