Operating Modes

A Kegboard is useful at three levels of integration. The modes are additive, not exclusive: a board reporting to a Kegbot Server can stay connected to Home Assistant, and every board works standalone when the network is down.

Standalone

No server, nothing else on the network. The board meters pours and runs local automations (on_pour_start, on_pour_end). Token readers still fire their triggers, so a serverless board can gate valves with plain ESPHome automations if wanted. Watch it work with esphome logs.

This is also the right mode for bench work: verify wiring and calibration before pointing the board at anything.

Home Assistant mode

Enable ESPHome’s native api: (the base package does) and Home Assistant discovers the board automatically. Every configured entity — tick totals, pour volume, flow rate, pouring state, temperatures, relays, auth state — appears in HA for dashboards and automations. No Kegbot Server involved.

examples/home-assistant-2tap.yaml is a complete config for this mode.

Kegbot Server mode

The flagship. Add kegboard_reporter with a reporting_url and the board speaks the Kegboard Event Protocol:

  • Finished pours are POSTed as events with authoritative volume_ml, attribution, and a diagnostic tick series.

  • Events queue during outages and deliver late with correct timestamps.

  • The board pairs itself from the server dashboard — no API key to configure.

  • Server commands (authorize, deny, valve control) ride back in HTTP responses; with kegboard_auth, the server decides every token presentment.

The server does not have to be Kegbot Server: the protocol is a single HTTP endpoint with published schemas, and the minimum viable receiver is one unauthenticated handler.

examples/kegbot-2tap.yaml is the starting point; examples/kegbot-full.yaml adds relays, buzzer, RFID, and iButton auth.

Choosing

You have

Use

A bench and a meter

Standalone

Home Assistant

HA mode (keep it enabled in the other modes too — it is how you watch a pour live)

A Kegbot Server, or your own receiver

Kegbot Server mode