Core concepts

A named grouping of similar devices, such as “Water Sensor”. Firmware versions and individual devices both belong to a device type, which is how bulk firmware roll-outs target a whole class of hardware at once.

A single physical unit, identified by a serial number and assigned to a device type. Each device carries a public key (its device key) used to authenticate the hardware, and can have a firmware version assigned to it.

A named version (e.g. “v1.0.0”) that belongs to a device type and is backed by an uploaded binary file. Assigning a firmware to devices is what triggers an over-the-air update the next time those devices check in.

A reading reported by a device. Each entry is a free-form text payload (often JSON) with a timestamp, so you can send whatever measurements your device produces and inspect them later, filtered by type and time range.

A message you queue for a device — think of it as a mailbox. The device polls for pending commands, executes them, and acknowledges each one, which removes it from the queue. Commands can carry text, a file, or raw hex.

An ECDSA P-256 keypair. You generate it in the console (in your browser); the public key is stored on the device record and the private key is flashed onto the hardware, where it signs every request the device makes. Hiveron never sees the private key.