Help & FAQ
Everything you need to get started with PushingBox.
Getting Started
How do I create a scenario?
Before creating a scenario, you need to add the services you want to notify from. Go to My Services and create at least one service. Once done, go to My Scenarios, create a scenario, then add an action linking it to the service.
What is a DeviceID?
A DeviceID (or devid)
is the unique identifier of a scenario. You use it to trigger the right scenario from the API.
It looks like vXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.
How do I call the API?
# Simple GET request
GET http://api.pushingbox.com/pushingbox?devid=vYOUR_DEVID
# With custom variables
GET http://api.pushingbox.com/pushingbox?devid=vYOUR_DEVID&temperature=23&room=kitchen
See the full API Documentation for details.
Custom Variables
How do custom variables work?
In your action message templates, use the syntax
$variable_name$.
Then pass the value as a query parameter when calling the API.
PushingBox will substitute every placeholder before sending the notification.
# Message template: "Temperature in $room$ is $temp$°C"
GET /pushingbox?devid=vYOUR_DEVID&room=kitchen&temp=22
# Sends: "Temperature in kitchen is 22°C"
Can I attach a camera snapshot?
Yes! For services that support it (email, Twitter), fill in the "Picture URL" field with the publicly accessible URL of your IP camera snapshot. The image must be under 100 kB. A good resource for camera URLs is ispyconnect.com.
Troubleshooting
I get a "Forbidden" error on the API
If you can access pushingbox.com but get a Forbidden error on api.pushingbox.com, your IP address may have been rate-limited due to a large volume of malformed requests. Please contact us and include your public IP address.
My device can't resolve DNS — can I use an IP address?
You can, but it is not recommended. The IP address of the API server may change without notice if we migrate to another provider. Use the hostname when possible.
How can I verify my camera URL is publicly accessible?
Use the Test button on your scenario — it triggers the scenario from our server, so it confirms your URL is reachable from the internet.