Provisioning

Provisioning is how devices get registered in ThingsBoard with credentials before they start sending data. There are two independent approaches: Bulk Provisioning (an admin imports a CSV file) and Auto Provisioning (devices self-register on first boot). Both result in the device existing in ThingsBoard with credentials ready to use.

This is distinct from Claiming: provisioning creates the device and gives it credentials; claiming transfers an already-provisioned device to a specific customer.

Bulk Provisioning

Bulk provisioning imports a list of devices or assets into ThingsBoard from a CSV file in one operation. Each row creates (or updates) one entity and can include attributes, telemetry, and device credentials — no API scripting required.

A common use case is pre-loading a batch of devices before shipping so they can use Auto Provisioning with the Check Pre-Provisioned Devices strategy: the devices are known to ThingsBoard in advance and only those exact devices are allowed to self-register.

What You Can Import

Column type	Description
Name	Entity name (required)
Type	Device or Asset type
Label	Optional display label
Server attribute	Any key — stored as a server-side attribute
Shared attribute	Any key — stored as a shared attribute (devices can read)
Telemetry	Any key — stored as a time-series data point
Access Token	Device credential — the token the device will use to connect

Import Process

Navigate to Entities ⇾ Devices (or Assets) and click the Import icon.
Upload your CSV file. Set the delimiter and toggle First line contains column names if applicable.
Enable Update attributes/telemetry if you want matching existing entities to be updated rather than flagged as errors.
Map each CSV column to a ThingsBoard field type (Name, Type, attribute, telemetry, Access Token, etc.).
Review the results — the summary shows how many entities were created, updated, or failed.

CSV Format

The file must have at minimum a name column and a type column. All other columns are optional. Empty cells are allowed — missing values are simply skipped for that entity.

name,type,label,serialNumber,accessToken
Sensor-001,Temperature Sensor,Warehouse A,SN-4A21F,tok-a1b2c3d4
Sensor-002,Temperature Sensor,Warehouse B,SN-4A22F,tok-e5f6g7h8
Gateway-001,IoT Gateway,Main Hub,GW-0010A,tok-i9j0k1l2

Bulk Provisioning via REST API

For automated pipelines — CI/CD, ERP integrations, or manufacturing systems — the same import can be triggered programmatically. See Bulk Import REST API for the endpoint and request format.

Auto Provisioning

Devices self-register on first boot by sending a provisioning request with a key and secret embedded in firmware. ThingsBoard validates it, creates or finds the device, and returns the credentials the device will use for all subsequent communication. No admin action needed per device.

Once provisioned, the device’s provisionState server-side attribute is set to provisioned. Re-sending a provisioning request returns the existing credentials without creating a duplicate.

Strategies

Allow creating new devices — ThingsBoard creates the device on first request. Use this when device names (e.g. MAC addresses) aren’t known at manufacturing time but are readable by firmware at runtime.

Check Pre-Provisioned Devices — ThingsBoard only accepts devices already present in the system and rejects all others. Use bulk provisioning to load the approved list first. Good for regulated or high-security deployments where unknown devices must be blocked.

Configure in Device Profile

In the Device Profile, go to the Device Provisioning tab, select a strategy, and copy the generated Provision device key and Provision device secret — these go into the device firmware.

Credential Types

The credential type is selected in the Device Provisioning tab and determines how the device authenticates after self-registration.

Type	How it works	Best for
Access Token	ThingsBoard generates a unique token	Simplest setup, most protocols
MQTT Basic	Device supplies username, password, and client ID	MQTT devices that manage their own identity
X.509 Certificate	Device provides a certificate; ThingsBoard returns credentials ID	Highest security; requires MQTT over SSL

Protocol References

Provisioning requests can be sent over MQTT, HTTP, and CoAP. See the transport-specific guides for exact topics, endpoints, and complete request/response examples:

MQTT Provisioning API — also supports X.509 certificate chain provisioning (v3.5+)
HTTP Provisioning API — supports Access Token and MQTT Basic
CoAP Provisioning API — supports Access Token