Core Concepts
Understand the key building blocks of the Sensorclouds platform
Before diving deeper, familiarize yourself with the core entities that make up the Sensorclouds platform.
Tenant
A tenant represents a customer organization. All data - users, devices, applications, dashboards - is scoped to a tenant. Tenants are created and managed by your platform administrator. Cross-tenant data access is impossible by design.
Tenant Profile
A tenant profile is a subscription plan that defines resource limits for a tenant:
- Role-aware user caps (separate maximums for admin, engineer, and crew users), plus device and dashboard limits
- API request allowance and data retention window
- OTA storage limits and feature flags (e.g., CSV export, API key access)
See Tenant Profiles for the full list of limits and flags.
Application
An application is a logical grouping of related devices - think of it as a "project" or "deployment site." Examples: "Factory Floor Sensors", "Building HVAC", "Fleet Tracking." Each application has a unique Application ID used in MQTT topic routing.
Device
A device represents a physical IoT sensor, actuator, or gateway registered in the platform. Each device has:
- A unique Device Token used as the MQTT username
- MQTT credentials for broker authentication
- A Device Profile defining its behavior
- Telemetry data stored in the time-series database
Device Profile
A device profile is a configuration template applied to devices. It defines:
- MQTT settings (QoS, keep-alive, clean session)
- Payload decoder (how raw bytes become structured data)
- Device type and transport protocol
- Timestamp source (platform time vs. device time)
Dashboard
A dashboard is a customizable visualization page with drag-and-drop widgets. Dashboards update in real-time via WebSocket and can be assigned to specific crew users for controlled access.
Widget
A widget is a visual component on a dashboard that displays telemetry data or controls a device. Eight types are available:
| Widget | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Value Card | Display a single metric (e.g., current temperature) |
| Gauge | Semicircular meter with thresholds |
| Line Chart | Time-series trend visualization |
| Bar Chart | Time-bucket totals and device/metric comparisons |
| Table | Multi-field data overview |
| Indicator | Status light for discrete or connectivity states |
| Toggle | On/off switch that sends commands to devices |
| Timeseries Table | Paginated historical data with CSV export |
Alarm
An alarm is a rule that monitors a telemetry field and triggers when a condition is met (e.g., temperature > 40°C). Alarms create instances that can be acknowledged and resolved. Severity levels: INFO, WARNING, CRITICAL.
Command
A command is a message sent from the platform to a device via MQTT. Commands follow a lifecycle: PENDING -> SENT -> ACKNOWLEDGED / FAILED / TIMEOUT.
OTA Campaign
An OTA campaign is an organized firmware update operation targeting multiple devices. Campaigns support batched rollout strategies with per-device progress tracking.
How They Relate
Platform Hierarchy
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