Documentation
Short, practical guides. Start with installation, add a machine, wire your first workflow, and you'll be running production batches before lunch. The rest is reference you can come back to.
Get started in 5 minutes
The shortest path from a fresh install to your first running job.
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1
Install the server
Run the Windows installer and open the address shown by the launcher on any computer on your Wi-Fi.
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2
Connect a machine
Plug in a USB-serial board, or point the UI at a Wi-Fi or TCP controller. Pick its firmware protocol and set the working area.
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3
Run your first job
Drop an SVG in the local folder, pick the default interface, target your machine, hit Run.
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Getting started
Install, sign in, and reach the UI from any computer on your network.
Installation
Install GRBL Server on the workshop computer and open the web UI from any device on the same Wi-Fi.
Login & accounts
Start your free month with no account, or sign in once per host and work everywhere on the network.
Core concepts
The five building blocks every job is made of: machines, interfaces, presets, jobs, workflows.
Connecting machines
Add machines over USB serial, Wi-Fi or TCP, speaking GRBL, GRBL-ESP32, Marlin, Smoothieware, Klipper or generic G-code.
Creating jobs
Turn an SVG, DXF, image, Gerber or Excellon drill file into a G-code job, target a machine, run it. The one-off path.
Workflow basics
Wire reusable production pipelines from nodes: mediators, interfaces, presets, grids, machines.
Presets & interfaces
Save material-specific recipes once and apply them with one click on future jobs.
Production
Production-scale features that turn designs into engraved, cut, milled and drilled pieces — including PCB workflows.
CNC milling & PCB
Spindle and drag tools, machining operations, Excellon drilling, Gerber isolation routing, surface leveling and the 3D preview.
Grids
Tile jobs across the working area in a configurable rows × columns layout with gaps.
Clipping & cropping
Constrain a job to an SVG d path or a rectangular bound — fits production to the material you have.
Help
When something doesn't work the way you expect.
Troubleshooting
Common issues with login, licence validation, the server, USB drivers, WebSocket controllers, alarms, and the pre-visualizer.
Glossary
The names that show up everywhere in GRBL Server. If you've ever wondered "what's a mediator again?", start here.
- Machine
- A controller registered with the server, reached over USB serial, Wi-Fi or TCP.
- Transport
- How a machine is wired to the server: USB serial, Wi-Fi (WebSocket), or TCP.
- Protocol
- The firmware family a machine speaks — GRBL, GRBL-ESP32, Marlin, Smoothieware, Klipper, or generic G-code.
- Interface
- The engine parameters used to turn a file into G-code: tool type, power or depth, speed, passes, fill density. One interface covers vector, raster, and SVGs that combine both.
- Tool type
- What is mounted on the machine for a job:
laser(power-modulated beam),spindle(router/mill cutting at depth), ordrag(diamond-drag engraver). - Operation
- What a Z tool does with the geometry: engrave on the line, cut outside/inside offset by the tool radius, or pocket-clear the interior.
- Surface leveling
- Probing a grid over the stock (G38.2) to build a heightmap, then warping the program's Z so cuts follow the real surface. Essential for PCB isolation.
- Heightmap
- The grid of probed surface deviations a leveled job is warped with, stored on the job so it can be re-applied or removed.
- Sequence
- Start / end G-code that wraps a job (e.g. homing, raise Z, fan on).
- Job
- A single G-code execution targeted at one machine.
- Job preset
- A reusable bundle of machine + interface + clipping + grid for a specific material.
- Mediator
- A file source that pulls files from an external database with a SQL query (parameters injected at run time).
- Workflow
- A reusable production pipeline built from nodes and connections.
- Workflow run
- A tracked, step-by-step execution of a workflow, with per-job state and error handling.
- Pre-visualizer
- A 2D canvas showing the working area and where a job will land before running. Jobs with Z motion additionally get an orbitable 3D preview in the Job station.
- Grid node
- A workflow node that arranges multiple jobs across the working area in rows × columns.
- Clip / Crop
- Restricts a laser job to an SVG
dpath (clip) or a rectangle (crop). - Jobs linker
- A workflow node that combines several setup-job branches into a single output.
Can't find what you need?
These docs grow with your feedback. If something is missing, vague, or wrong, tell us — it's the fastest way to make them better.