Telemetry, property, and command payloads
A device model defines the:
- Telemetry a device sends to a service.
- Properties a device synchronizes with a service.
- Commands that the service calls on a device.
Tip
Azure IoT Central is a service that follows the Plug and Play conventions. In IoT Central, the device model is part of a device template. IoT Central currently supports DTDL v2 with an IoT Central extension. An IoT Central application expects to receive UTF-8 encoded JSON data.
This article describes the JSON payloads that devices send and receive for telemetry, properties, and commands defined in a DTDL device model.
The article doesn't describe every possible type of telemetry, property, and command payload, but the examples illustrate key types.
Each example shows a snippet from the device model that defines the type and example JSON payloads to illustrate how the device should interact with a Plug and Play aware service such as IoT Central.
The example JSON snippets in this article use Digital Twin Definition Language (DTDL) v2. There are also some DTDL extensions that IoT Central uses.
For sample device code that shows some of these payloads in use, see the Connect a sample IoT Plug and Play device application running on Linux or Windows to IoT Hub tutorial or the Create and connect a client application to your Azure IoT Central application tutorial.
View raw data
If you're using IoT Central, you can view the raw data that a device sends to an application. This view is useful for troubleshooting issues with the payload sent from a device. To view the raw data a device is sending:
Navigate to the device from the Devices page.
Select the Raw data tab:
On this view, you can select the columns to display and set a time range to view. The Unmodeled data column shows data from the device that doesn't match any property or telemetry definitions in the device template.
For more troubleshooting tips, see Troubleshoot why data from your devices isn't showing up in Azure IoT Central.
Telemetry
To learn more about the DTDL telemetry naming rules, see DTDL > Telemetry. You can't start a telemetry name using the _
character.
Don't create telemetry types with the following names. IoT Central uses these reserved names internally. If you try to use these names, IoT Central will ignore your data:
EventEnqueuedUtcTime
EventProcessedUtcTime
PartitionId
EventHub
User
$metadata
$version
Telemetry in components
If the telemetry is defined in a component, add a custom message property called $.sub
with the name of the component as defined in the device model. To learn more, see Tutorial: Connect an IoT Plug and Play multiple component device applications. This tutorial shows how to use different programming languages to send telemetry from a component.
Important
To display telemetry from components hosted in IoT Edge modules correctly, use IoT Edge version 1.2.4 or later. If you use an earlier version, telemetry from your components in IoT Edge modules displays as _unmodeleddata.
Telemetry in inherited interfaces
If the telemetry is defined in an inherited interface, your device sends the telemetry as if it is defined in the root interface. Given the following device model:
[
{
"@id": "dtmi:contoso:device;1",
"@type": "Interface",
"contents": [
{
"@type": [
"Property",
"Cloud",
"StringValue"
],
"displayName": {
"en": "Device Name"
},
"name": "DeviceName",
"schema": "string"
}
],
"displayName": {
"en": "Contoso Device"
},
"extends": [
"dtmi:contoso:sensor;1"
],
"@context": [
"dtmi:iotcentral:context;2",
"dtmi:dtdl:context;2"
]
},
{
"@context": [
"dtmi:iotcentral:context;2",
"dtmi:dtdl:context;2"
],
"@id": "dtmi:contoso:sensor;1",
"@type": [
"Interface",
"NamedInterface"
],
"contents": [
{
"@type": [
"Telemetry",
"NumberValue"
],
"displayName": {
"en": "Meter Voltage"
},
"name": "MeterVoltage",
"schema": "double"
}
],
"displayName": {
"en": "Contoso Sensor"
},
"name": "ContosoSensor"
}
]
The device sends meter voltage telemetry using the following payload. The device doesn't include the interface name in the payload:
{
"MeterVoltage": 5.07
}
Primitive types
This section shows examples of primitive telemetry types that a device can stream.
