pyhubblenetwork

pyhubblenetwork is a Python SDK for communicating with Hubble Network devices over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and securely relaying data to the Hubble Cloud. It provides a simple API for scanning, sending, and managing devices—no embedded firmware knowledge required.

Table of contents

• Quick links
• Requirements & supported platforms
• Installation
• Quick start
• CLI usage
• Satellite scanning (PlutoSDR)
• Configuration
• Public API (summary)
• Development & tests
• Troubleshooting
• Releases & versioning

Quick links

• PyPI: pip install pyhubblenetwork
• Hubble official doc site
• Hubble embedded SDK

Requirements & supported platforms

• Python 3.9+ (3.11/3.12 recommended)
• BLE platform prerequisites (only needed if you use ble.scan()):
  • macOS: CoreBluetooth; run in a regular user session (GUI).
  • Linux: BlueZ required; user must have permission to access the BLE adapter (often bluetooth group).
  • Windows: Requires a compatible BLE stack/adapter.
• Satellite scanning prerequisites (only needed if you use sat.scan()):
  • Docker: Docker Desktop (macOS/Windows) or Docker Engine (Linux) must be installed and running.
  • PlutoSDR: An Analog Devices ADALM-PLUTO SDR dongle connected via USB.

Installation

Users (stable release)

pip install pyhubblenetwork
# or install CLI into an isolated environment:
pipx install pyhubblenetwork

Developers (editable install)

From the repo root (recommended):

cd python
python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e '.[dev]'

Quick start

Scan locally, then ingest to backend

from hubblenetwork import ble, Organization

org = Organization(org_id="org_123", api_token="sk_XXX")
pkts = ble.scan(timeout=5.0)
if len(pkts) > 0:
    org.ingest_packet(pkts[0])
else:
    print("No packet seen within timeout")

Manage devices and query packets

from hubblenetwork import Organization

org = Organization(org_id="org_123", api_token="sk_XXX")

# Create a new device
new_dev = org.register_device()
print("new device id:", new_dev.id)

# List devices
for d in org.list_devices():
    print(d.id, d.name)

# Get packets from a device (returns a list of DecryptedPacket)
packets = org.retrieve_packets(new_dev)
if len(packets) > 0:
    print("latest RSSI:", packets[0].rssi, "payload bytes:", len(packets[0].payload))

Local decryption (when you have the key)

from hubblenetwork import Device, ble, decrypt
from typing import Optional

dev = Device(id="dev_abc", key=b"<secret-key>")

pkts = ble.scan(timeout=5.0)  # might return a list or a single packet depending on API
for pkt in pkts:
    maybe_dec = decrypt(dev.key, pkt)
    if maybe_dec:
        print("payload:", maybe_dec.payload)
    else:
        print("failed to decrypt packet")

Receive satellite packets

from hubblenetwork import sat

# sat.scan() manages the Docker container automatically:
# pulls the image, starts the container, polls for packets, and stops on exit.
for pkt in sat.scan(timeout=60.0):
    print(f"device={pkt.device_id}  seq={pkt.seq_num}  rssi={pkt.rssi_dB} dB  payload={pkt.payload.hex()}")

Docker must be running before calling sat.scan(). The PlutoSDR dongle must be connected.

CLI usage (optional)

If installed, the hubblenetwork command is available:

hubblenetwork --help
hubblenetwork ble scan
hubblenetwork ble scan --payload-format hex
hubblenetwork org get-packets --payload-format string

Payload format option

Commands that output packet data (ble scan, ble detect, org get-packets) support the --payload-format flag to control how payloads are displayed:

• base64 (default) — encode payloads as base64
• hex — display payloads as hexadecimal
• string — decode payloads as UTF-8 text (falls back to <invalid UTF-8> if bytes are not valid UTF-8)

This applies to all output formats (tabular, json, csv).

Satellite scanning (PlutoSDR)

The sat command group receives packets via a PlutoSDR SDR dongle. It runs a Docker container (ghcr.io/hubblenetwork/pluto-sdr-docker) that handles RF reception and decoding, then polls that container's HTTP API and streams decoded packets to stdout.

