# Foxglove

> Foxglove is a comprehensive robotics infrastructure layer and observability platform that combines powerful visualization tools with cloud data infrastructure for managing recordings, devices, and events across your entire robotics fleet.

## Quick Facts

- **Primary use**: Robotics visualization, data platform, and fleet management
- **Available on**: Web app (app.foxglove.dev), Desktop app (Electron), Embeddable SDK
- **Data tools**: Recordings management, Events system, Device tracking, Timeline view, REST API
- **Data formats**: MCAP, ROS Bag (.bag, .db3), ULog, custom formats via extensions
- **SDKs**: Python, Rust, C++ (MIT licensed)
- **Live connections**: Foxglove WebSocket, ROS 1/2 native, Foxglove Bridge
- **Collaboration**: Shared layouts, organization templates, layout history, shareable links
- **Enterprise**: SSO/SAML, Projects for data isolation, Webhooks, API integrations
- **Extensibility**: Custom panels, message converters (schema & topic), topic aliases, data loaders, user-script utilities

## Documentation

Base URL: https://docs.foxglove.dev

### Overview

Introduction and getting started

- [Foxglove Documentation](/docs) - Foxglove is a purpose-built platform that empowers robotics teams to visually debug robots, build reliable autonomy, and scale their development.
- [Settings](/docs/settings) - Use the Settings page to configure preferred time zone, timestamp format, and more. Additionally, admins can modify the subscription plan, invite and manage organization members, and configure organization-wide settings like sites and custom device properties.
- [Standalone License Activation](/docs/standalone-license) - Activate Foxglove desktop in standalone mode for offline and air-gapped environments.
- [Pricing](/docs/pricing) - Foxglove offers Free, Pro, and Enterprise plans to fit teams of every size. Compare features, usage limits, and find the right plan for your workflow.
- [Projects](/docs/projects) - Projects are collections of resources within an organization.
- [CLI](/docs/cli) - The foxglove CLI tool helps you import, export, and interact with your data from the command line.
- [Audit logs](/docs/audit-logs) - Review organization activity from the Audit logs page. Available to org admins on Enterprise plans.

### Getting Started

Quick start guides by framework

- [Python](/docs/getting-started/python) - Log data from Python into Foxglove
- [Rust](/docs/getting-started/rust) - Log data from Rust into Foxglove
- [C++](/docs/getting-started/cpp) - Log data from C++ into Foxglove
- [Explore examples](/docs/getting-started/explore-examples) - Curated example datasets with prebuilt layouts — no setup or code required.
- [Getting started guide](/docs/getting-started/getting-started-guide) - Stream a sample drone recording live into Foxglove with one command using the Foxglove wizard — no hardware, robot, or code needed.
- [Open a file](/docs/getting-started/open-a-file) - Drop an MCAP file or ROS bag into Foxglove and explore it instantly.

### Framework Guides

Integration guides for ROS, PX4, and more

- [ROS 1](/docs/getting-started/frameworks/ros1) - Use Foxglove to stream multimodal robotics data using ROS 1 or replay it from `.bag` files.
- [ROS 2](/docs/getting-started/frameworks/ros2) - Use Foxglove to stream multimodal robotics data using ROS 2 or replay it from MCAP files.
- [PX4](/docs/getting-started/frameworks/px4) - Load local PX4 ULog (`.ulg`) files for visualization.
- [LeRobot](/docs/getting-started/frameworks/lerobot) - Stream LeRobot teleop, recording, and dataset replay to Foxglove with native WebSocket support.

### Hardware Guides

Connecting cameras, lidar, and sensors

- [Luxonis OAK Cameras](/docs/getting-started/hardware/oak-depth-cameras) - Stream data from Luxonis OAK depth cameras to Foxglove for real-time visualization and recording.
- [RGB Camera](/docs/getting-started/hardware/rgb-camera) - Stream data from RGB cameras to Foxglove for real-time visualization
- [Stereolabs ZED Cameras](/docs/getting-started/hardware/stereolabs-depth-cameras) - Stream data from Stereolabs ZED depth cameras to Foxglove for real-time visualization and recording.

