Skip to main content

Devices & the local network bridge

The Devices page manages two kinds of paired hardware: e-ink display controllers (like an ESP32 running the companion display firmware) and the local network bridge.

DevicesDevices

Pairing a device​

Click Generate registration code to get a short-lived, one-time code, then enter it into the device's own setup flow (its settings menu for a display, or the bridge binary's -register flag). The device exchanges that code for a permanent device token it uses for every future request — the code itself expires quickly and can't be reused.

The local network bridge​

If the backend is hosted somewhere that can't reach your home network directly — a cloud deployment being the main case — Home Assistant, an OpenEPaperLink access point, and a CUPS printer on that network are all unreachable from the backend on its own. The bridge is a small binary you run on your own network that opens a permanent connection outward to the backend and relays those three integrations through it.

For same-network deployments (backend and your devices on the same LAN) the bridge isn't needed at all — the backend just reaches them directly.

What the bridge can and can't do​

The bridge deliberately does not act as a general-purpose HTTP proxy. It exposes exactly four fixed operations to the backend:

  • fetch one Home Assistant entity's state
  • call Home Assistant's generic toggle service for one entity
  • push a rendered image to an OpenEPaperLink access point
  • send an IPP print job to a CUPS printer

Nothing else is possible — any other request is rejected by the bridge before it ever reaches your network. This is a deliberate security boundary: since the bridge runs inside your home network, a general-purpose proxy would turn any backend-side bug into a way to reach arbitrary hosts on that network. See the bridge binary reference for running it.

Outdated bridge warning​

The bridge reports its protocol version every time it connects. If it's running an older version than the backend expects, the Devices page shows a warning so you know to update it — features added after your bridge was built may not work until you do.