Templates

The Templates page manages reusable data collection presets. A template defines which topics your devices monitor as live telemetry and what they record to the rolling buffer, and applies that configuration to one or many devices at once. Use templates to speed up device onboarding and keep collection consistent across your fleet.

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What you’ll find on this page

• A list of existing templates showing the name, description, how many topics it monitors, whether it manages recording, and the creation date.
• A clear indicator for the current default template (the one automatically applied to new devices).
• Quick actions to edit, delete, or apply a template to selected devices.
• Controls to create a new template from scratch or from an existing device configuration.

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What a template covers

A template carries both halves of a device’s data collection:

• Monitored topics — with their downsampling settings.
• Recording configuration — the rolling buffer’s policy, quota, recording sets and their topics and rules.

A template manages recording only when it captures at least one topic or rule. If you leave the Record column empty, the template covers monitoring only, and applying it leaves each device’s rolling buffer exactly as it is. This is also why templates created before recording support existed never disturb a device’s recording setup. Host metrics are always collected, so they do not need to be part of a template. They are added automatically on every apply.

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Creating a new template

1. Click Create Template.
2. Give the template a descriptive name and, optionally, a description so other team members know what it is for.
3. Optionally toggle Set as default template to apply it automatically to all newly registered devices.
4. Tick the topics to collect. The editor is the same table as the device Data Collection view: a Monitor column, a Record column, namespace groups, glob rules and the rolling buffer settings. See Device configuration for how the columns and rules behave.
5. Click Create Template to save.

Notes:

• The topic list is built from everything the devices in your organisation have published, so connect a device before building a template.
• A template needs at least one monitored topic or one recorded topic to be saved.
• Names should be unique and descriptive (for example, “AMR Base Model”).
• If you mark a template as default, it is used for every new device registered after that change.

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Editing a template

1. Find the template in the list and click Edit.
2. Update the name, description, default flag, monitored topics, or recording configuration.
3. Save your changes with Update Template.

The full template is always fetched before the editor opens, so you never edit a partially loaded configuration. Editing propagates automatically to every device linked to the template that has Auto-update switched on, for both the monitoring and the recording halves. Devices with Auto-update off keep their current configuration until the template is applied to them again.

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Deleting a template

1. Click Delete on the template you want to remove.
2. Confirm the deletion in the confirmation dialog.

Warning: Deleting a template does not remove configuration already applied to devices. It only removes the saved template from this page. Devices linked to it keep collecting exactly what they were collecting.

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Applying a template to devices

From a single device:

1. Open the device’s Config tab → Data Collection.
2. Click Assign Template.
3. Pick a template. Each row previews what applying it would do — how many topics it monitors, how many it records, or recording untouched when it does not manage recording.
4. Click Apply template.

From the Devices page, to configure several devices at once:

1. Select the devices you want to configure.
2. Open the group menu and choose Assign Template.
3. Apply the template you want.

Applying a template replaces the device’s monitored topics, and its rolling buffer configuration when the template manages recording. The device then stays linked to the template until you detach it — see the template bar in Device configuration. Two things are adjusted automatically on apply:

• Host metrics are added, whatever the template contains.
• Message types that cannot be ingested as telemetry (sensor_msgs/msg/Image, PointCloud2, OccupancyGrid, and similar) are skipped in the Monitor half. They are still recorded if the template records them.

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Create a template from a device’s configuration

If a device is already configured the way you want:

1. Click From Device.
2. Choose the device whose configuration you want to save.
3. Enter a name and optional description.
4. Optionally set it as the default template and save.

This copies the device’s whole data collection — monitored topics with their downsampling, plus the rolling buffer configuration — into a new template. You can do the same from the device itself with Export Template on the Data Collection view, which previews what will be captured first.

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Default template behavior

• The default template is applied automatically to new devices when they register.
• Only one template is default at a time. Setting a new default replaces the previous one.
• Existing devices are not changed when you change the default. Use Apply to update already-registered devices.

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Tips and best practices

• Use clear, consistent naming (include device type and purpose).
• Keep templates focused and reusable — a base template for common telemetry, specialised ones for particular sensor loads.
• Prefer glob rules such as /camera/* in the Record column over long lists of individual topics. A rule keeps working when a robot gains a new topic in that namespace.
• Use From Device or Export Template to capture a working configuration, then refine it.

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FAQ

• Can I preview what will change on a device before applying a template?
  Yes. The Assign Template dialog shows, per template, how many topics it monitors and records before you apply it. For a full row-by-row review, apply it to a test device first.
• What happens to device data when I apply a new template?
  Applying a template updates what a device monitors and records from that point on. Historical data is not deleted, but future collection follows the new rules.
• Does a template without recording turn recording off on my devices?
  No. A template only manages recording when it captures at least one topic or rule. Otherwise each device keeps its own rolling buffer settings.
• Why is a topic I selected missing from the saved template?
  Template topics are matched to the schema of a topic some device has published. If no device is publishing it any more, its schema is unknown and it cannot be stored as a template row — the page warns you when this happens. Use a glob rule for the Record half instead.

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