# Documentation

These are the project's own documents, shown in full and not rewritten. They are pulled from release v3.18.1 each time this site is built.

New here? Start with [Is it for me?](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/is-it-for-me) [The live demo](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/demo)

New in 3.18.0

## Updating from 3.17 or earlier? 3.18 is a big upgrade. Read the upgrade guide before you update.

- Your zones keep watering by the same targets, phases and limits, and almost every dashboard page is new. The update switches on nothing that waters or doses: pump sharing, timer programs, alert rules and calibrations stay off until you set them up.
- Do not update a room that is in a grow unless you have a few clear hours afterwards, and never in the hour before lights-on. First turn each room's Watering kill switch off and wait until the pump, main line and valves read off.

### Safety changes

- One new hold. In a room with a feed EC or pH probe, if one of its irrigation EC or pH limits (`number.crop_steering_<prefix>irrigation_ec_min` and the other three) cannot be read, that room holds its shots until the limit reads again.
- Timer programs, alert rules and presets show you the change before it is saved, and read the value back after. An AI assistant can prepare the same changes, but you approve each one, and it cannot run a pump, open a valve or arm a grow plan.

[Read the upgrade guide →](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/upgrade-guide) [Set it up with an AI assistant →](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/ai-setup)

## Start here

- [Crop Steering Academy: The free Crop Steering Academy: beginner video lessons from water and roots to daily operation, the learning routes and how each lesson works.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/academy)
- [Learner workbook: The Academy's learner workbook: glossary, calculations, graph exercises, setup record, daily routine and explained answers.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/workbook)
- [Validated feature matrix: Every feature with how it was tested, the evidence behind it and its limits, and what has and has not been verified on a live installation.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/feature-matrix)
- [Current workspace screenshots: Current screenshots of the main pages, from all-rooms status and a phone view to tank, dosing, irrigation and history, captured with demo data.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/screenshots)

## Set up

- [Equipment and setup: start with one zone: Equipment and setup for one zone: functional kit, compatibility sheet, water and control paths, and staged commissioning.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/equipment-and-setup)
- [Installation, upgrade and rollback: What gets installed, requirements, the guided steps, the Docker controller, upgrading and restoring a prior version.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/install)
- [First-run setup: After the install: examine the installation, set up a room, and the checks before the first watering, with watering off until the last step.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/first-run)
- [Water supply, pump queue and flow checks: Pump flow and sharing, the pump queue and flow-meter checks. They order shots and raise alerts; they never hold a shot.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/water-supply)
- [Calibration: Moisture probe offsets and curves, 2-point feed pH/EC calibration, and dosing pump prime and calibrate.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/calibration)
- [Batch-tank dosing: Batch-tank dosing: feed schedule and hardware profile, single doses, timed runs, whole batches, the mix check, holds and the dosing alerts.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/dosing)
- [Optional InfluxDB history: Optional InfluxQL or Flux history, protected credentials, capped reads and Recorder fallback.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/long-history)

## Use it every day

- [User guide: Every page of the dashboard, step by step: status, zones, timelines, timer programs, grow plans, history and equipment, and what each action changes.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/user-guide)
- [Dashboards and display: The menu, every page and its address, display units and clock, the Home Assistant sidebar, and wall and tablet dashboards.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/dashboards-and-display)
- [Steering and whole-grow planning: Steering and whole-grow schedules, reading the combined graph, pot and dripper sizing.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/grow-plans)
- [Timer programs and irrigation modes: Water a zone by steering, by timer or not at all. Timer shots pass the same safety checks as steering shots.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/timers-and-modes)
- [Presets and copying settings: Save a room's or zone's settings as a preset, or copy them to other zones. You see a preview first, and the saved values are read back after.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/presets-and-copy)
- [History, changes and putting things back: The event Journal, History › Changes with who changed what and why, putting an earlier value back, Undo, and the shot Timeline.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/history-and-changes)
- [Alerts: rules, the inbox and quiet hours: Set your own alert rules and test them against yesterday's data before saving. Also the alerts inbox and quiet hours per phone.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/alerts)
- [Notifications: who gets which alerts: Which phone gets a push for which kind of alert, and the events you can subscribe to.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/notifications)
- [System status: Every mapped device, online, offline or silent, its 7-day uptime and each room's controller heartbeat.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/system-status)

## Upgrade

- [Upgrade to 3.18: the plan: Read this before you update. What stays the same, what the update carries across, what needs you, a first-hour checklist and how to go back.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/upgrade-guide)
- [3.18 upgrade report, line by line: One section per line of each room's Upgrade report: what the update did, what it left for you, and the safe defaults.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/upgrade-report)

## Fix a problem

- [Troubleshooting: Symptoms, from a room that never waters to a plan that will not arm or a probe refused for its unit, each with what to check and what to do.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/troubleshooting)
- [Error codes: Every alert code: what it means, what happens to the water, the causes and what to do.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/error-codes)

## AI assistant (optional)

- [AI assistant: The optional Claude assistant: how it works, starting it, its budget and dry run, the judges, its safety limits and powers, and who writes which setpoint.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/ai-assistant)
- [AI instructions and room context: The exact controller-built prompt, reviewed room context, revisions and cache breakpoints, and how the prompt describes the restored options.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/ai-instructions)
- [Set up an install with an AI assistant: Let an AI assistant prepare your setup through the MCP server. Every change is previewed, you approve it, then it is saved and read back.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/ai-setup)
- [Configure Crop Steering through MCP: An assistant can inspect rooms and prepare reviewed configuration changes. Read-only by default.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/mcp)
- [Crop Steering MCP: Connect Claude Desktop or another local MCP client to the Crop Steering MCP server: install, client settings and a first workflow with its approval token.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/mcp-server)

## Reference

- [Entity Reference: Complete Schema: The entities the integration creates, including numbers, selects, switches and sensors.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/entities)
- [System overview: The responsibilities of each part, and the order of checks before any equipment is switched.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/system-overview)
- [Crop Steering Controller: The companion controller app: install and configure it, the optional AI assistant and its judges, plans and operation, visible targets and updating.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/controller)
- [Legacy: Moving a room from the first AI edition: Moving a room from the Jev edition to this repository, one time, with its state and settings.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/moving-from-jev)

## For contributors

- [Repository map: Where each part lives in the source repository: the integration, the controller app, the dashboard, the MCP server, the tests and the docs.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/repository-map)
- [Testing: Running the project's checks for the decision engine, integration helpers, controller and dashboard.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/testing)
- [Releasing: How a release is verified on staging hardware before it is promoted to a production room.](https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs/releasing)

Source: https://cropsteering.growlabs.nz/docs