pcciot-administrator
Tue, 20 Jan 2026 11:38:48 +0000

TTN Decoder Repository Update Issue
**
I would like to open this discussion in the hope of advising caution to other TTN users when selecting “use device repository” when creating sensor applications and introducing hardware.

It would appear that** TTN (The Things Network) has been pushing uplink payload decoders/formatters to their device repository without informing hardware and application holders on their sandbox (free) platform.

A problem arose when a variable name was changed in an update from Milesight, but could easily have been from another manufacturer. It would seem they sent that payload decoder update to TTN, TTN then updated their repository without checking for changes or informing relevant users. Every user that chose “use device repository” in their application and device set up may/will have issues when their variable names are changed.

In our case, on Milesight magnetic contact switches, the variable was changed as follows:
from
door: 0 or 1
to
magnet_status: “open” or “closed”
This has led to processing and dashboarding failures as they’re now unable to find their source variables.

To prevent this happening again we will manually enter custom payload decoders, which can be made or sourced from device manufacturer websites, and NOT “use device repository” which can be updated and broken without any notice.

This hidden issue has been service affecting on our Milesight sensor applications since late December.

To make this otherwise helpful “use device repository” feature more stable, I would recommend both a comparison scan between old and new, then a notification to all TTN application administrators to warn of the change. Even better, would be a default “do not update automatically” option available on device and application registration.