Remote Dashboard

Remote Dashboard lets one Serial Studio instance watch another instance's dashboard over the network. The instance connected to the hardware (the publisher) keeps parsing, logging, and displaying as usual; the watching instance (the viewer) attaches to it and renders the same groups, datasets, and live values. The view is read-only: nothing done on the viewer reaches the remote device, and the viewer's own project on disk is never modified.

The link rides the same TCP API server used by scripts and external tools (port 7777), so there is nothing extra to install. It is available in every edition.

Typical uses:

• A test stand in another room, watched from a desk.
• One operator machine wired to the hardware, several read-only observers.
• A headless data logger on an embedded PC, checked from a laptop on the same network.

Publisher: allow incoming viewers

1. Open Preferences and enable Enable API Server (Port 7777) in the API & Plugins group of the General tab.
2. For viewers on the same machine, that is all: local connections are pre-authorized and need no token.
3. For viewers on another machine, also enable Allow External API Connections and copy the API Access Token shown below it. The refresh button generates a new token and invalidates the old one.

On a headless publisher the same provisioning is done from the command line:

serial-studio --headless --api-server --api-external --api-token <token>

--api-token expects at least 32 hexadecimal characters. --api-external is the non-interactive equivalent of the "Allow External API Connections" confirmation: once set, any machine that can reach port 7777 may connect after presenting the token.

Viewer: attach

1. Run the Remote Dashboard command from the command palette. The Attach to Remote Dashboard dialog opens.
2. Fill in the connection fields:

3. Press Attach. The status box reports the link state:
   • Attached … live, N datasets at N Hz — values are flowing.
   • Attached … connected, the remote is not producing data — the link is up but the publisher's device is idle or disconnected.
   • Attached … no response, the link may be down — heartbeats stopped; the viewer keeps the last values and recovers on its own when the link returns.

Detach restores whatever the viewer was doing before the attach — its own project, operation mode, and connection state come back exactly as they were.

A viewer cannot attach while its own device connection or a file recording is active; the dialog says so and the Attach button stays disabled until the local stream is closed.

The update rate is automatic: the viewer receives values as fast as the publisher's own display refreshes, never faster, so there is nothing to tune. Endpoints and their tokens are remembered in the viewer's application settings; the dialog reopens with the last used publisher filled in.

What travels, what does not

The publisher sends the dashboard structure (groups, datasets, titles, units) and the live values the dashboard displays. It does not send raw frames: the viewer's console stays empty, and the viewer's CSV/MDF4 export, MQTT publisher, and Historian never see mirrored data — recording stays the publisher's job. If the remote project changes while attached, the viewer picks up the new layout automatically.

Trust model

The v1 link has three limits to understand before opening it up:

• The transport is not encrypted. The token authorizes the connection but does not protect what travels over it. Anyone who can capture the traffic can read the telemetry.
• The token is the full API credential, not a viewer-only pass. A holder can also issue API commands on the publisher, exactly as any API client can. There is no read-only token.
• Local connections skip the token. Any process on the publisher's machine may attach.
• Remembered tokens are stored as plain text. A token saved with a recent endpoint sits in the viewer's application settings with the same protection as any other setting; anyone with access to the viewer's user profile can read it.

Use Remote Dashboard on a trusted network, or wrap the connection in a tunnel (SSH port forwarding or a VPN) when it must cross an untrusted one. Keep Allow External API Connections off when no remote viewer is expected.

The number of simultaneous viewers is capped at the API server's client limit (32 connections) by default; the API/MaxViewers entry in the application settings lowers it (a value of 0 refuses viewers while leaving the rest of the API available).

See also

• API Reference — the API server, token handling, and external access.
• Command Line Interface — headless and provisioning flags.
• Operator Deployments — locking down the watching station.