<base>/cmdYour commands
{"cmd":"water_now","seconds":10}
Anatomy of the app
One screen, everything that matters
9:41
Shikor
OnlineDry
32%
Soil moisture
Last watered 3 h ago
Water now
Duration5s10s20s
Water without asking
HomeHistorySettings
Hover or tap a number
Anatomy of the device
Nine parts, one decision-maker
← Hover or tap a number →
Relay power goes to VIN (5 V), never 3V3.
Anatomy of a watering
Five gates before a drop falls
The ESP32 checks them every 5 seconds. Fail one and it stops right there.
- 1
Is the sensor sane?
raw 500–3500Stops here. Fault. Pump locked out, red LED blinks.
- 2
Is the soil dry?
below 35 %Stops here. Nothing to do. Green LED.
- 3
Has it been a while?
6 h since last waterStops here. Waits. Soil dries slowly.
- 4
Is it allowed?
auto on, or you say yesStops here. “Not now” pauses requests for 4 h. No answer cancels it after 30 min.
- 5
Pump runs
until 60 % or 20 s
Then quiet for 6 hours.
Anatomy of the link
The phone never talks to the pump directly
Both reach the same broker, through different doors. No shared Wi-Fi needed.
Phone and device can be in different cities.
<base>/dataSoil, state, pump (kept by the broker)
soil: 32
<base>/askPermission request
Water now?
<base>/statusonline / offline
online
Retained: the app sees the real state the moment it opens.
Built to fail safe
Numbers that keep your plants alive
What the lights say
- Soil is fine
- Soil is dry
- Sensor problem
- Wi-Fi being reset
At power-up: red, then green. Both lit means LEDs and wires are fine.
20 s
Longest single run
Adjustable
10 min
Manual mode hard stop
6 h
Quiet after a watering
30 min
A request expires
4 h
Quiet after “Not now”
5 s
Soil read interval
2 s of data while pumping
Router down?
Auto mode keeps watering offline. It retries Wi-Fi every 30 s.
Probe unplugged?
A broken sensor never reads as “dry”. The pump stays off.
Pumping?
The BOOT button is ignored, so a stray press can’t stop watering.
Know before you build
What it doesn’t do yet
Planned
The public broker has no password
Anyone who guesses your topic can run the pump. Use a long random topic.
Planned
No push when the app is closed
MQTT needs the app open. Real push needs a small server.
Planned
History lives on the phone
Closed app means no readings are recorded.
Planned
No empty-tank sensor
The pump can run dry for up to the max seconds.
Short lift
Mini pumps push water up about 40–110 cm.
Planned
Fixed setup password
The hotspot password is in the code. Someone nearby could join it.