FAQ¶

General¶

Why ESP32 only?¶

Because that's what we use, and because constraining the scope keeps the compatibility model simple. The data model is generic enough that adding a new chip family is a field-and-filter change, not a redesign.

Is there a CLI?¶

Not yet. The dev API is stable and CI-friendly; see the GitHub Actions and GitLab CI guides for ready-to-paste upload templates.

Rollouts¶

How do I do a 100% rollout?¶

Set percentage = 100 on the deployment. Every device in the target groups + channel that is compatible with the artifact will be offered the update on its next poll.

How do I revert?¶

Create a new deployment that targets the previous artifact (lower build number). Devices polling will receive… nothing, because the decision engine compares strictly: a device on build 47 is not "updated" to build 42.

To roll back, you upload a new artifact whose contents are the old build, and which therefore gets a fresh, higher build number. See Pausing deployments for the long version.

Can I schedule a rollout to start at a specific time?¶

Active deployments take effect immediately. Pre-creating a deployment in the paused state and flipping it to active at the desired time is the supported workaround today.

Will my staging device always get the update before production?¶

Yes, if you put it in a staging device group and target your staging-only deployments at that group. The decision engine never crosses group boundaries.

Devices¶

What's a device UID?¶

Whatever stable identifier you supply when calling /api/v1/ota/check/. The MAC address or chip ID work well. SimpleOTA does not generate one for you; your firmware must pick one and stick with it.

A device polled twice and got two different cohorts. Bug?¶

No; the cohort is a function of (deployment.seed, device.id). If you re-registered the device (different device_id ⇒ different UUID) between polls, that's a new cohort. Otherwise check whether the deployment's seed was edited.

What does `active=False` mean?¶

The device is recognized but excluded from updates. Common causes:

Plan downgrade exceeded the device cap (plan enforcement).
Operator manually deactivated it via the dashboard.

Billing¶

What happens at the end of a paid trial?¶

Stripe transitions the subscription to active (if the card succeeded) or canceled (if it didn't). Your plan updates accordingly. If it lands on canceled, oldest-active-wins runs.

My payment method failed and devices are over the cap. Will they break?¶

Devices over cap receive {"status": "over_limit"} with HTTP 200; no retry storm, no broken hardware. As soon as the subscription is restored, the cap re-expands and devices resume receiving updates.

Operations¶

How do I rotate a project token?¶

Dashboard → project → Tokens → Rotate. The old token stops working immediately. Update your CI secret. The action is audited.

Where are the build logs?¶

Wherever your CI puts them. SimpleOTA stores the firmware artifact, the manifest, and the audit trail of who uploaded it. Your CI run history is the source of truth for how the artifact was built.

Can I delete an artifact?¶

You can soft-delete (mark inactive) via the dev API, which also detaches it from any draft deployments. Hard deletion of the underlying binary is a separate object-storage concern; the artifact row is retained for audit.