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Nightscout Push Setup

Configure Strimma to upload glucose readings to your Nightscout server.

What You Need

  • A working Nightscout server URL (e.g., https://my-nightscout.fly.dev)
  • Your Nightscout API secret

Configuration

  1. Open Strimma and go to Settings > Data Source
  2. In the Nightscout Push section:
    • URL — enter your Nightscout base URL (e.g., https://my-nightscout.fly.dev)
    • API Secret — enter your Nightscout API secret

URL format

Enter only the base URL. Do not include /api/v1/entries or any path. Strimma adds the correct API paths automatically.

How Push Works

When Strimma receives a new glucose reading:

  1. The reading is stored in the local database with pushed = 0
  2. Strimma immediately sends a POST /api/v1/entries request to your Nightscout server
  3. On success, the reading is marked pushed = 1
  4. On failure, the reading stays pushed = 0 for later retry

Retry Logic

If a push fails (network error, server down, etc.):

  • Strimma retries up to 12 times with linear backoff
  • Delays: 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, ... up to 60s max
  • If all 12 attempts fail, the reading is left as unpushed

Offline Resilience

Unpushed readings survive app restarts. Every 5 minutes, Strimma checks for unpushed readings and attempts to push them in a batch. This means:

  • If you lose connectivity, readings accumulate locally
  • When connectivity returns, all queued readings are pushed
  • No data is lost during network outages

Verifying the Connection

After entering your URL and secret:

  1. Wait for your CGM to produce a new reading
  2. Check your Nightscout web dashboard — the reading should appear within seconds
  3. If it doesn't appear, check the Debug Log (Settings > Debug Log) for error messages

Common errors:

Error Cause Fix
401 Unauthorized Wrong API secret Double-check the secret in settings
Connection refused Wrong URL or server down Verify the URL opens in a browser
Timeout Network issue Check your internet connection

Data Format

Strimma pushes readings in standard Nightscout format:

[
  {
    "sgv": 108,
    "date": 1711029600000,
    "dateString": "2025-03-21T14:00:00.000Z",
    "direction": "Flat",
    "type": "sgv",
    "device": "Strimma"
  }
]

The device field is always "Strimma", which lets you identify Strimma uploads on your Nightscout dashboard.

Authentication

Strimma authenticates with Nightscout using the api-secret HTTP header. The secret is hashed with SHA-1 before sending, matching the standard Nightscout authentication method.

Your API secret is stored locally in Android's EncryptedSharedPreferences — encrypted at rest on your device.