### Visualization

Panel-based data visualization and debugging

- [Foxglove Visualization](/docs/visualization) - After connecting to a data source, leverage Foxglove's visualization and debugging tools to start exploring your data.
- [Playback](/docs/visualization/playback) - When visualizing a local or remote data file, you can navigate its contents using the playback bar controls.
- [Comparison mode](/docs/visualization/comparison-mode) - Open multiple data sources on a shared playback timeline and view their data together, either overlaid or side-by-side.
- [Layouts](/docs/visualization/layouts) - Arrange Foxglove panels into custom layouts to tackle your visualization and debugging workflows.
- [Variables](/docs/visualization/variables) - Variables are values that can be set globally for a Foxglove layout.
- [User Scripts](/docs/visualization/user-scripts) - Publish pseudo topics internally to Foxglove using custom scripts. Manipulate, reduce, and filter existing messages and output them for useful visualization.
- [FoxQL](/docs/visualization/foxql) - Use FoxQL throughout Foxglove to select and transform values from topics.
- [Shareable links](/docs/visualization/shareable-links) - Build and share deep links with your teammates to open Foxglove with specific layouts, data sources, and timeline views.
- [Video export](/docs/visualization/video-export) - Record the current panel layout to an MP4 or WebM file by stepping through your data one frame at a time.
- [Open via CLI](/docs/visualization/open-via-cli) - Open local, live, and cloud data sources via the command line.
- ... and 3 more

### Connecting to Data

Connect to live data, local files, or cloud data sources

- [Remote data loader](/docs/visualization/connecting/cloud-data/remote-data-loader) - Visualize queryable data sources using a remote data loader
- [Connecting to data](/docs/visualization/connecting) - Connect to live robots, open local files, or stream cloud data with Foxglove.
- [Development Guide](/docs/visualization/connecting/cloud-data/remote-data-loader/development-guide) - Build a data backend for a remote data loader deployment
- [Data loaders](/docs/visualization/connecting/local-data/data-loaders) - Open files in custom formats directly in Foxglove without converting them first.
- [Authentication](/docs/visualization/connecting/cloud-data/remote-data-loader/auth) - Authenticate users to your data backend using OAuth 2.0
- [Live](/docs/visualization/connecting/live) - Connect to a live robotics stack over remote access, the Foxglove WebSocket protocol, Rosbridge, or a native ROS 1 connection.
- [Deployment](/docs/visualization/connecting/cloud-data/remote-data-loader/deployment) - Deploy a remote data loader
- [Local](/docs/visualization/connecting/local-data) - Load local ROS 1 (.bag) and MCAP (.mcap) files for visualization.
- [Cloud](/docs/visualization/connecting/cloud-data) - Load remote data via URL.
- [Configure cloud credentials](/docs/visualization/connecting/cloud-data/remote-data-loader/configure-cloud-credentials) - Authenticate the remote data loader to the cache bucket
- ... and 2 more

### Panels

Individual panel types for data visualization

- [Panels](/docs/visualization/panels) - Panels are modular visualization interfaces that can be configured and arranged into Foxglove layouts.
- [3D panel](/docs/visualization/panels/3d) - Display markers, entities, camera images, meshes, URDF models, and more in a 3D scene.
- [Audio panel](/docs/visualization/panels/audio) - Display and play audio waveforms from incoming RawAudio and CompressedAudio message topics.
- [Data Source Info panel](/docs/visualization/panels/data-source-info) - View time and topic information for your connected data source.
- [Diagnostics panel](/docs/visualization/panels/diagnostics) - Display the status of seen nodes from ROS `DiagnosticArray` topic messages in a feed. Drill down into data for a given diagnostic name and hardware ID.
- [Gauge panel](/docs/visualization/panels/gauge) - Display numeric values from an incoming expression on a customized gauge display.
- [Image panel](/docs/visualization/panels/image) - Display raw and compressed images, as well as compressed videos, with 2D annotations like text labels, circles, and points. Superimpose 3D markers for additional context.
- [Indicator panel](/docs/visualization/panels/indicator) - Display a color-coded label to indicate threshold values in your data.
- [Log panel](/docs/visualization/panels/log) - Display and filter `Log` topic messages.
- [Map panel](/docs/visualization/panels/map) - Display geographic data on a world map.
- ... and 13 more

### SDK

SDKs for C++, Python, and Rust

- [Foxglove SDK](/docs/sdk) - The Foxglove SDK can be used to log messages to MCAP files or the Foxglove app for live visualization.
- [Concepts](/docs/sdk/concepts) - Introduce concepts used by the Foxglove SDK.
- [Example](/docs/sdk/example) - Log messages to an MCAP file and the Foxglove app for live visualization.
- [Logging messages](/docs/sdk/logging-messages) - Learn how to log different types of messages
- [Logging strategies](/docs/sdk/logging-strategies) - Learn about different approaches to logging robot data efficiently, including lightweight and debug bag strategies.
- [WebSocket Server](/docs/sdk/websocket-server) - Working with the WebSocket server in the Foxglove SDK.
- [Remote Access Gateway](/docs/sdk/remote-access-gateway) - Program a remote access gateway using the Foxglove SDK to make a device available for remote visualization and teleoperation.