Requirements

• Docker daemon running — Docker Desktop (macOS/Windows) or Docker Engine (Linux).
• PlutoSDR connected — ADALM-PLUTO dongle plugged in via USB before starting the scan.

CLI commands

# Stream packets until Ctrl+C
hubblenetwork sat scan

# Stop after 30 seconds
hubblenetwork sat scan --timeout 30

# Stop after receiving 5 packets
hubblenetwork sat scan -n 5

# JSON output (one object per line)
hubblenetwork sat scan -o json

# Combine options
hubblenetwork sat scan -o json --timeout 60 -n 20

The command automatically:

1. Verifies Docker is available
2. Pulls the latest PlutoSDR image (if not cached)
3. Starts the container in privileged mode so it can access USB
4. Waits for the receiver API to become ready
5. Streams new packets as they arrive (deduplicating by device ID + sequence number)
6. Stops and removes the container on exit or Ctrl+C

Python API

from hubblenetwork import sat, SatellitePacket

# Generator — yields SatellitePacket as packets arrive
for pkt in sat.scan(timeout=60.0, poll_interval=2.0):
    print(pkt.device_id, pkt.seq_num, pkt.rssi_dB, pkt.payload.hex())

# Or fetch the current packet buffer without managing the container yourself
packets: list[SatellitePacket] = sat.fetch_packets()

SatellitePacket fields: device_id, seq_num, device_type, timestamp, rssi_dB, channel_num, freq_offset_hz, payload (bytes).

Errors

Exception	Cause
DockerError	Docker not installed, daemon not running, or container failed to start
SatelliteError	Container started but receiver API did not become ready in time

Configuration

Some functions read defaults from environment variables if not provided explicitly. Suggested variables:

• HUBBLE_ORG_ID — default organization id
• HUBBLE_API_TOKEN — API token (base64 encoded)

Example:

export HUBBLE_ORG_ID=org_123
export HUBBLE_API_TOKEN=sk_XXXX

You can also pass org ID and API token into API calls.

Public API (summary)

Import from the package top-level for a stable surface:

from hubblenetwork import (
    ble, cloud, sat,
    Organization, Device, Credentials, Environment,
    EncryptedPacket, DecryptedPacket, SatellitePacket, Location,
    decrypt, InvalidCredentialsError,
)

Key objects & functions:

• Organization provides credentials for performing cloud actions (e.g. registering devices, retrieving decrypted packets, retrieving devices, etc.)
• EncryptedPacket a packet that has not been decrypted (can be decrypted locally given a key or ingested to the backend)
• DecryptedPacket a packet that has been successfully decrypted either locally or by the backend.
• SatellitePacket a packet decoded by the satellite receiver (PlutoSDR).
• Location data about where a packet was seen.
• ble.scan function for locally scanning for devices with BLE.
• sat.scan generator for receiving satellite packets via PlutoSDR (requires Docker).

See code for full details.

Development & tests

Set up a virtualenv and install dev deps:

cd python
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e '.[dev]'

Run linters:

ruff check src

Troubleshooting

• ble.scan() finds nothing: verify BLE permissions and adapter state; try increasing timeout.
• Auth errors: confirm Organization(org_id, api_token) or env vars are set; check token scope/expiry.
• Import errors: ensure you installed into the Python you’re running (python -m pip …). Prefer pipx for CLI-only usage.
• DockerError: Docker is not available: Docker daemon is not running. Start Docker Desktop (macOS/Windows) or sudo systemctl start docker (Linux).
• DockerError: The ‘docker’ Python package is required: run pip install docker (it is bundled with pyhubblenetwork but may be missing in some environments).
• SatelliteError: Satellite receiver API did not become ready: the PlutoSDR container started but couldn’t access the hardware. Ensure the ADALM-PLUTO dongle is plugged in before running sat scan, and that no other process is using it.
• sat scan hangs pulling the image: first run fetches ghcr.io/hubblenetwork/pluto-sdr-docker:latest; this may take a minute on a slow connection. Subsequent runs use the cached image.

Releases & versioning

• Follows SemVer (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH).
• Tagged releases (e.g., v0.3.0) publish wheels/sdists to PyPI.
• Release process: (add short steps for how to cut a release—tagging, CI release job, PyPI publish credentials).