Everything a normal user needs: install, operate, diagnose. You do not need the technical reference or the developer docs for any of this.
| Your situation | Go to |
|---|---|
| New installation | Supported setups → Admin Console → Guided Setup |
| Existing installation | Maintenance and the EMS Dashboard guides |
| Upgrade to a newer version | Guided Upgrade |
| Something is wrong | Troubleshooting → Diagnostics and recovery |
| Report device compatibility | Supported setups — positive reports are welcome too |
Screenshot-led walkthroughs. Each one states what you see, what to select, what it changes, and what to do when the result differs.
Admin Console — all guides
| Guide | Use |
|---|---|
| First start and login | Password setup, login, task selection, reconnect, logout |
| Guided Setup | Install a new system, step 01 to 05 |
| Guided Upgrade | Update an installed system safely |
| Maintenance | Inspect, change and repair an existing system |
| Device management | Add, edit, disable, remove; switch connections |
| MQTT connections | Local MQTT, Zendure Cloud MQTT, brokers, write gates |
| Backup and restore | Snapshots, previews, rollback |
| Diagnostics and recovery | Evidence, support bundles, stuck workflows |
Appliance — all guides
Flashing a Raspberry Pi, first start, updates, network, backups and recovery for the dedicated appliance image.
EMS Dashboard — all guides
| Guide | Use |
|---|---|
| Overview and navigation | Tiles, Live Flow, Rules, tabs |
| Device cards | Per-inverter state, offline and write-blocked reasons |
| Energy and analytics | Delivered energy, history, long-range analytics |
| Control pipeline | Why EMS wrote that value |
| Runtime settings | Change live values safely |
| Diagnostics and maintenance | Diagnose, logs, browser backups |
Three user paths, all converging on the same standard config/config.json.
| Path | Audience | Start |
|---|---|---|
| Admin Console | Most users | admin-console.md |
| Docker Bootstrap | Shell-only Docker users | docker-bootstrap.md |
| Appliance image | A Raspberry Pi dedicated to EMS — Pi 3, 3B+, 4 or 5 | appliance/index.md |
The appliance is a prepared image rather than an install onto an existing system. It is not confirmed on physical hardware — see what that means.
Developer Setup is a source-checkout path for contributing, not a normal user setup: developer-setup.md.
| Topic | Document |
|---|---|
| What the project is | Project overview |
| Whether your devices fit | Supported setups |
| RAM, storage and which Raspberry Pi | Hardware requirements |
| Local API vs Local MQTT vs cloud | Connection types |
| Before enabling hardware writes | Safety |
| Standard config layout | Config layout |
| Short answers | FAQ |
| Common problems | Troubleshooting |
| First validation after install | First-run checklist |
| Daily commands | Common commands |
Full behavioural references for the Admin Console: Set up a new system · Maintenance · Backup / restore.
The complete map of all three audiences is in docs/README.md.