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New Nightscout

Why Nightscout?

Nightscout is not required, but is recommended for Loop

  • A Nightscout site provides a dashboard for remote viewing of Loop actions including the temporary basal rates Loop is setting, the current insulin on board, or a recent bolus and carb entry
  • A Nightscout site provides reports for retrospective review of your settings
  • You will want a Nightscout site:
    • If you are a parent of a little Loop user
    • If you want to see Loop's actions anywhere other than the Looper's iPhone
    • If you want to ask a mentor for help adjusting your settings
    • If you want to prepare reports to evaluate your own settings
    • If you want to prepare reports to hand to your doctor

Setup Nightscout

Please visit Nightscout: Documentation to read about Nightscout. There are several options, mentioned in that documentation, for setting up your Nightscout site.

  • You can choose one of many free (except for your time) DIY methods
  • You can choose one of many DIY methods where you pay a monthly fee for data storage
  • You can choose a managed site (for a monthly fee) that creates your site, keeps the software up to date and provides data storage
  • Social Media sites for announcements, help and discussion:

Once your Nightscout site is operational and you've read the information about using your site, return to LoopDocs to follow the directions on the LoopDocs: Nightscout with Loop page.

Comments

Most of the free DIY methods provide sufficient storage for a single Loop user, but will require you to delete older data after a year or two of use. The one exception is the Google Cloud method which includes multiple GB of storage.

If there are multiple Loopers in your family and you want to stay in the "free" tier, each will need their own site to stay under the monthly usage limitations. That means an account for each user under different email addresses for each user.

"Free" sites might potentially stop being "free" in the future.

One of the Nightscout as a Service providers will not allow you to put in your own Apple Push Notification variables, you must use theirs. If you have no plans to use remote commands via Nightscout, this will not affect you. If you decide to use remote commands, you may need to switch to a different service or get Loop through that same provider for an extra monthly fee.

Configure Nightscout to use with Loop

There are a few Loop-specific variables you should configure to get the most out of your Nightscout site. Follow the instructions on the LoopDocs: Nightscout with Loop page.

Add Nightscout to Loop

Once you finish setting up your new Nightscout site, don't forget to enter your website URL and API_SECRET into your Loop settings, LoopDocs: Services - Nightscout. This way Loop will have access to your Nightscout site to upload all the wonderful data.

Nightscout Troubleshooting

If your Nightscout site is not showing CGM (and Loop, if you are Looping) data within about 10 minutes of finishing your setup, then please follow the steps on the Nightscout: Troubleshooting page.