mikrosnitter

Mikrosnitter is a lightweight, open-source software framework designed for gathering, formatting, and distributing short text snippets and sensor readings on embedded devices. It runs on microcomputers and low-power hardware, offering a small footprint, a simple API, and pluggable backends for different networks or local storage.

Originally developed by a small hobbyist community in the early 2020s as a minimal alternative to larger clients, Mikrosnitter evolved through community contributions and deployments on educational hardware.

The project provides a modular core that handles input normalization, timestamping, and queuing. Features include asynchronous I/O, offline caching, and pluggable backends for REST, MQTT, or local storage. The core is written in C++, with optional bindings for Python and Lua to facilitate scripting on embedded platforms. It supports resource constraints such as memory limits, battery-aware operation, and basic TLS for secure transmission. Configuration is declarative via a small YAML-like schema, enabling rapid setup without code changes.

Typical deployments run as a daemon on Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, or compatible boards, collecting data from sensors or user input and posting snippets to a microblogging service, local network hub, or archive. The architecture separates data collection, formatting, and transport, allowing developers to plug in new input sources or outputs without altering core logic.

Among makers and educators, Mikrosnitter is recognized as a compact, approachable platform for teaching event-driven programming and IoT workflows.

See also: Embedded systems, microblogging, Internet of Things, open-source hardware.