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a boolean
telemetry type:
{
"@type": "Telemetry",
"displayName": {
"en": "BooleanTelemetry"
},
"name": "BooleanTelemetry",
"schema": "boolean"
}
A device client should send the telemetry as JSON that looks like the following example:
{ "BooleanTelemetry": true }
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a string
telemetry type:
{
"@type": "Telemetry",
"displayName": {
"en": "StringTelemetry"
},
"name": "StringTelemetry",
"schema": "string"
}
A device client should send the telemetry as JSON that looks like the following example:
{ "StringTelemetry": "A string value - could be a URL" }
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of an integer
telemetry type:
{
"@type": "Telemetry",
"displayName": {
"en": "IntegerTelemetry"
},
"name": "IntegerTelemetry",
"schema": "integer"
}
A device client should send the telemetry as JSON that looks like the following example:
{ "IntegerTelemetry": 23 }
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a double
telemetry type:
{
"@type": "Telemetry",
"displayName": {
"en": "DoubleTelemetry"
},
"name": "DoubleTelemetry",
"schema": "double"
}
A device client should send the telemetry as JSON that looks like the following example:
{ "DoubleTelemetry": 56.78 }
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a dateTime
telemetry type:
{
"@type": "Telemetry",
"displayName": {
"en": "DateTimeTelemetry"
},
"name": "DateTimeTelemetry",
"schema": "dateTime"
}
A device client should send the telemetry as JSON that looks like the following example - DateTime
types must be in ISO 8061 format:
{ "DateTimeTelemetry": "2020-08-30T19:16:13.853Z" }
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a duration
telemetry type:
{
"@type": "Telemetry",
"displayName": {
"en": "DurationTelemetry"
},
"name": "DurationTelemetry",
"schema": "duration"
}
A device client should send the telemetry as JSON that looks like the following example - durations must be in ISO 8601 format:
{ "DurationTelemetry": "PT10H24M6.169083011336625S" }
Complex types
This section shows examples of complex telemetry types that a device can stream.
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of an Enum
telemetry type:
{
"@type": "Telemetry",
"displayName": {
"en": "EnumTelemetry"
},
"name": "EnumTelemetry",
"schema": {
"@type": "Enum",
"displayName": {
"en": "Enum"
},
"valueSchema": "integer",
"enumValues": [
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Item1"
},
"enumValue": 0,
"name": "Item1"
},
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Item2"
},
"enumValue": 1,
"name": "Item2"
},
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Item3"
},
"enumValue": 2,
"name": "Item3"
}
]
}
}
A device client should send the telemetry as JSON that looks like the following example. Possible values are 0
, 1
, and 2
that display in IoT Central as Item1
, Item2
, and Item3
:
{ "EnumTelemetry": 1 }
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of an Object
telemetry type. This object has three fields with types dateTime
, integer
, and Enum
:
{
"@type": "Telemetry",
"displayName": {
"en": "ObjectTelemetry"
},
"name": "ObjectTelemetry",
"schema": {
"@type": "Object",
"displayName": {
"en": "Object"
},
"fields": [
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Property1"
},
"name": "Property1",
"schema": "dateTime"
},
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Property2"
},
"name": "Property2",
"schema": "integer"
},
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Property3"
},
"name": "Property3",
"schema": {
"@type": "Enum",
"displayName": {
"en": "Enum"
},
"valueSchema": "integer",
"enumValues": [
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Item1"
},
"enumValue": 0,
"name": "Item1"
},
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Item2"
},
"enumValue": 1,
"name": "Item2"
},
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Item3"
},
"enumValue": 2,
"name": "Item3"
}
]
}
}
]
}
}
A device client should send the telemetry as JSON that looks like the following example. DateTime
types must be ISO 8061 compliant. Possible values for Property3
are 0
, 1
, and that display in IoT Central as Item1
, Item2
, and Item3
:
{
"ObjectTelemetry": {
"Property1": "2020-09-09T03:36:46.195Z",
"Property2": 37,
"Property3": 2
}
}
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a vector
telemetry type:
{
"@type": "Telemetry",
"displayName": {
"en": "VectorTelemetry"
},
"name": "VectorTelemetry",
"schema": "vector"
}
A device client should send the telemetry as JSON that looks like the following example:
{
"VectorTelemetry": {
"x": 74.72395045538597,
"y": 74.72395045538597,
"z": 74.72395045538597
}
}
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a geopoint
telemetry type:
{
"@type": "Telemetry",
"displayName": {
"en": "GeopointTelemetry"
},
"name": "GeopointTelemetry",
"schema": "geopoint"
}
Note
The geopoint schema type is part of the IoT Central extension to DTDL. IoT Central currently supports the geopoint schema type and the location semantic type for backwards compatibility.
