barnacles-sparkplug
May 10, 2026 ยท View on GitHub
barnacles-sparkplug distributes ambient IoT sensor data via MQTT observing the Eclipse Sparkplug specification.
barnacles-sparkplug ingests a real-time stream of dynamb objects from barnacles which it publishes via MQTT as Sparkplug B payloads. It couples seamlessly with reelyActive's Pareto Anywhere open source IoT middleware.
barnacles-sparkplug is a lightweight Node.js package that can run on resource-constrained edge devices as well as on powerful cloud servers and anything in between.
Pareto Anywhere integration
A common application of barnacles-sparkplug is to publish IoT data from pareto-anywhere as Sparkplug B payloads via MQTT. Simply follow our Create a Pareto Anywhere startup script tutorial using the script below:
#!/usr/bin/env node
const ParetoAnywhere = require('../lib/paretoanywhere.js');
// Edit the options to customise the server
const BARNACLES_SPARKPLUG_OPTIONS = {};
// ----- Exit gracefully if the optional dependency is not found -----
let BarnaclesSparkplug;
try {
BarnaclesSparkplug = require('barnacles-sparkplug');
}
catch(err) {
console.log('This script requires barnacles-sparkplug. Install with:');
console.log('\r\n "npm install barnacles-sparkplug"\r\n');
return console.log('and then run this script again.');
}
// -------------------------------------------------------------------
let pa = new ParetoAnywhere();
pa.barnacles.addInterface(BarnaclesSparkplug, BARNACLES_SPARKPLUG_OPTIONS);
Quick Start
Clone this repository, then from its root folder, install dependencies with npm install. Start the Sparkplug client with the following command:
npm start
If a MQTT broker is running on localhost, the client should connect (without authentication) and publish a NBIRTH message. For convenience, a script to subscribe to Sparkplug messages (topic: spBv1.0/#) on localhost and print these to the console is provided, and can be started with the following command:
npm run subscribe
When both programs are run simultaneously, the latter will echo all Sparkplug messages to the console, starting with the NBIRTH message which will have the following format:
Topic: spBv1.0/iot/NBIRTH/paretoanywhere
{
timestamp: Long { low: 1735707600, high: 404, unsigned: true },
metrics: [],
seq: Long { low: 0, high: 0, unsigned: true }
}
Simulated Data
The following simulated devices/sensors are supported for interface testing.
Minew S1
To simulate a Minew S1 temperature/humidity sensor, start barnacles-sparkplug with the following command:
npm run minew-s1
Simulated sensor c30000000051 will expose the following metrics:
| name | type |
|---|---|
| temperature | Double |
| relativeHumidity | Double |
| batteryPercentage | Double |
Supported dynamb properties
barnacles-sparkplug converts standard dynamb properties into the following Protobuf data types:
| Property | Data Type | Conversion |
|---|---|---|
| acceleration | DataSet of Double | 1, 2 or 3-column (xyz) |
| amperage | Double | none |
| ammoniaConcentration | Double | none |
| angleOfRotation | Double | none |
| angularVelocity | Double | none |
| amperages | DataSet of Double | Multi-column (0..n) |
| batteryPercentage | Double | none |
| batteryVoltage | Double | none |
| carbonDioxideConcentration | Double | none |
| carbonMonoxideConcentration | Double | none |
| count | UInt32 | none |
| counts | DataSet of UInt32 | Multi-column (0..n) |
| distance | Double | none |
| duration | Double | none |
| durations | DataSet of Double | Multi-column (0..n) |
| elevation | Double | none |
| energy | Double | none |
| heading | Double | none |
| heartRate | Double | none |
| illuminance | Double | none |
| isButtonPressed | Boolean | Logical OR (if many) |
| isButtonPressedCycle | UInt32 | none |
| isCarbonMonoxideDetected | Boolean | Logical OR (if many) |
| isCarbonMonoxideDetectedCycle | UInt32 | none |
| isContactDetected | Boolean | Logical OR (if many) |
| isContactDetectedCycle | UInt32 | none |
| isGasDetected | Boolean | Logical OR (if many) |
| isGasDetectedCycle | UInt32 | none |
| isHealthy | Boolean | none |
| isInputDetected | Boolean | Logical OR (if many) |
| isInputDetectedCycle | UInt32 | none |
| isLightDetected | Boolean | Logical OR (if many) |
| isLightDetectedCycle | UInt32 | none |
| isLiquidDetected | Boolean | Logical OR (if many) |
| isLiquidDetectedCycle | UInt32 | none |
