Installation & Getting Started

Installation

Download the latest releases here for Mac (ARM), Mac (Intel), Linux (amd64), Linux (arm64) and Windows (x64, Installer or Portable).

Linux Server (Raspberry Pi, NUC, etc.)

Install a Debian Linux installation such as Raspberry Pi OS, Ubuntu Server, or Companion Pi. After installation, running this script will install the latest release of the app from GitHub, or update an already existing installation. Supports ARM (Raspberry Pi, etc.) and Intel (Intel NUC, etc.).

Dashboard will launch full screen upon boot. It is the full version of the app, but also auto-starts the web server for remote configuration.

Run this script to install, either directly on the device or over SSH:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tomhillmeyer/companion-dashboard/main/install.sh | bash

Requires a reboot after installation:

sudo reboot

iOS TestFlight

There is a TestFlight beta test for iPad. To be added to the beta, contact me at tom@tomhillmeyer.com.

Companion Connection(s)

After installing the app and launching it, open the settings pane to connect it to Companion. Make sure Companion is running either on the same computer or otherwise accessible on the network by your computer. Open the settings by clicking the arrow in the bottom left of the app next to the lock/unlock button. These buttons appear when you move your mouse over the app, and disappear after a few seconds of no mouse movements. You can also click command/control + , to toggle the settings pane.

Companion connection(s) are at the top of the settings. You can decide how quickly you want Dashboard to refresh with new data from Companion with the Variable Refresh Rate setting, which is in milliseconds.

Below that is Default Connection which his where you should enter your Companion instance's address. Be sure to include http:// or https://, the IP address, and the port. This field will automatically clean up URLs for those pieces, so you can copy any URL from the Companion GUI and paste it here and it should work. The input field will turn green if it's connection to a Companion instance.

Below the Default Connection is a + button. Clicking that will add another connection, Connection [x]. You can add as many connections as you want, if you're trying to display variables from several instances of Companion.

Settings

Moving down the settings pane:

• The Font picker allows you to select a global font for all text in boxes.

• The Canvas section is for the canvas background.

  • Use the color picker to pick a color, or the text field next to it to input a Companion variable, HEX code, or Image URL.

  • Below that you can pick an image from your system to use. The background image will appear on top of the color picker color or input field color, so you can use Background Image Opacity to adjust the image opacity and show more of that color underneath.

  • Variable Background Color lets you pick a color for if a Companion variable has a certain value.

• Boxes let you make a new box or clear all of the boxes on the canvas. You can also make a new box with Command/Control + N when on the canvas.

Web Server

Below that is the web server settings.

• mDNS lets you set an easy to remember address for your Dashboard. This allows anyone on the same network to access your Dashboard without needing to know your IP address, by just typing in that mDNS address (default dashboard.local)

• Port lets you specify which port you want Dashboard's web server to run on. Port 80 is default and as that's the default for HTTP, you don't need to specify a port when accessing web servers on port 80.

• The web server hosts two versions of Dashboard that are accessible in browsers on the network: a read-only/locked view and the full app, or control view. The locked view is intended to be shared with people on your team who simply need to view information but not have edit access. The control view lets you remotely access the full version of Dashboard, make edits, move boxes, etc.

Configuration

The Save and Load buttons allow you to save a Dashboard configuration and load them from a file. When loading a file you can select either to replace your entire current configuration or simply add the boxes to your existing config.