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Demo runbook — IoT terminal → central API → dashboard

The fixed demo script for Week 2 of the 7-week plan (central-api-delivery-plan.md). Anyone on the team should be able to run this end-to-end without hardware in under five minutes.

Outcome the operator is showing​

"A fingerprint terminal in the field hands off a verified check-in to our hosted API in real time. The dashboard reflects it instantly. No biometric data ever crosses the wire."

Pre-flight (one-time)​

  1. Tenant + API key. Sign up at console.zeroauth.dev/signup and mint a tenant API key with scopes devices:write, users:write, verifications:write, attendance:write. Copy the za_test_… string — you'll only see it once.

  2. Bridge env. In the terminal you'll run the bridge from:

    export ZA_CENTRAL_API_URL=https://api.zeroauth.dev
    export ZA_CENTRAL_API_KEY=za_test_…
    export ZA_CENTRAL_DEVICE_ID=demo-lobby-1
    export ZA_CENTRAL_DEVICE_NAME='Lobby demo (sim)'
    export ZA_SIM_MODE=1                 # omit if the R307 is attached

  3. Two browser tabs already open, side by side:

Demo (≈ 4 min)​

Step 1 — boot the bridge​

npm --prefix iot run demo

Operator script: "This is the firmware that runs on the IoT terminal — a R307 fingerprint sensor over UART. I'm running it in sim mode right now because we're not on the lobby hardware, but the same code ships to the device."

Look for these log lines (proves the central API is wired):

[bridge] central-api: enabled, base=https://api.zeroauth.dev, device=demo-lobby-1
[central-api] device created id=dev_… (or 'resolved' on a repeat run)
[bridge] demo running at http://127.0.0.1:3100

Step 2 — enroll a user (signup)​

In the bridge page:

  • Type a demo email (any address — the OTP is shown inline because DEV_SHOW_OTP is on by default).
  • Confirm the code.
  • Watch the phase pills tick through awaiting_finger → captured → deriving → proving → verifying → syncing_central → central_synced.

Operator script: "The fingerprint is captured locally and turned into a Poseidon commitment on the device. Only the commitment leaves — never the image."

Flip to the dashboard tab: Overview now shows users: 1 and the new email under "Recent users".

Step 3 — verify + check-in (login)​

In the bridge page, click Sign in with the same email. Phase pills tick through awaiting_finger → matching → proving → verifying → syncing_central (verification) → syncing_central (attendance) → central_synced.

Operator script: "The terminal proves the same finger without revealing it — a zero-knowledge proof of biometric possession. The hosted API records the verification event and the check-in."

Flip to the dashboard tab:

  • Overview: verifications: 1, attendanceEvents: 1
  • Verifications: a row with method: fingerprint, result: pass, the confidence score from the sensor
  • Attendance: a row with event_type: check_in, result: accepted, joined to the user from step 2 and the device from step 1

Step 4 — close​

Operator script: "Three independent surfaces — the terminal, the API, the dashboard. The biometric stayed on the device. The breach surface is the commitment, which is information-theoretically useless without the finger."

Failure recovery​

SymptomFix
[central-api] device resolution failedZA_CENTRAL_API_KEY wrong or missing the four required scopes
central_skipped reason=remote_errorLive network blip — re-run the same step; the bridge keeps the local result either way
Bridge page hangs at awaiting_fingerZA_SIM_MODE not set and no R307 attached — set the env and restart
Dashboard rows don't appearConfirm the dashboard is on the same tenant as the API key; environment is test

What this proves​

  • W2 charter: "device firmware calls /v1/verifications + /v1/attendance" ✅
  • W2 charter: "dashboard/overview confirms check-in and check-out visibility" ✅
  • W2 charter: "one fixed demo script using one test tenant" ✅

A "live tenant" variation just swaps ZA_CENTRAL_API_KEY for a za_live_… key; everything else is identical.