Nightscout

Nightscout puts readings from a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) on a website of your own, so the people who help look after someone with diabetes can follow along: a parent at work, a grandparent, a carer, or the school nurse. It was built in 2014 by parents of children with Type 1 diabetes who wanted to see their child's readings while the child was at school, and it has been community-built ever since.

Your phone's uploader app sends the readings to your Nightscout. Everyone you share it with sees the same graph, trends and treatment notes in a browser or a follower app.

ElfHosted runs Nightscout, unmodified, at its own address. We keep it running and updated, and back up its database every day. Your readings are private by default: nobody can see them without a token you give them.

Get a 7-day trial of ElfHosted Nightscout!

How do I access Nightscout?

Nightscout is available:

• From your dashboard: https://your-username.elfhosted.com
• Directly: https://your-username-nightscout.elfhosted.com

How do I set it up?

1. Choose your API secret

Nightscout needs an API secret before it will start: a password of at least 12 characters that your uploader app uses to send readings, and that unlocks the admin tools. Until you set one, your Nightscout address shows a "Boot error" page saying the API_SECRET setting is missing. That is expected on a new instance.

Pick a long secret you don't use anywhere else, and set it with ElfBot:

API_SECRET=choose-a-long-secret-of-12-or-more-characters

Nightscout restarts with it, and the boot error is replaced by your Nightscout.

While you're there, set the units your family reads in:

DISPLAY_UNITS=mmol

Use mmol for mmol/L or mg/dl for mg/dL.

2. Connect your uploader app

Your uploader is the app that reads the CGM and sends the readings on (which one depends on your CGM and phone: see Nightscout's guide to uploaders). In its Nightscout settings, enter your Nightscout address, https://your-username-nightscout.elfhosted.com, and your API secret. Check the graph on your Nightscout page fills in with the next reading.

3. Share it with the family

Your readings are private by default: someone who opens your Nightscout address sees nothing until they're signed in. Give each follower their own access token rather than your API secret, so you can take it away later without changing anything else:

1. Open your Nightscout, sign in with your API secret, and go to Admin Tools.
2. Under Subjects, add one per person ("Nana", "School nurse") with the readable role.
3. Each subject gets an access link with its own token. Send that link to that person.

To stop someone seeing the readings, delete their subject.

What do we look after, and what don't we?

• We run it and keep it updated. Nightscout and its database run in your own space at ElfHosted, with nothing at home to keep switched on.
• We back up the database every day. If something goes wrong with your data, ask us on Discord.
• We don't touch your readings or your devices. Your uploader app, your phone, your CGM and its sensors, and your alarm settings are yours to set up and keep working.
• Keep a second way to be alerted. If your phone loses signal or the uploader stops, Nightscout has nothing new to show. Your CGM's own app and alarms are the ones to rely on.

How do I get support for Nightscout?

1. For general use of Nightscout, refer to the official site or to one of the links in the resources section below.

2. For specific support re your ElfHosted configuration / account, see the ElfHosted support options!

Nightscout resources

• Nightscout (official site)

• Nightscout Nightscout documentation

• Nightscout Website

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