A device client should send the telemetry as JSON that looks like the following example. IoT Central displays the value as a pin on a map:
{
"GeopointTelemetry": {
"lat": 47.64263,
"lon": -122.13035,
"alt": 0
}
}
Event and state types
This section shows examples of telemetry events and states that a device sends to an IoT Central application.
Note
The event and state schema types are part of the IoT Central extension to DTDL.
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a integer
event type:
{
"@type": [
"Telemetry",
"Event"
],
"displayName": {
"en": "IntegerEvent"
},
"name": "IntegerEvent",
"schema": "integer"
}
A device client should send the event data as JSON that looks like the following example:
{ "IntegerEvent": 74 }
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a integer
state type:
{
"@type": [
"Telemetry",
"State"
],
"displayName": {
"en": "IntegerState"
},
"name": "IntegerState",
"schema": {
"@type": "Enum",
"valueSchema": "integer",
"enumValues": [
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Level1"
},
"enumValue": 1,
"name": "Level1"
},
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Level2"
},
"enumValue": 2,
"name": "Level2"
},
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Level3"
},
"enumValue": 3,
"name": "Level3"
}
]
}
}
A device client should send the state as JSON that looks like the following example. Possible integer state values are 1
, 2
, or 3
:
{ "IntegerState": 2 }
Properties
To learn more about the DTDL property naming rules, see DTDL > Property. You can't start a property name using the _
character.
Properties in components
If the property is defined in a component, wrap the property in the component name. The following example sets the maxTempSinceLastReboot
in the thermostat2
component. The marker __t
indicates that this section defines a component:
{
"thermostat2" : {
"__t" : "c",
"maxTempSinceLastReboot" : 38.7
}
}
To learn more, see Tutorial: Create and connect a client application to your Azure IoT Central application.
Primitive types
This section shows examples of primitive property types that a device sends to a service.
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a boolean
property type:
{
"@type": "Property",
"displayName": {
"en": "BooleanProperty"
},
"name": "BooleanProperty",
"schema": "boolean",
"writable": false
}
A device client should send a JSON payload that looks like the following example as a reported property in the device twin:
{ "BooleanProperty": false }
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a long
property type:
{
"@type": "Property",
"displayName": {
"en": "LongProperty"
},
"name": "LongProperty",
"schema": "long",
"writable": false
}
A device client should send a JSON payload that looks like the following example as a reported property in the device twin:
{ "LongProperty": 439 }
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a date
property type:
{
"@type": "Property",
"displayName": {
"en": "DateProperty"
},
"name": "DateProperty",
"schema": "date",
"writable": false
}
A device client should send a JSON payload that looks like the following example as a reported property in the device twin. Date
types must be ISO 8061 compliant:
{ "DateProperty": "2020-05-17" }
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a duration
property type:
{
"@type": "Property",
"displayName": {
"en": "DurationProperty"
},
"name": "DurationProperty",
"schema": "duration",
"writable": false
}
A device client should send a JSON payload that looks like the following example as a reported property in the device twin - durations must be ISO 8601 Duration compliant:
{ "DurationProperty": "PT10H24M6.169083011336625S" }
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a float
property type:
{
"@type": "Property",
"displayName": {
"en": "FloatProperty"
},
"name": "FloatProperty",
"schema": "float",
"writable": false
}
A device client should send a JSON payload that looks like the following example as a reported property in the device twin:
{ "FloatProperty": 1.9 }
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a string
property type:
{
"@type": "Property",
"displayName": {
"en": "StringProperty"
},
"name": "StringProperty",
"schema": "string",
"writable": false
}
A device client should send a JSON payload that looks like the following example as a reported property in the device twin:
{ "StringProperty": "A string value - could be a URL" }
Complex types
This section shows examples of complex property types that a device sends to a service.
