MVPT — remote plotting dashboard

Small Node web app that runs on the machine attached to your plotter. It talks to hardware through Python scripts (preview, plot, discover, commands). Use it on your LAN from a browser; tested mainly on macOS.

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Install (short version)

1. Node.js 20+ — node -v

2. Python 3 with the nextdraw package importable from that interpreter (same stack as Bantam Tools / NextDraw Python API — if python3 -c "from nextdraw import NextDraw" fails, install/fix that first).

3. Clone, then:

   cd remote-plotting
   npm install
   cp .env.example .env

4. Edit .env. Minimum:

   Variable	What
   SVGDIR	Absolute path to the folder of SVGs the UI should browse (required).
   PYTHON_BIN	Optional; default python3. Must run the env where nextdraw is installed.

   Other keys in .env.example set defaults, virtual preview machines for testing, webhook, etc.

5. Run: npm start → open http://localhost:2000 (or your PORT).

Dev: npm run dev (nodemon).

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Usage (very short)

Discover machines, pick an SVG from the library, assign it to a machine panel, Preview then Plot. Real hardware and optional virtual machines are supported.

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Heads-up

This is a personal tool with light guardrails. Don’t expose it raw to the internet. Avoid running the server under a process manager that breaks clean child processes if plotting acts up — npm start directly is the simple path.