ConfigExport - schema-driven config export / restore

Layer: L7 Application · Build flags: PROTOCORE_ENABLE_CONFIG_STORE, PROTOCORE_ENABLE_CONFIG_IO

What this example teaches

Backing up or bulk-provisioning a fleet needs the device's persisted settings in a portable form. This declares a schema of persisted fields and exposes them as a text blob: GET /config dumps key=value lines for backup or migration, and POST /config with that body restores them into NVS. It is schema-driven over the typed NVS config store - deterministic and zero-heap.

Declare the schema once, with field types:

static const protocore_cfg_field SCHEMA[] = {
    {"hostname",  protocore_cfg_type::PROTOCORE_CFG_STR},
    {"http_port", protocore_cfg_type::PROTOCORE_CFG_U32},
    {"location",  protocore_cfg_type::PROTOCORE_CFG_STR},
};

Export and import drive off that schema. The config store is opened under a namespace ("app") and seeded; export serializes exactly the schema fields, import parses them back:

protocore_config_export("app", SCHEMA, SCHEMA_N, buf, sizeof(buf));            // GET -> key=value lines
int n = protocore_config_import("app", SCHEMA, SCHEMA_N, req->body, req->body_len); // POST -> n fields restored

Because both sides share the schema, an unknown or mistyped key in the import body is rejected rather than silently written.

Build and run

pio ci --board=esp32dev --project-option="framework=arduino" \
  --project-option="build_flags=-DPROTOCORE_ENABLE_CONFIG_STORE=1 -DPROTOCORE_ENABLE_CONFIG_IO=1" \
  --lib="." examples/L7-Application/ConfigExport/ConfigExport.ino

curl http://<ip>/config                       # back up: hostname=sensor-01 ...
curl -X POST http://<ip>/config --data-binary @config.txt   # restore into NVS

Annotated source

The complete sketch (ConfigExport.ino), reproduced verbatim with added explanatory comments:

// Copyright (C) 2026 Douglas Quigg (dstroy0) <dquigg123@gmail.com>
// SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
 
#define PROTOCORE_ENABLE_CONFIG_STORE 1
#define PROTOCORE_ENABLE_CONFIG_IO 1
 
#include "protocore.h"
#include "network_drivers/physical/physical/physical.h"
#include "server/storage/config_io/config_io.h"
#include "server/storage/config_store/config_store.h"
 
static const char *SSID = "YOUR_SSID";
static const char *PASSWORD = "YOUR_PASSWORD";
 
PC server;
 
// The persisted fields to back up / restore (shared by export and import).
static const protocore_cfg_field SCHEMA[] = {
    {"hostname", protocore_cfg_type::PROTOCORE_CFG_STR},
    {"http_port", protocore_cfg_type::PROTOCORE_CFG_U32},
    {"location", protocore_cfg_type::PROTOCORE_CFG_STR},
};
static const size_t SCHEMA_N = sizeof(SCHEMA) / sizeof(SCHEMA[0]);
 
void setup()
{
    Serial.begin(115200);
    Physical.wifi->init(SSID, PASSWORD);
    while (!Physical.wifi->ready())
        delay(250);
    Serial.print("IP: ");
    uint32_t ip = Physical.link->egress_ip(); // library egress IP (network byte order), no Arduino WiFi
    Serial.printf("IP: %u.%u.%u.%u\n", (unsigned)(ip & 0xFF), (unsigned)((ip >> 8) & 0xFF),
                  (unsigned)((ip >> 16) & 0xFF), (unsigned)((ip >> 24) & 0xFF));
 
    // Seed a couple of values (normally set at provisioning).
    protocore_config_begin("app");
    protocore_config_set_str("hostname", "sensor-01");
    protocore_config_set_u32("http_port", 80);
    protocore_config_set_str("location", "lab");
 
    server.on("/config", HttpMethod::HTTP_GET, [](uint8_t id, HttpReq *) {
        char buf[512];
        protocore_config_export("app", SCHEMA, SCHEMA_N, buf, sizeof(buf));
        server.send(id, 200, "text/plain", buf);
    });
    server.on("/config", HttpMethod::HTTP_POST, [](uint8_t id, HttpReq *req) {
        int n = protocore_config_import("app", SCHEMA, SCHEMA_N, (const char *)req->body, req->body_len);
        char msg[48];
        snprintf(msg, sizeof(msg), "imported %d field(s)\n", n);
        server.send(id, 200, "text/plain", msg);
    });
    server.begin(80);
}
 
void loop()
{
    server.handle();
}