### Schema Reference

Schema formats and per-message-type reference

- [Foxglove messages](/docs/sdk/schemas) - Using Foxglove messages helps you take full advantage of the platform's built-in visualizations.
- [Built-in types](/docs/sdk/schemas/built-in-types) - Primitive types are the building blocks of Foxglove's supported message schemas.
- [Grid](/docs/sdk/schemas/114-grid.generated)
- [ImageAnnotations](/docs/sdk/schemas/115-image-annotations.generated)
- [JointState](/docs/sdk/schemas/116-joint-state.generated)
- [JointStates](/docs/sdk/schemas/117-joint-states.generated)
- [KeyValuePair](/docs/sdk/schemas/118-key-value-pair.generated)
- [LaserScan](/docs/sdk/schemas/119-laser-scan.generated)
- [LinePrimitive](/docs/sdk/schemas/120-line-primitive.generated)
- [LocationFix](/docs/sdk/schemas/121-location-fix.generated)
- ... and 33 more

### Data Platform

Managing recordings, devices, and events

- [Foxglove Data Platform](/docs/data) - Organize, store, and access your robotics data with Foxglove Data Platform.
- [Importing data](/docs/data/importing-data) - Import ROS 1 (.bag) and MCAP (.mcap) data files into the Foxglove platform for later visualization and analysis.
- [Exporting data](/docs/data/exporting-data) - Import ROS1 (.bag) and MCAP (.mcap) data files into the Foxglove platform for visualization and analysis.
- [Devices](/docs/data/devices) - Devices represent every real and simulated robot that your organization wants to track.
- [Recordings](/docs/data/recordings) - Recordings represent every data file recorded by your organization's devices.
- [Sessions](/docs/data/sessions) - Sessions group recordings from a device by drive, mission, or other logical unit.
- [Events](/docs/data/events) - Events represent points or time ranges of interest in your organization's recordings.

### Primary Sites

Self-hosted data infrastructure

- [Foxglove Cloud, bring your own storage](/docs/data/primary-sites/foxglove-managed-setup) - Set up a Foxglove Cloud Primary Site with bring-your-own-storage that indexes and queries data directly from your cloud storage bucket.
- [On-premises](/docs/data/primary-sites/installation) - Install and configure an on-premises Primary Site.
- [Storage mode](/docs/data/primary-sites/storage-mode) - Choosing an storage mode for your Primary Site.
- [Inbox listener configuration](/docs/data/primary-sites/inbox-listener-configuration) - Configure the inbox listener in your self-hosted Primary Site.
- [Indexer configuration](/docs/data/primary-sites/indexer-configuration) - Configure the indexer in your self-hosted Primary Site.
- [Query service configuration](/docs/data/primary-sites/query-service-configuration) - Configure the query service in your self-hosted Primary Site.
- [Search configuration](/docs/data/primary-sites/search-configuration) - Configure your self-hosted Primary Site to handle search workloads.
- [Configure cloud credentials](/docs/data/primary-sites/configure-cloud-credentials) - Self-hosted Primary Sites need additional cloud credentials to import data from its corresponding Foxglove Edge Sites.
- [Manage data](/docs/data/primary-sites/manage-data) - Manage your self-hosted Primary Site's data.
- [Upgrading](/docs/data/primary-sites/upgrading) - Upgrade the version of your self-hosted Primary Site.
- ... and 5 more

### Edge Sites

Edge data collection

- [Edge Sites](/docs/data/edge-sites) - Edge Sites are on-site data storage centers, located in physical proximity to where your robots are operating. They are designed to safely store data on-premises before you decide to forward it to the cloud, mitigating the risks of unpredictable network connectivity or low bandwidth.
- [Installation](/docs/data/edge-sites/installation) - Install and configure a Foxglove Edge Site.
- [Configure cloud credentials](/docs/data/edge-sites/configure-cloud-credentials) - Foxglove Edge Sites need cloud credentials to upload data to Foxglove or a self-hosted cloud.
- [Manage data](/docs/data/edge-sites/manage-data) - Start processing data through your Foxglove Edge Site.
- [Upgrading](/docs/data/edge-sites/upgrading) - Upgrading the version of your Foxglove Edge Site.
- [Monitoring](/docs/data/edge-sites/monitoring) - Monitor your Foxglove Edge Site.