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of an Enum
property type:
{
"@type": "Property",
"displayName": {
"en": "EnumProperty"
},
"name": "EnumProperty",
"writable": false,
"schema": {
"@type": "Enum",
"displayName": {
"en": "Enum"
},
"valueSchema": "integer",
"enumValues": [
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Item1"
},
"enumValue": 0,
"name": "Item1"
},
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Item2"
},
"enumValue": 1,
"name": "Item2"
},
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Item3"
},
"enumValue": 2,
"name": "Item3"
}
]
}
}
A device client should send a JSON payload that looks like the following example as a reported property in the device twin. Possible values are 0
, 1
, and that display in IoT Central as Item1
, Item2
, and Item3
:
{ "EnumProperty": 1 }
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of an Object
property type. This object has two fields with types string
and integer
:
{
"@type": "Property",
"displayName": {
"en": "ObjectProperty"
},
"name": "ObjectProperty",
"writable": false,
"schema": {
"@type": "Object",
"displayName": {
"en": "Object"
},
"fields": [
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Field1"
},
"name": "Field1",
"schema": "integer"
},
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Field2"
},
"name": "Field2",
"schema": "string"
}
]
}
}
A device client should send a JSON payload that looks like the following example as a reported property in the device twin:
{
"ObjectProperty": {
"Field1": 37,
"Field2": "A string value"
}
}
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of an vector
property type:
{
"@type": "Property",
"displayName": {
"en": "VectorProperty"
},
"name": "VectorProperty",
"schema": "vector",
"writable": false
}
A device client should send a JSON payload that looks like the following example as a reported property in the device twin:
{
"VectorProperty": {
"x": 74.72395045538597,
"y": 74.72395045538597,
"z": 74.72395045538597
}
}
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a geopoint
property type:
{
"@type": "Property",
"displayName": {
"en": "GeopointProperty"
},
"name": "GeopointProperty",
"schema": "geopoint",
"writable": false
}
Note
The geopoint schema type is part of the IoT Central extension to DTDL. IoT Central currently supports the geopoint schema type and the location semantic type for backwards compatibility.
A device client should send a JSON payload that looks like the following example as a reported property in the device twin:
{
"GeopointProperty": {
"lat": 47.64263,
"lon": -122.13035,
"alt": 0
}
}
Writable property types
This section shows examples of writable property types that a device receives from a service.
If the writable property is defined in a component, the desired property message includes the component name. The following example shows the message requesting the device to update the targetTemperature
in the thermostat2
component. The marker __t
indicates that this section defines a component:
{
"thermostat2": {
"targetTemperature": {
"value": 57
},
"__t": "c"
},
"$version": 3
}
To learn more, see Connect an IoT Plug and Play multiple component device applications.
The device or module should confirm that it received the property by sending a reported property. The reported property should include:
value
- the actual value of the property (typically the received value, but the device may decide to report a different value).ac
- an acknowledgment code that uses an HTTP status code.av
- an acknowledgment version that refers to the$version
of the desired property. You can find this value in the desired property JSON payload.ad
- an optional acknowledgment description.
To learn more about these fields, see IoT Plug and Play conventions > Acknowledgment responses
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a writable string
property type:
{
"@type": "Property",
"displayName": {
"en": "StringPropertyWritable"
},
"name": "StringPropertyWritable",
"writable": true,
"schema": "string"
}
The device receives the following payload from the service:
{
"StringPropertyWritable": "A string from IoT Central", "$version": 7
}
The device should send the following JSON payload to the service after it processes the update. This message includes the version number of the original update received from the service.
