Senders & Groups
Senders represent the "Who" in your data pipeline. They allow you to manage authentication for devices and users independently of where the data is going.
Why Identity Matters
The Old Way (Tightly Coupled)
In traditional systems, FTP accounts are often tied directly to a server or folder path. If you need to change the data store or migrate from FTP to SFTP, you often have to reconfigure every single device in the field.
The Rilavek Way (Decoupled)
We treat Identity (Sender) and Routing (Pipe) as separate concerns. You create a Sender for "Camera 01" once. You can then point that camera to any Pipe, switch Pipes, or revoke access instantly via the dashboard without ever touching the device.
Key Features
Credential Rotation
Compromised password? Rotate credentials for a single device instantly without affecting your entire fleet.
Granular Access (ACL)
Assign Senders to specific Pipes. A Sender can write to one Pipe, multiple Pipes, or no Pipes at all.
Audit Trails
Know exactly WHO uploaded a file. Logs are tagged with the Sender ID, not just the IP address.
Authentication Details: Passwords & API Tokens
When you create a Sender, we automatically provision two forms of authentication: a Password for legacy protocols (FTP/SFTP) and a private API Token for modern programmatic access.
Passwords (FTP/SFTP)
Used strictly for authenticating standard FTP and SFTP clients. Because legacy protocols are rigid, this password must be provided directly to the device or client software.
Best Practice:
Treat this as a device-specific credential. Do not share one password across multiple physical cameras or servers.
API Tokens (HTTP/TUS)
Every sender gets a unique sk_ API token. This token must be kept strictly private. It is used to authenticate with our Token Generation API to generate short-lived, temporary upload tokens for web clients.
Best Practice:
Never expose the API token in frontend code or mobile apps. Always generate temporary tokens from your backend.
Credential Rotation
If a device is lost, or a developer accidentally commits an API token to a public repository, you don't need to delete the Sender. You can rotate both the password and the API token instantly from the dashboard. Rotating a credential immediately invalidates the old one, preventing unauthorized access without breaking your pipe routing rules.
Sender Groups
Managing individual devices doesn't scale when you have hundreds of them. Sender Groups allow you to manage fleets of devices as a single unit.
Scalable Management
Create a group called "Construction Site B". Assign that group to your "Inspect Data Pipe". Any new drone or sensor added to "Construction Site B" group automatically starts sending data to the correct project bucket.
Zero-Touch Provisioning
Pre-configure your groups and pipes. When field technicians install new devices, they just need to be added to the correct group, and data starts flowing immediately.