| isMotionDetected | Boolean | Logical OR (if many) |
| isMotionDetectedCycle | UInt32 | none |
| isOccupancyDetected | Boolean | Logical OR (if many) |
| isOccupancyDetectedCycle | UInt32 | none |
| isSmokeDetected | Boolean | Logical OR (if many) |
| isSmokeDetectedCycle | UInt32 | none |
| isTamperDetected | Boolean | Logical OR (if many) |
| isTamperDetectedCycle | UInt32 | none |
| levelPercentage | Double | none |
| luminousFlux | Double | none |
| magneticField | DataSet of Double | 1, 2 or 3-column (xyz) |
| methaneConcentration | Double | none |
| nitrogenDioxideConcentration | Double | none |
| nitrogenOxidesIndex | UInt32 | none |
| numberOfOccupants | UInt32 | none |
| numberOfOccupantsCycle | UInt32 | none |
| numberOfReceivedDevices | UInt32 | none |
| numberOfStrongestReceivedDevices | UInt32 | none |
| passageCounts | DataSet of UInt32 | 1 or 2-column |
| passageCountsCycle | UInt32 | none |
| pH | Double | none |
| pm1.0 | Double | none |
| pm2.5 | Double | none |
| pm10 | Double | none |
| position | DataSet of Double | 1, 2 or 3-column (xyz) |
| power | Double | none |
| pressure | Double | none |
| pressures | DataSet of Double | Multi-column (0..n) |
| relativeHumidity | Double | none |
| speed | Double | none |
| temperature | Double | none |
| temperatures | DataSet of Double | Multi-column (0..n) |
| txCount | UInt32 | none |
| txCycle | UInt32 | none |
| uptime | UInt32 | none |
| velocityOverall | DataSet of Double | 1, 2 or 3-column (xyz) |
| volatileOrganicCompoundsConcentration | Double | none |
| voltage | Double | none |
| voltages | DataSet of Double | Multi-column (0..n) |
Integrations
The Eclipse Sparkplug specification "ensures open and interoperable IIoT" enabling barnacles-sparkplug, and hence Pareto Anywhere, to integrate seamlessly with the following platforms.
ThingsBoard
barnacles-sparkplug will automatically publish data to the MQTT broker of a ThingsBoard instance running on localhost (on port 1883). Configure the MQTT Sparkplug API with a device profile that uses MQTT ClientId ParetoAnywhereEdgeNode to receive the data in ThingsBoard. Follow our ThingsBoard Sparkplug Integration tutorial for step-by-step instructions.
For advanced integrations with ThingsBoard, configure the barnacles-sparkplug options, listed below.
Options
barnacles-sparkplug supports the following options:
| Property | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| url | "mqtt://localhost" | Local MQTT broker |
| groupId | "iot" | See Sparkplug specification |
| edgeNodeId | "paretoanywhere" | See Sparkplug specification |
| clientId | "ParetoAnywhereEdgeNode" | Unique id of MQTT client |
| username | null | Optional for MQTT authentication |
| password | null | Optional for MQTT authentication |
| deviceTimeoutMilliseconds | 60000 | Activity timeout for DDEATH |
| reconnectMilliseconds | 15000 | For initial MQTT connection error |
| eventsToStore | { dynamb: {} } | For filtering |
| printErrors | false | Print MQTT errors? |
eventsToStore
The eventsToStore option determines which events (i.e. dynamb) are to be published, and any event-specific options such as filter parameters. For instance, to store only dynamb objects with temperature:
{
dynamb: {
filterParameters: { acceptedProperties: [ 'temperature' ] }
}
}
Consult the dynamb-filter documentation for the respective parameters.
barnacles-sparkplug can also publish valid position data from raddec and/or spatem events. For instance, to store only position data from any source:
{
raddec: {},
dynamb: {
filterParameters: { acceptedProperties: [ 'position' ] }
},
spatem: {}
}
Consult the raddec-filter and spatem-filter documentation for their respective parameters.
Acknowledgements
barnacles-sparkplug is based on the sparkplug-client open source Node.js package of the Eclipse Tahu project which is licensed under the Eclipse Public License v2.0 (EPL-2.0), and which we invite you to consider supporting at sparkplug.eclipse.org.
Contributing
Discover how to contribute to this open source project which upholds a standard code of conduct.
Security
Consult our security policy for best practices using this open source software and to report vulnerabilities.
License
MIT License
Copyright (c) 2025-2026 reelyActive
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The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
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