Nightscout Plugins

🔌 Nightscout Plugins - Which Ones Are Really Worth Enabling Nightscout without plugins is just a basic chart. Only the right add-ons turn it into a full-fledged diabetes management tool. Below you will find all available plugins, how to configure them, and my subjective tips on which ones actually make sense. How does it work? Plugins are enabled through the User Panel. You select a plugin, and after a moment it will be available in your instance. That's not enough - for the plugin to actually display on the page, you also need to add it via the Nightscout interface. Sounds complicated? In practice, it's just a few clicks. More on that in a moment. Changes to the configuration on https://diab.ninja can only be made once every 24 hours. So choose wisely. Default plugins (you don't need to enable them) These add-ons work right after starting Nightscout: delta - shows the glucose change between the last two readings. An asterisk ( * ) means the time difference exceeds 5 minutes - in that case, don't trust this indicator. direction - trend arrow. Simple and useless if you don't know how fast glucose is actually rising or falling. upbat - battery status of the phone sending data. Alerts can warn you when the battery drops below 30% (warning) or 20% (alarm). timeago - time since the last CGM reading. Alerts at 15 and 30 minutes without data are essential if you don't want to overlook stale measurements. Basic therapeutic plugins This is where Nightscout's real value begins. IOB (Insulin on Board) - iob Shows active insulin in your body. Without this, you're dosing blindly. It uses the dia and sens fields from your therapeutic profile. If you haven't set your insulin sensitivity, the result will still appear, but don't count on accuracy. COB (Carbs on Board) - cob Active carbohydrates. Requires correct carbs_hr , carbratio , and sens settings. Helps you understand why glucose rises an hour after a meal. Use it together with IOB - it gives a more complete picture. Bolus Calculator - boluscalc Bolus dose calculator based on carbohydrates, current glucose, and IOB. Accessible via the calculator icon. Works well if you have a consistent profile. It won't replace your pump's calculator, but in emergency situations (e.g., when the pump is out of reach) it can be a lifesaver. Bolus Wizard Preview - bwp Dose preview without actually delivering it. The plugin automatically silences high glucose alerts when IOB is sufficient, and warns you when you should check glucose with a meter and give insulin. Careportal - careportal Form for manually entering treatments: insulin, meals, sensor/cannula/battery changes. Accessible after unlocking with the lock icon (requires an API key). Without it, you won't be able to use any plugins that track equipment age. This is essential. Custom Foods - food Database of your own meals. Instead of typing "roll 30g carbs" each time, you pick from a list. Saves time, especially if you have a consistent diet. Equipment status monitoring All plugins in this group rely on corresponding entries in Careportal. CAGE (Cannula Age) - cage Tracks cannula age. Default: warning at 44 hours, alarm at 48, urgent alarm at 72. SAGE (Sensor Age) - sage CGM sensor age. Default: warning at 144 hours (6 days), alarm at 164 (about 6.8 days), urgent alarm at 166 (about 6.9 days). IAGE (Insulin Age) - iage Age of insulin in the pump reservoir. Default warning at 44 hours, alarm at 48, urgent alarm at 72. Standard insulin in a pump should be changed every 48-72 hours, so these values make sense. BAGE (Battery Age) - bage Age of the pump battery. Default warning at 312 hours (13 days), alarm at 336 (14 days), urgent alarm at 360 (15 days). Pump Monitoring - pump General pump monitoring (for OpenAPS, MiniMed Connect, RileyLink, t:slim). Alerts (after enabling pump ) include: pump suspension, reservoir status (default warning at 10 units, alarm at 5), and battery (warning at 30%, alarm at 20%). Default displayed fields: reservoir battery . This plugin is really useful if you want all device statuses in one place. You configure it in Panel -> Pump Monitoring Integrations with AID systems OpenAPS - openaps Monitors OpenAPS operation. Alerts can be configured in the "Alerts" menu - they relate to loop interruptions (default warning after 30 minutes, alarm after 60). You can also add an "OpenAPS Offline" event in Careportal to avoid false alarms during planned downtime. Loop - loop Monitors the Loop app on iOS. Similar alerts (default warning after 30 minutes, alarm after 60). Configure Forecasting to display predicted glucose. For remote mode switching (Eating Soon, Exercise Mode), you need additional variables related to Apple Push Notifications - configured in the Loop menu. Override - override Displays active overrides (e.g., Eating Soon Mode or Exercise Mode) in AID systems in real time. This is for advanced users who want to see when the loop changes its strategy. Advanced features Raw BG - rawbg Displays raw, unfil