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Vestaboard Note Arrays

A Vestaboard Note Array is a group of Vestaboard Notes configured together as a single device in the Vestaboard app. Once set up, the Cloud API treats the array as one logical board — you send a single combined message and the cloud automatically slices it and delivers the right piece to each Vestaboard Note.

This is the key difference from the Local API Note Arrays: with the Cloud API you do not have to manage the splitting yourself.

Setting Up a Vestaboard Note Array

Configure your Vestaboard Note Array in the Vestaboard app before using the API. Once the array is created, generate a Cloud API token scoped to that array — the token is what ties your API requests to the group of boards.

See Authentication for how to create a token.

Message Dimensions

The dimensions of the message you send depend on the layout of your Vestaboard Note Array. Each Vestaboard Note is a 3×15 grid, so the combined dimensions for 2 to 4 stacked Vestaboard Notes are:

ArrangementVestaboard NotesMessage dimensions
2 side-by-side23 rows × 30 cols
4 side-by-side43 rows × 60 cols
2 stacked26 rows × 15 cols
4 stacked412 rows × 15 cols
2×2 grid46 rows × 30 cols

Sending a Message

Use the same POST https://cloud.vestaboard.com/ endpoint as a single board, but provide the full combined character array matching your array's dimensions.

Side-by-Side (3×30)

curl -X POST \
-H "X-Vestaboard-Token: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"characters": [[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0],[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0],[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]]}' \
https://cloud.vestaboard.com/

2×2 Grid (6×30)

curl -X POST \
-H "X-Vestaboard-Token: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"characters": [[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0],[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0],[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0],[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0],[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0],[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]]}' \
https://cloud.vestaboard.com/

Example Response

{
"status": "ok",
"id": "9b4f13f0-4623-4fb9-8fbf-09ae13350da1",
"created": 1681154452865
}

Reading the Current Message

A GET to https://cloud.vestaboard.com/ returns the full combined layout for your array. The layout string will reflect the combined dimensions of your Vestaboard Note Array.

curl -H "X-Vestaboard-Token: YOUR_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" https://cloud.vestaboard.com/

Example Response (2-Note side-by-side, 3×30)

{
"currentMessage": {
"layout": "[[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0],[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0],[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]]",
"id": "172c7808-52db-4eb9-9ecf-505bd00436bc"
}
}

Limitations

  • Transitions are not supported globally on Vestaboard Note Arrays. The Get Transition and Set Transition endpoints will have no effect on an array token.
  • Text input ({"text": "..."}) is supported but the text will be formatted for the full combined dimensions of the array.
  • Rate limiting applies the same as a single board — sending more than one message every 15 seconds may result in dropped messages.