Tip
If the service is IoT Central, it marks the property as synced in the UI when it receives this message:
{
"StringPropertyWritable": {
"value": "A string from IoT Central",
"ac": 200,
"ad": "completed",
"av": 7
}
}
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a writable Enum
property type:
{
"@type": "Property",
"displayName": {
"en": "EnumPropertyWritable"
},
"name": "EnumPropertyWritable",
"writable": true,
"schema": {
"@type": "Enum",
"displayName": {
"en": "Enum"
},
"valueSchema": "integer",
"enumValues": [
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Item1"
},
"enumValue": 0,
"name": "Item1"
},
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Item2"
},
"enumValue": 1,
"name": "Item2"
},
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Item3"
},
"enumValue": 2,
"name": "Item3"
}
]
}
}
The device receives the following payload from the service:
{
"EnumPropertyWritable": 1 , "$version": 10
}
The device should send the following JSON payload to the service after it processes the update. This message includes the version number of the original update received from the service.
Tip
If the service is IoT Central, it marks the property as synced in the UI when it receives this message:
{
"EnumPropertyWritable": {
"value": 1,
"ac": 200,
"ad": "completed",
"av": 10
}
}
Commands
To learn more about the DTDL command naming rules, see DTDL > Command. You can't start a command name using the _
character.
If the command is defined in a component, the name of the command the device receives includes the component name. For example, if the command is called getMaxMinReport
and the component is called thermostat2
, the device receives a request to execute a command called thermostat2*getMaxMinReport
.
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a command that has no parameters and that doesn't expect the device to return anything:
{
"@type": "Command",
"displayName": {
"en": "CommandBasic"
},
"name": "CommandBasic"
}
The device receives an empty payload in the request and should return an empty payload in the response with a 200
HTTP response code to indicate success.
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a command that has an integer parameter and that expects the device to return an integer value:
{
"@type": "Command",
"request": {
"@type": "CommandPayload",
"displayName": {
"en": "RequestParam"
},
"name": "RequestParam",
"schema": "integer"
},
"response": {
"@type": "CommandPayload",
"displayName": {
"en": "ResponseParam"
},
"name": "ResponseParam",
"schema": "integer"
},
"displayName": {
"en": "CommandSimple"
},
"name": "CommandSimple"
}
The device receives an integer value as the request payload. The device should return an integer value as the response payload with a 200
HTTP response code to indicate success.
The following snippet from a device model shows the definition of a command that has an object parameter and that expects the device to return an object. In this example, both objects have integer and string fields:
{
"@type": "Command",
"request": {
"@type": "CommandPayload",
"displayName": {
"en": "RequestParam"
},
"name": "RequestParam",
"schema": {
"@type": "Object",
"displayName": {
"en": "Object"
},
"fields": [
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Field1"
},
"name": "Field1",
"schema": "integer"
},
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Field2"
},
"name": "Field2",
"schema": "string"
}
]
}
},
"response": {
"@type": "CommandPayload",
"displayName": {
"en": "ResponseParam"
},
"name": "ResponseParam",
"schema": {
"@type": "Object",
"displayName": {
"en": "Object"
},
"fields": [
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Field1"
},
"name": "Field1",
"schema": "integer"
},
{
"displayName": {
"en": "Field2"
},
"name": "Field2",
"schema": "string"
}
]
}
},
"displayName": {
"en": "CommandComplex"
},
"name": "CommandComplex"
}
The following snippet shows an example request payload sent to the device:
{ "Field1": 56, "Field2": "A string value" }
The following snippet shows an example response payload sent from the device. Use a 200
HTTP response code to indicate success:
{ "Field1": 87, "Field2": "Another string value" }
Tip
IoT Central has its own conventions for implementing Long-running commands and Offline commands.
Next steps
Now that you've learned about device payloads, a suggested next steps is to read the Device developer guide.