Live
Connect to a live robotics stack using one of the options below.
Connecting to live data sources requires a developer seat. Members with a basic seat can access Foxglove-managed data sources.
Connection options
For most users, we recommend one of the following. These give you the broadest feature support and the best performance.
- Foxglove SDK: embed a WebSocket server or remote access gateway (or both) in your Python, Rust, or C++ application.
- Foxglove Bridge: a ready-to-run bridge for ROS 1 and ROS 2.
For compatibility with existing deployments, Foxglove also supports:
- Rosbridge: connect to an existing
rosbridge_suitedeployment. - ROS 1 native: connect directly to a ROS 1 master (desktop app only) using
ROS_MASTER_URIandROS_HOSTNAME.
Any of these options will work if you can reach the device directly from your machine over a reliable network. For devices that aren't reachable (for example, behind a firewall) or on unreliable connections (cellular, high latency, packet loss), use remote access with the Foxglove SDK or Foxglove Bridge. Remote access routes connections through the Foxglove platform, and degrades gracefully on unreliable networks.
Feature support
| Foxglove SDK | Foxglove Bridge | Rosbridge | ROS 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROS 1 messages | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| ROS 2 messages | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Other formats (JSON, Protobuf, etc.) | ✓ | |||
| Publish messages | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Call services | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Call actions | ||||
| Read and set parameters | ✓ | ✓ | see discussion | ✓ |
| Local network | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Remote access | ✓ | ✓ (ROS 2 only) |