Getting Started with WAVE Synapse

This guide walks you through your first session with Synapse: discovering devices on your network, reviewing and approving them, creating your first signal route, and saving a show profile.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• A WAVE organization account with at least the technician role
• Network access to the devices you want to manage (same VLAN or routed subnet)
• At least one device powered on and connected to the network (NDI source, Dante endpoint, USB device, or cloud participant)

Step 1: Run Your First Discovery

Discovery scans your network for devices across all supported protocols. Start by scanning the protocols relevant to your facility.

const response = await fetch('/api/ncp/discovery', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${accessToken}`,
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    protocols: ['mdns', 'dante_discovery', 'usb_enumeration'],
  }),
});
 
const { data: session } = await response.json();
// session.id = UUID of the discovery session
// session.status = 'running'

You can optionally limit discovery to specific network segments by passing segment_ids:

body: JSON.stringify({
  protocols: ['mdns', 'dante_discovery'],
  segment_ids: ['segment-uuid-1', 'segment-uuid-2'],
})

The session runs asynchronously. Poll the discovery session endpoint to check progress:

const statusResponse = await fetch(`/api/ncp/discovery/${session.id}`, {
  headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${accessToken}` },
});
const { data: updatedSession } = await statusResponse.json();
// updatedSession.status = 'completed' | 'running' | 'failed'
// updatedSession.devices_found = number of new devices detected

Step 2: Review Your Device List

After discovery completes, list all devices to see what was found:

const devicesResponse = await fetch('/api/ncp/devices?sort_by=created_at&sort_order=desc', {
  headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${accessToken}` },
});
const { data } = await devicesResponse.json();
// data.data = array of NCPDevice objects
// data.total = total count
// data.has_more = whether more pages exist

Newly discovered devices that require approval appear with approved: false and status: 'pending_approval'. Filter for unapproved devices:

const pendingResponse = await fetch('/api/ncp/devices?approved=false&status=pending_approval', {
  headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${accessToken}` },
});

Each device includes:

Field	Description
display_name	Human-readable name (auto-populated from discovery)
device_class	One of 18 device classifications
ip_address	Network address (if applicable)
health_score	0-100 health rating
discovery_method	How the device was found (mdns, dante_discovery, etc.)
capabilities	JSON object describing video/audio/PTZ/tally support

Step 3: Approve Discovered Devices

Approve a pending device to make it available for routing:

const approveResponse = await fetch(`/api/ncp/devices/${deviceId}/approve`, {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${accessToken}` },
});

After approval, the device status transitions from pending_approval to online (or offline if it is no longer reachable).

Step 4: Create Your First Route

Connect a source device to a destination device by creating a signal route:

const routeResponse = await fetch('/api/ncp/routing', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${accessToken}`,
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    source_device_id: 'source-uuid',
    source_port: 'output_1',
    source_protocol: 'ndi',
    dest_device_id: 'dest-uuid',
    dest_port: 'input_1',
    dest_protocol: 'ndi',
    signal_type: 'video',
  }),
});
 
const { data: route } = await routeResponse.json();
// route.id = UUID of the new route
// route.status = 'active'

Before creating a route, you can validate compatibility:

const validateResponse = await fetch('/api/ncp/routing/validate', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${accessToken}`,
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    source: { device_id: 'source-uuid', port: 'output_1', protocol: 'ndi' },
    dest: { device_id: 'dest-uuid', port: 'input_1', protocol: 'srt' },
  }),
});
 
const { data: validation } = await validateResponse.json();
// validation.compatible = true/false
// validation.requires_bridge = true (NDI -> SRT needs MXL bridge)
// validation.bridge_type = 'ndi_to_srt'
// validation.estimated_latency_ms = 15

Step 5: Save Your First Show Profile

Once your routes are configured, save the current state as a show profile for future recall. Show profile creation is available through the Synapse UI or the API (see Show Profiles for details).

What to Explore Next

Goal	Documentation
Understand all 18 device classes	Device Management
Build complex signal flows	Signal Routing
Configure network segments and VLANs	Network Topology
Set up automated discovery schedules	Discovery Engine
Control access with roles	Access Control
Integrate with the API programmatically	API Reference