FAQ — IoT Hub Users

IoT Hub is available to all ThingsBoard users — Community Edition, Professional Edition, Cloud (PaaS), and Edge. You can browse the catalog without an account. Installing items requires a running ThingsBoard instance.

Browsing and installing items is free. All items published during the current launch phase are released under the Apache 2.0 license. Advanced monetization features (paid items, premium subscriptions) are planned for a future phase.

Each item lists a minimum supported ThingsBoard version on its detail page. Check this before installing. Items that require Professional Edition features are labeled accordingly.

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Use the search bar at the top of any catalog page. Searches match item names, descriptions, and tags. You can also filter by use case category (Fleet Tracking, Smart Building, Industrial Automation, etc.) within each item type.

Items that use PE-only features (e.g., advanced rule chain nodes, white-labeling) display a Professional Edition badge on their catalog card and detail page.

Yes. Each item has a detail page with a description, preview images, and a Readme that documents exactly what the item does, which telemetry keys it expects, and what entities it creates. Read the Readme before installing.

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No. Solution templates always create new entities with unique names. They do not modify or overwrite anything already in your instance.

Yes, with some caveats:

• Widgets are identified by their FQN — reinstalling the same version does nothing new. Installing a new version updates the existing widget definition.
• Solution templates and devices create new entities on each install, so installing twice creates two sets of entities.
• Rule chains, calculated fields, and alarm rules follow the same update-in-place behavior as widgets.

The item will install successfully, but it won’t function correctly until your device sends the exact key names the item expects. Check the Readme for the required key names (they are case-sensitive) and rename your device’s telemetry keys or add a transformation rule chain to map them.

Check that your ThingsBoard instance version meets the minimum version requirement shown on the item detail page. Some items require Professional Edition features — verify the edition badge on the listing before installing.

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Yes. Once installed, items are standard ThingsBoard entities. You can edit dashboards, modify rule chains, adjust alarm thresholds, and change widget settings freely. Customizations are local to your instance and do not affect the IoT Hub listing.

For widgets: updating replaces the widget type definition, which may reset customizations made directly to the widget’s template or controller script. Dashboard-level settings (data keys, layout, widget settings) are preserved.

For rule chains, calculated fields, and alarm rules: updating replaces the definition. Export a backup of your customized version before updating if you want to preserve changes.

Confirm that your device sends the exact telemetry key names documented in the widget’s Readme. Key names are case-sensitive.

Verify that the source telemetry keys exist on the device and that the calculated field is assigned to the correct device profile.

Currently, there is no automatic notification. Check the item’s detail page on IoT Hub periodically, or follow the contributor’s profile to track their updates.

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All items published during the launch phase use the Apache 2.0 license. You are free to use, modify, and integrate them into your own solutions. You cannot re-publish another contributor’s item on IoT Hub as your own — the review process enforces this.

Yes. Apache 2.0 permits commercial use. There is no restriction on using IoT Hub items in production deployments.

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Contact the contributor directly using the contact information on their Creator profile (visible on the item detail page).

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