Products

How products, devices and data screens relate

• One product can have many devices. A device’s properties come from its product’s thing model, so similar devices only need modeling once.
• A product carries classification (industry, category, sub-category), network characteristics (node type, connectivity, operating system) and the thing model.
• When a data screen reads data you first pick the product, then a device under it, then a property — that hierarchy is exactly how products and devices relate.

NoteIf two kinds of devices differ a lot in properties, split them into two products instead of stuffing many unused properties into one. The more properties a product has, the longer the dropdowns get in device details and on data screens.

Create a product

1. Open "Products" and click "Add product" in the top right corner.
2. Enter the product name; it should make the device type obvious at a glance (for example "Air compressor type A").
3. Choose the product industry and category: category has two levels, pick the main category first and then a sub-category; selecting only the main category is also allowed.
4. Write a short description of what the product is for, so other team members understand it.
5. Set the node type: direct connection (the device connects itself), gateway (the device acts as a gateway with sub-devices) or sub-device.
6. Select the connectivity (WiFi / cellular / wired / other; multiple choices allowed) and choose the operating system.
7. After saving, the product appears in the list — note its product ID (click the ID on the card to copy it).

NoteThe product ID is used in screen configuration, API integration and troubleshooting. The ID on the list card can be copied with a click; there is no need to write it down by hand.

Thing model: which properties a device has

The thing model is a product’s abstraction of its devices. It decides how the data a device reports is interpreted by the platform.

• Properties: the state values of a device, such as temperature, pressure or switch state. Properties are the most used part of the platform — data screens and AI queries depend on them.
• Events: one-off actions or anomalies a device reports on its own initiative, such as alarms or fault reports.
• Services: operations the platform can invoke on a device, which correspond to "sending a command" below.
• Use lowercase English with underscores for property identifiers so they are easy to write in API integrations, and keep display names meaningful for the people reading them.

NoteThing models "take effect on publish": saving and importing only write a draft, and a new published version that applies to devices is created only when you click "Publish". Device uplink parsing, command dispatch, data screen queries and device details all read the published version. Product cards and the thing model dialog show states such as "Not published (draft only)" and "Draft pending publish". In "Version history" you can view and export any historical version and re-publish the content of one (version switching). Note also that a field’s data type cannot be changed after creation: importing a thing model with the same name but a different type does create a draft, but publishing it is rejected (the page warns about the conflicting field in advance). You then have to restore the original type, clear that field’s historical data, or use a new identifier.

What you can do on the product list

• Filter by product name, category and industry; filtering happens on the backend so it stays accurate with large data volumes.
• See how many devices a product has; click through to device management with the product filter already applied.
• See a summary of connectivity methods to confirm quickly how a kind of device gets online.
• Edit a product (rename it, adjust classification or network settings) or delete it.

NoteBefore deleting a product, make sure it has no devices left: deleting it while devices remain leaves those devices without an owner.

Notes

• Product category and industry are the basis for filtering and statistics; do not pick them carelessly, or later statistics by industry will be wrong.
• Connectivity allows multiple choices, to describe a product that supports several network forms.
• Thing model changes take effect only after "Publish": before that, devices are still parsed with the previous published version, and a product whose thing model has never been published will have incoming device data discarded.
• For devices that are already connected, confirm before publishing whether the fields they report need to be adjusted at the same time.