Integration with Nightscout for Loop

Last updated: 2022-10-14

Available at: https://gluroo.com/support/gluroo-nightscout-integration-for-loop/

Caution: Dosing decisions should not be made based on this device. The user should follow instructions on the continuous glucose monitoring system.

Caution: This device is not intended to replace self-monitoring practices as advised by a physician.

GLUROO IS NOT AVAILABLE COMMERCIALLY AND IS MADE AVAILABLE ONLY FOR ALPHA TESTING AND FOR USER FEEDBACK.

WARNING: THIS INTEGRATION IS EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTAINS BUGS, MISLEADING INFORMATION, MISSING INFORMATION AND WORSE.

DO NOT DOSE OFF OF DATA PRESENTED TO YOU IN GLUROO.

Introduction

[See https://gluroo.com/support/gluroo-with-diy-loop-artificial-pancreas-system/ if you just want to get started with using Gluroo as a NIghtscout Compatible Backend for your DIY loop solutions]

If you are currently using a DIY Looping solution that communicated via a hosted Nightscout Backend and want to continue using that backend (even after the free solutions become more limited in November 2022) while still being able to use Gluroo, you have two options:

Point Gluroo at your existing hosted “regular” Nightscout backend via the data menu and then point your DIY loop at the Gluroo Nightscout-Compatible Backend URL and API secret at Menu > Pen/Pump > Insulin > DIY Loop

Or:

Make changes to your DIY Looping solution to allow simultaneous writing to two Nightscout instances – for DIY Loop, you can use the patches described in Option 2, below.

Option 1: Gluroo as Intermediary

In this first approach, your DIY Loop is only talking to Gluroo and Gluroo reflects everything entered into Gluroo – both the pump telemetry and entries from DIY Loop as well as log entries directly entered into Gluroo – into the “Regular” nightscout instance.

Any secondary apps that use Nightscout for communication (e.g., Loop Follow, Nightwatch, etc.) should point at Gluroo’s Nightscout-compatible backend (though they probably could be pointed at the regular Nightscout backend, that’s tested less and is not recommended).

Pros:

This is way easier to set up and is the long-term plan for how you should be able to use Gluroo as a Nightscout-workalike.
If you do have a need to continue using a regular Nightscout backend, that backend will show log entries from both DIY Loop AND Gluroo, so nothing is missing
You can easily go back to regular Nightscout just by changing what DIY Loop points at.
Nightscout free hosting on Heroku is going away in November 2022, and this is a free solution to that: you do not need to write to a regular Nightscout backend. Other tools that use Nightscout (such as Loop Follow, Nightwatch, etc.) can just point at the Gluroo NS-Compatible Backend and will keep working.

Cons:

Gluroo is beta software and so there is no guarantee that the data written into the regular Nightscout backend will look exactly the same as if DIY Loop were writing directly into it.
There’s also no guarantee that the data served by the Gluroo Nightscout-compatible backend will look the same to other tools using it.
Remote overrides via Nightscout won’t work (this feature also isn’t supported by paid Nightscout hosting as of the time of this writing).

As always YOU NEED TO BE 120% VIGILANT and always going back to the original source of data. Never dose or make medical decisions off of data in Gluroo or Nightscout.

Option 2: Double Writing From DIY Loop

In this second approach, you have to modify the DIY Looping solution to write to two nightscout instances – one will be Gluroo’s Nightscout Compatible backend and the other will be a regular Nightscout backend.

The changes are relatively straightforward. Without any warranty – implied or otherwise – here is a patch a friend pointed me early on when we were still testing option 1:

Neither we nor Ostap take any responsibility or liability for this patch and you use them entirely at your own risk – we make them available to you as is and without any support. Please don’t ask us questions about them.

Pros:

This approach of double-writing is more likely to guarantee that the data written to the regular Nightscout instance is exactly the same as before.
Some DIY Looping solutions support reading data from Nightscout to change the behavior of the pump (e.g., setting a different Activity mode or other remote behavior).

Cons:

Requires a rebuild of your Looping solution that could result in a problem in the rebuilt-binary unrelated to or related to the changes you make.
Requires patches that are different for DIY Loop vs. AndroidAPS vs. …
Lots more work!

As always YOU NEED TO BE 120% VIGILANT and always going back to the original source of data. Never dose or make medical decisions off of data in Gluroo or Nightscout.

Summary

We’re trying to make Gluroo a comprehensive solution for Diabetes. We’re a big fan of Nightscout and DIY community-based solutions, but if you do choose to use Gluroo, we’re trying to make it support your care completely so that you don’t need other solutions too. That’s the best way to keep things simple and will make it easier to support you when Gluroo is commercially available (still for free, of course!)

Please let us know what you need from Gluroo so that you don’t also need to use Nightscout.

And if you do choose to keep using Nightscout – great! Did we mention how we’re big fans? 🙂

We’d love to hear your feedback. Please send us an email at info@gluroo.com or join our Facebook group and let us know about any comments, bug reports, missing integrations, etc. that you think we should focus on next. Thank you!