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Customizing device profiles

A device profile is the "type" applied to similar devices: it tells the platform how to read the raw data each one sends and turns it into named readings like Temperature or Battery. Profiles are normally built and looked after by your provider.

If your plan includes it, you can go a step further and tailor a profile to your own deployment. There are two ways to get a profile of your own:

  • Add one from the profile library: a catalog of ready-made profiles for supported devices, each with a prebuilt decoder, fields, and a default dashboard.
  • Clone one of your provider's profiles and edit the copy.
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Don't see these options? Customizing profiles is switched on per workspace by your provider. If your profiles are read-only with no Add from library button or Clone action, your plan doesn't include this, and your provider maintains your profiles for you.

Adding a profile from the library​

The profile library lists supported devices by manufacturer. Each entry ships everything a device of that model needs: the decoder, the fields it reports, any preset commands, and a default dashboard.

  1. Open Device profiles from the settings menu.
  2. Click Add from library.
  3. Filter by region or manufacturer, or search by device name, then pick the entry that matches your device.
  4. Name your profile and click Use this template.

The profile is created in your workspace, ready to assign to devices. It's yours: you can rename fields, adjust the decoder, or change the dashboard, and the manufacturer's name and logo on the entry tell you whose device it was built for.

Your profile is a frozen copy of the library entry at the moment you created it. Library updates never change it; to pick up a newer version, add the entry again as a fresh profile and move your devices over when you're ready.

Can't find your device in the library? Use the Request a profile link in the picker.

Cloning a profile​

The profiles your provider built stay read-only to you, you can see how they're set up, but not change them. What you can do is take a copy:

  1. Open Device profiles from the settings menu.
  2. Find the profile you want to start from and open its row menu (the ... button).
  3. Choose Clone and give your copy a name.

The copy belongs to your workspace. It starts identical to the original, but from then on the two are separate: your edits never affect your provider's profile, and any changes they later make to theirs don't flow into your copy.

Your provider decides per profile whether it can be cloned, so a specific profile may not offer the Clone action even when your plan includes profile customizing.

Permission required: Workspace Admin.

What you can change​

On your own copy you can adjust:

  • Fields, rename readings, set which two are the Primary and Secondary values shown on the device list, change units and formatting.
  • The decoder, the logic that turns a device's raw bytes into readings, if you need to handle a firmware variant or a field your deployment cares about.
  • Downlink templates, the pre-set commands you can send to a device.
  • The profile dashboard, the default set of widgets shown for devices on this profile.

Putting your copy to work​

Editing a copy doesn't move any devices onto it on its own. When the copy is ready, point your devices at it:

  1. Open a device and go to its Configuration tab.
  2. Use Change profile and pick your copy.
  3. Save.

The device immediately starts being read with your copy's settings. You can move devices back to the original profile the same way if you need to.

Once devices are on your copy, you can also automate them as a group: a workflow with Device profile scope watches every device on your copy at once, with the copy's full field catalog available in conditions. See Creating workflows.

Frequently asked​

Will my changes affect other customers? No. Your copy lives entirely in your workspace. Nobody else sees it, and editing it never touches the profile you copied from.

My readings look wrong after editing the decoder. Decoders are precise, a small change can stop readings decoding. Check the device's Events feed: a flagged uplink means the decoder couldn't read it. If you're stuck, point the device back at the original profile and ask your provider for help.

How many profiles can I make? Your plan sets a limit, and library profiles and clones count against the same allowance. If you hit it, remove a profile you no longer use, or ask your provider about a higher allowance.

What's next​