Documentation
Short, practical guides. Install, add your machine, engrave your first job — then automate the batches you repeat with workflows. 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 GRBL Server
Run the Windows installer. The app opens on Home, and its Network access page has the address for the other computers on your network.
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2
Add your machine
Plug in a USB laser, or find a FluidNC / GRBL-ESP32 controller on your network. Its work area is read for you.
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3
Run your first job
Drop a design on Home, pick the default engraving profile, create the job, and press Start job in the Job Station.
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Getting started
Install, sign in, and reach the interface from any computer on your network.
Installation
Install GRBL Server on the workshop computer, then reach the same interface from any other computer on the network.
Login & accounts
GRBL Server needs no account. Start the free month of the included AI assistant, or sign in once per host to use your subscription everywhere on the network.
Core concepts
Machines, engraving profiles, job templates and jobs — everything a single job is made of.
Connecting machines
Add a GRBL laser over USB, or a GRBL-ESP32 / FluidNC controller over Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Check its connection, work area and maximum power.
Creating & running jobs
Open a design, place it in the job editor, preview it in the Job Station and start it. Plus the Library, the Jobs page and Activity.
Engraving profiles & job templates
Save the power, speed and fill for a material once, and a job's whole setup as a template you repeat in one click.
Automation
Workflows that turn folders, cloud storage or database orders into jobs, run after run — built for you by the assistant if you like.
Workflows
Automate batch production: pull files from the Library, the cloud or your database, turn them into jobs and run them in ordered steps — or describe it and let the assistant build it.
Production
Fit more parts on the material you have: grids, nesting, crops and clip shapes.
Grids & nesting
Lay designs out in rows across the work area, or let nesting pack DXF and SVG parts tightly onto a sheet.
Clipping & cropping
Keep only part of each design — inside a rectangle, or inside an SVG outline such as a tag or an offcut.
Help
When something doesn't work the way you expect.
Troubleshooting
Common issues with signing in, opening the app, network access, USB drivers, Wi-Fi controllers, alarms, workflows and the assistant.
Glossary
The names that show up everywhere in GRBL Server.
- Machine
- A laser controller added to GRBL Server, reached over USB / Serial (GRBL) or over WiFi / Ethernet (GRBL-ESP32 / FluidNC, or GRBL).
- Connection
- How a machine reaches the host: USB / Serial or WiFi / Ethernet (WebSocket).
- Firmware
- What the controller runs: GRBL, or GRBL-ESP32 (WebUI / FluidNC).
- Work area
- How far the head can travel on each axis, read from the controller when you add it. Jobs are placed and previewed inside it.
- Engraving profile
- The power, speed and fill settings for a material, plus the start & end G-code and macros that come with it.
- Start & end G-code
- Commands sent once at the start and once at the end of every job that uses a profile — homing, air assist on/off.
- Macro
- A one-click command button on the Job Station and the machine controls, such as Home or Frame.
- Job template
- A saved job setup — machine, engraving profile and layout (grid, crop or clip shape) — repeated in one click.
- Job
- Designs turned into G-code for a machine with an engraving profile. Every job is kept on the Jobs page, ready to run again.
- Job editor
- The canvas where you place designs on the work area, add text and shapes, pick a profile and create the job.
- Job Station
- Where a job is previewed, framed and started, with the machine controls and the profile's macros beside it.
- Library
- Files you keep for reuse, organised in folders on the host computer.
- Activity
- The live view of running jobs and workflow runs, with pause, stop, continue and skip.
- Workflow
- A reusable production pipeline drawn as nodes and wires: where files come from, what jobs they become, and the order they run in.
- Assistant
- The AI helper beside the workflow editor's canvas: describe a job in your own words and it builds the workflow for you.
- Run order
- The steps of a workflow run. Jobs in the same step run at the same time on different machines; between steps the run waits for you.
- Grid
- A layout that places a job's designs in rows across the work area.
- Nesting
- A layout that packs DXF and SVG parts tightly onto a sheet to reduce waste.
- Crop / Clip
- Keeps only the part of each design inside a rectangle (crop) or an SVG outline (clip).
- Network access
- The page with the address other computers on your network type into a browser to use the same interface.
Can't find what you need?
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