MQTT Broker Integration — Yours or Cloud | Kilo

Connect · MQTT

Bring your MQTT broker — or let Kilo provision one

Anything that publishes MQTT can become a device in Kilo: PLCs, energy meters, HVAC controllers, edge gateways, custom firmware. Connect the broker you already run, or have the platform provision a managed one in a click.

BROKER CONNECTED

Connect · MQTT

How the MQTT broker integration works

1

Add an MQTT connector

External MQTT subscribes to a broker you already operate — up to 10 per organization. Cloud MQTT provisions a managed TLS broker with dedicated credentials per connector — unlimited.

2

Tell the platform where devices live

A topic pattern like facility/meters/{{deviceId}}/power extracts the device identifier from each message — or take it from a field inside the JSON payload instead.

3

Map payloads to metrics

Flat JSON payloads are parsed automatically, with nested objects flattened to dot-notation. Map each key to a normalized metric, and the data drives dashboards, rules, and alarms.

Connect · MQTT

MQTT connector specs

External MQTT
Connect your own broker over mqtt:// or mqtts:// — on-premise, cloud, or facility network, as long as the platform can reach it. Up to 10 connectors per organization.
Cloud MQTT
A platform-provisioned broker endpoint with per-connector credentials and topic prefix, TLS on port 1884. Unlimited connectors — no broker infrastructure to operate.
Four authentication methods
External brokers can authenticate with anonymous access, username and password, TLS client certificates, or JWT tokens.
Device-ID extraction
Take the identifier from a {{deviceId}} topic segment, or from a dot-notation path inside the JSON payload — whichever your hardware already publishes.
Flat-JSON auto-parse
No per-metric setup needed for flat payloads: every key is parsed automatically, and nested objects flatten to paths like device.temperature.
Telemetry in, commands out
The connector ingests telemetry; commands back to devices are configured per device, so two-way workflows stay possible.

Connect · MQTT

MQTT broker FAQ

Can I use my existing MQTT broker?

Yes — that is exactly what External MQTT is for. The platform connects out to your broker and subscribes, so the broker must be reachable from the internet (public IP, DDNS, or port forwarding). Anonymous, basic, certificate, and JWT authentication are supported.

What if I don’t want to run a broker at all?

Use Cloud MQTT. The platform provisions a dedicated broker endpoint with its own credentials and topic prefix — TLS by default — and you can create as many connectors as you need to separate sites, vendors, or teams.

What payload format does the connector expect?

JSON. Flat payloads are parsed automatically and nested objects are flattened to dot-notation keys. Binary formats such as Sparkplug B must be translated to JSON by the edge gateway before publishing — most commercial gateways offer that as a standard option.

How does the platform know which device a message belongs to?

You define a Device ID Topic pattern with a {{deviceId}} placeholder — or point at a payload field. The identifier must match the publishing side byte for byte, and one pattern can cover a whole family of devices.

Connect your first MQTT device today

Start free — provision a Cloud MQTT broker or bridge your own in minutes. Or book a call and we’ll map your topics and payloads together.