---
title: central — Data-Hub Spine
type: reference
tags:
  - mesh
aliases: []
related:
  - [[navi]]
  - [[central-deploy-cutover]]
  - [[services]]
  - [[fleet-platform-baseline]]
  - [[caddy]]
updated: 2026-07-13
---
# central — Data-Hub Spine

## Overview

central is a multi-domain real-time data-hub spine. Adapters normalize upstream sources, publish CloudEvents to **NATS/JetStream**, and archive to **TimescaleDB/PostGIS** for historical and geospatial query. It is the live data backbone for [[navi]] traffic tiles and related situational-awareness feeds.

- **URL (internal):** http://central.echo6.mesh:8000 (mesh-only, no public exposure)
- **Host:** utility CT 104 (unprivileged Ubuntu LXC)
- **Repo:** github.com/zvx-echo6/central (public, Python, deployed at detached HEAD, tag v0.15.0)
- **Deploy path:** /opt/central (venv: /opt/central/.venv, env: /etc/central/central.env, system user: central)

## Host

| Attribute | Value |
|-----------|-------|
| Container | utility CT 104 |
| Local IP | 192.168.1.104 |
| Tailscale / mesh | 100.64.0.12 → central.echo6.mesh |
| Resources | 4 cores / 12 GB RAM / 100 GB disk |
| OS | Ubuntu LXC (unprivileged) |

## Architecture

The data flow is: upstream APIs → adapters (central-supervisor) → NATS/JetStream :4222 → central-archive (TimescaleDB/PostGIS :5432). The central-gui (FastAPI + HTMX, :8000) exposes the API consumed by navi via recon-vm's nginx (port 8440, `^~ /api/traffic/` → `central.echo6.mesh:8000`).

## Systemd Services

All three units are **enabled and active**; [[deployment]] survives reboot. Deps: `nats-server`, `postgresql@16-main`.

| Unit | Role |
|------|------|
| central-supervisor | Adapter scheduler + CloudEvents publisher |
| central-archive | JetStream → TimescaleDB consumer |
| central-gui | FastAPI + HTMX web app + API (the :8000 listener) |

## Ports

| Port | Protocol | Purpose |
|------|----------|---------|
| :8000 | HTTP | GUI / API (bound 0.0.0.0) |
| :4222 | TCP | NATS client connections |
| :8222 | HTTP | NATS monitoring |
| :5432 | TCP | PostgreSQL 16 + TimescaleDB/PostGIS |

## Adapters (23 configured, 22 enabled)

| Domain | Sources |
|--------|---------|
| Traffic | ITD 511, WZDX, TomTom flow/incidents, 511 cameras |
| Wildfire | WFIGS incidents/perimeters, InciWeb, FIRMS |
| Weather / Space-weather | NWS, SWPC k-index/protons/alerts |
| Hydro | NWIS |
| Earthquakes | USGS |
| Avalanche | avalanche.org |
| Disasters | GDACS, EONET |
| Satellite | CelesTrak TLE, sat positions/orbits, satpass_predict (n2yo_visualpasses disabled 2026-06-27) |

## GUI / API Surface

Authenticated app with login/sessions/CSRF, first-run setup wizard, operator management, adapter configuration (incl. **no-code creation of generic REST/GeoJSON sources**, v0.15.0), stream viewer, **JetStream consumer management** (`/consumers` — view + delete consumers; central's own `archive-*` durable consumers are protected/non-deletable; CSRF + audit-logged), enrichment pipeline, monitoring-area management, API key management, audit log, and manual resend.

**Auth-exempt tile endpoints** (used by navi, verified HTTP 200):

| Endpoint | Format |
|----------|--------|
| /api/traffic/flow/{z}/{x}/{y}.png | PNG tile (raster, image/png) |
| /api/traffic/flow/{z}/{x}/{y}.pbf | PBF tile (vector, application/x-protobuf) |

`/health` is also auth-exempt (returns `{"status":"ok"}`). All other `/api/` endpoints redirect to `/login`.

## Consumer — navi Integration

navi-traffic (navi's in-VM :8421 extraction service) was **retired on 2026-05-26** and cut over to central. recon-vm's nginx (`/etc/nginx/sites-available/navi.echo6.co`, port 8440) now proxies `^~ /api/traffic/` → `central.echo6.mesh:8000` with a 120s tile cache. navi-traffic:8421 is confirmed dead and disabled. Tile endpoints verified returning HTTP 200.

## Dependencies

| Component | Location |
|-----------|----------|
| NATS / JetStream | Local (central CT 104) |
| PostgreSQL 16 + TimescaleDB + PostGIS | Local (central CT 104) |
| Upstream APIs | ~20 external sources (see Adapters table) |

## Data Plane

Single TimescaleDB hypertable `public.events` (~40 GB, ~3.42 M rows, 331 chunks, compression not enabled). JetStream ~5.9 GB / 20 GB across 12 streams.

## Deploy / State Notes (as of 2026-07-13)

- **Deployed HEAD:** v0.15.0 (detached HEAD — the box tracks tags; sha `3c8da28`, `pyproject.toml` 0.15.0). All 3 units active, `/health` 200, 23 adapters configured / 22 enabled (only `n2yo_visualpasses` disabled).
- **v0.15.0 (deployed 2026-07-02, PRs #120–124):** the GUI can now add public REST/GeoJSON data sources **no-code** — a generic adapter kind created and configured entirely through adapter management, no repo change. None enabled in this deployment yet; all 23 current adapters remain bespoke per-source kinds (each `config.adapters.kind` is unique to its source).
- **Deploy mechanism:** manual, tag-based (`git checkout <tag>` → `uv sync` → `central-migrate` → restart). One-command `scripts/deploy.sh` ships in-repo; full procedure in the [[central-deploy-cutover]] runbook. No CI/CD; no automated DB backup (pre-flight `pg_dump` is the only migration safety net; migrations are forward-only).
- **`central-migrate` env gotcha:** manual calls need `cd /opt/central && set -a && . /etc/central/central.env && set +a && …` (the units supply this via WorkingDirectory + EnvironmentFile).
- **EONET:** now **global** as of v0.14.6 (2026-06-28) — `bypass_bbox_filter=True` + the adapter `region` key removed. NOTE: its `events`-table row count is a misleading health signal (dedup + partition expiry); use the CENTRAL_DISASTER stream as the EONET flow signal. `avalanche_org` zero-events is expected (off-season gate).
- **Supervisor CPU** ~17%→~1.4% and **cursors.db** 1.3 GB→496 MB after the v0.14.6 dedup/WAL fix + a VACUUM.

---

*Last updated: 2026-07-13 — v0.15.0 deployed & verified (GUI no-code generic REST/GeoJSON adapters, PRs #120–124); 3.42 M events / ~40 GB, all units active.*