Your Pi program, out of the terminal and into your pocket

Write your Pi program the way you already do. ThePiHub turns it into a live control panel you can open on your phone, from anywhere.

In the terminal

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ python greenhouse.py

temperature 24.0

humidity 38.0

temperature 24.0

humidity 38.0

On your phone

Temperature

24°C

Humidity

38%

The same program, two ways. The readings here are simulated. Press Water plants.

Live video, straight to your browser*

Streaming a camera from a Pi to a web page is one of the hardest things to build. ThePiHub makes it three lines.

The hard way

Encode the video on the Pi without overwhelming it
Run a signalling server so the two ends can find each other
Open ports on your router, or set up a VPN
Write a video player page

With ThePiHub

camera = birdbox.output(id="camera", type="Camera")
camera.use(best_camera_source())  # the Pi's camera (hardware or software encoding); anywhere else, a moving test pattern
camera.recorder_if_possible()  # adds the Record button when the camera can be recorded

The picture goes straight from your Pi to your browser, never through our servers
The Pi's hardware encoder does the work, so even a Pi Zero W can stream
Up to Full HD (1080p), chosen from a setting on your dashboard
Snapshot, record and full screen are built in

*A direct connection isn't possible on every network. A Pi on a mobile hotspot works with the phone sharing it, but not with viewers elsewhere in the world. When it can't connect directly, the dashboard tells you.

See the 20-line example

What changes

Everything your program already does, without the desktop or command line.

In the terminal	On ThePiHub
Printing a reading	A live gauge
Asking "on or off?" at a prompt	A toggle
A video window on a monitor	Live camera video, straight to your browser
Copying recordings off by hand	One-click download
Reading logs to spot trouble	A warning that stays until you acknowledge it
SSH-ing in to check	Open your phone

Away from the desk

Check on it from the sofa, the office or the other side of the world.

Away from the terminal

No SSH, no scrolling logs, no typing y or n at a prompt.

Away from web development

You declare what your program shows and does. ThePiHub draws it: nobody writes HTML.

How it works

1. Install the SDK

On the Pi (or any Linux machine). Python 3.10 or newer.

pip install thepihub

2. Run an example

Copy an example or write your own

python greenhouse.py

The first run prints a link and a code: approve it in your browser, and your Pi is yours.

3. Your code's dashboard, laid out effortlessly

Temperature

24°C

Humidity

38%

Three ways in

Run an example

Copy a program from Projects and see your own Pi on a dashboard within minutes.

See the projects

Build your own program

Say what your program shows and what it can be told to do, and ThePiHub draws the dashboard, live.

Get started

Building a product?

Point-to-point video and file transfer, device identity and reconnection are already handled for you.

Coming soon

Your name, your address, your style
Your team, your fleet
Run as a service

Talk to us

A real one: Bird Box Live

Put a Pi and a camera in a nest box, plug it in, and watch from anywhere - live video peer to peer, plus Record and Snapshot saved on the Pi. In use on a Pi Zero W and tested on a Pi 3A+.

birdbox = Program(id="birdbox", name="Bird Box")
camera = birdbox.output(id="camera", type="Camera")
temperature = birdbox.output(id="temperature", type="Gauge")
...
files = files_program.output(id="files", type="Files")

The Bird Box Live dashboard — Its dashboard, drawn from those lines (here with the test-pattern camera).

Read the full story