### Fleet

Device-side software for robot connectivity, authentication, and data collection

- [Overview](/docs/fleet) - Learn how Foxglove's fleet software components (Foxlet, the Foxglove Bridge, and the SDK) work together to connect your devices to Foxglove.
- [Device Tokens](/docs/fleet/device-tokens) - Create and manage device tokens that authenticate devices to the Foxglove platform.
- [Foxglove Bridge](/docs/fleet/bridge) - Use the Foxglove Bridge to visualize your live ROS 1 or ROS 2 data. The Foxglove Bridge connects your ROS stack to Foxglove over Foxglove WebSocket or remote access.
- [Remote Access](/docs/fleet/remote-access) - Configure a device in your fleet for remote live visualization and teleoperation through the Foxglove platform.

### Foxlet

Robot-side data collection daemon

- [Foxlet](/docs/fleet/foxlet) - Foxlet is a lightweight process you install on each device to connect it to Foxglove cloud.
- [Foxlet Device Tokens](/docs/fleet/foxlet/devicetokens) - Device token workflows specific to Foxlet.
- [Installation](/docs/fleet/foxlet/installation) - Install and configure Foxlet.
- [Manage data](/docs/fleet/foxlet/manage-data) - Start processing data recordings with Foxlet.
- [Logging](/docs/fleet/foxlet/logging) - Configure and access Foxlet logs.
- [Foxlet state](/docs/fleet/foxlet/state) - How Foxlet maintains local state.
- [FAQ](/docs/fleet/foxlet/faq) - Frequently asked questions about Foxlet.

### Agents

In-app agent sidebar and the local MCP server for external agents

- [Overview](/docs/agents) - Work with robotics data in natural language, using the agent sidebar in the app, the Slack integration, or your own AI agent through Foxglove's MCP server.
- [Agent sidebar](/docs/agents/agent-sidebar) - Use Foxglove's built-in AI agent to ask questions about the data, build layouts, write user scripts, and more.
- [MCP server](/docs/agents/mcp-server) - Connect AI tools like Claude Code, Cursor, and Claude Desktop to Foxglove through the desktop app's local MCP server.
- [Slack](/docs/agents/slack) - Ask Foxglove questions in Slack about your organization's recordings, sessions, devices, Projects, sites, and events without leaving the conversation.

### Extensions

Custom panels, converters, and data loaders

- [Local development](/docs/extensions/local-development) - Build and test custom Foxglove extensions locally before publishing.
- [Publishing extensions](/docs/extensions/publish) - Publish custom extensions to help teammates or other Foxglove users leverage your contribution in their own workflows.
- [extension-api-index](/docs/extensions/extension-api-index)
- [Extensions](/docs/extensions) - Extend Foxglove's capabilities with custom extensions – build bespoke panels, convert custom messages to Foxglove message types, and alias topic names for easy visualization.

### Extension Guides

Step-by-step extension guides

- [Create custom panel](/docs/extensions/guides/create-custom-panel) - Build a simple panel extension that subscribes to a topic, and then register it so that you can add it to a Foxglove layout.
- [Create schema converter](/docs/extensions/guides/create-schema-converter) - Build a simple message schemaconverter for transforming custom GPS messages to match the `foxglove.LocationFix` schema, for visualization in the Map panel.
- [Create topic converter](/docs/extensions/guides/create-topic-converter) - Build a topic message converter for transforming custom messages to match the `foxglove.LocationFix` schema, for visualization in the Map panel.
- [Optimize extension performance](/docs/extensions/guides/optimize-extension-performance) - Optimize your extensions for production to reduce load times.
- [Create data loader with Rust](/docs/extensions/guides/create-data-loader) - Build a simple data loader with Rust to add custom file format support for Foxglove.
- [Register a user-script utility](/docs/extensions/guides/register-user-script-utility) - Register a user-script utility that can be imported into user-scripts.

### Embed SDK

Embed Foxglove visualization in your applications

- [TypeScript SDK guide](/docs/embed/typescript-sdk) - Embed Foxglove in your application or website
- [React SDK guide](/docs/embed/react-sdk) - Embed Foxglove in your application or website
- [Self-hosted embedded viewer](/docs/embed/self-hosted) - Embed Foxglove in your application or website
- [@foxglove/embed](/docs/embed/foxglove-embed) - Embed Foxglove in your website
- [@foxglove/embed-react](/docs/embed/foxglove-embed-react) - Embed Foxglove in your website using our React SDK
- [Embedding Foxglove](/docs/embed) - Embed Foxglove in your application or website

### Webhooks

Event-driven integrations

- [Getting started](/docs/webhooks/getting-started) - Set up your first webhook.
- [Security](/docs/webhooks/security) - Secure your webhook endpoint.
- [Webhooks](/docs/webhooks) - Webhooks notify your software when events happen within your Foxglove organization.

### Security

SSO, roles, and access control

- [Roles](/docs/security/roles) - Roles control administrative permissions for organization members.
- [Seat types](/docs/security/seat-types) - Understand the difference between developer and basic seat types and how they control member capabilities in your Foxglove organization.
- [SSO](/docs/security/sso)

### data/search

- [Search](/docs/data/search) - Build queries to find recordings, events, and sessions across your fleet.
- [Gallery](/docs/data/search/gallery) - Browse and preview Search results before opening them in visualization.

### getting-started/custom

- [Custom schema encodings](/docs/getting-started/custom/custom-schema-encodings) - Foxglove supports various schema encodings, including JSON, Protobuf, FlatBuffers, ROS, and OMG IDL.
- [Custom Data](/docs/getting-started/custom) - Load local and remote MCAP files containing custom data (i.e. Protobuf, JSON, FlatBuffers), or connect directly to live custom data via a Foxglove WebSocket connection.

### getting-started/robots

- [SO-101 Robot Arm](/docs/getting-started/robots/so-100) - Visualize an SO-101 arm in real time with LeRobot's native Foxglove integration.

### grafana

- [Grafana](/docs/grafana) - Query Foxglove recordings from Grafana dashboards with the Foxglove data source plugin.
- [Building queries](/docs/grafana/queries) - Reference for the Foxglove query editor in Grafana — selection, grouping, aggregation, granularity, and filters.
- [Troubleshooting](/docs/grafana/troubleshooting) - Diagnose connection failures, empty panels, and unexpected values in the Foxglove data source for Grafana.

### notebook

- [Jupyter notebook integration](/docs/notebook) - Integrate Foxglove into any Jupyter-like notebook
- [Layouts](/docs/notebook/layouts) - Create Foxglove layouts programmatically and use them in your Python notebooks.

## Key Concepts

### FoxQL
Query language for accessing nested data in messages: `/topic.field[index]{filter}`
Example: `/sensors.readings[:]{value>100}.timestamp`

### Panels
Modular visualization components that can be arranged into layouts:
- **3D**: Point clouds, markers, URDF models, transforms, maps
- **Image**: Camera feeds with annotations and overlays
- **Plot**: Time-series data with multiple series
- **Log**: Text logs with filtering and search
- **Raw Messages**: Inspect message contents
- **Map**: Geographic data with GPS coordinates

### Layouts
Saved panel arrangements that can be shared across teams. Layouts store panel configurations, topic subscriptions, and playback settings.

### MCAP
Primary file format for robotics logs. Open-source, high-performance container format. See https://mcap.dev

### Transforms (TF)
Coordinate frame relationships for accurate 3D visualization. The 3D panel uses transforms to position markers from different coordinate frames in a unified scene.

### Extensions
Extend Foxglove with custom functionality:
- **Custom panels**: Build bespoke visualization interfaces
- **Message converters**: Transform data between schemas
- **Data loaders**: Support custom file formats

## Common Tasks

### Connect to live ROS 2 data
1. Install Foxglove Bridge: `apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-foxglove-bridge`
2. Launch: `ros2 launch foxglove_bridge foxglove_bridge_launch.xml`
3. In Foxglove: Open connection → Foxglove WebSocket → ws://localhost:8765

### Log data with Python SDK
```python
import foxglove
from foxglove.messages import Log, LogLevel, Timestamp

server = foxglove.start_server()
foxglove.log("/logs", Log(timestamp=Timestamp.now(), level=LogLevel.Info, message="Hello!"))
```

### Create a custom panel extension
```bash
npm init foxglove-extension@latest my-panel
cd my-panel && npm run package
```

## API Reference

- REST API (interactive): https://docs.foxglove.dev/api
- REST API for LLMs (overview): https://docs.foxglove.dev/api/llms.txt
- REST API for LLMs (full reference): https://docs.foxglove.dev/api/llms-full.txt
- Extension API: https://docs.foxglove.dev/docs/extensions/extension-api
- Python SDK: https://foxglove.github.io/foxglove-sdk/python
- Rust SDK: https://docs.rs/foxglove
- C++ SDK: https://foxglove.github.io/foxglove-sdk/cpp

## Support

- Discord: https://foxglove.dev/chat
- GitHub Discussions: https://github.com/orgs/foxglove/discussions
- Email: support@foxglove.dev