XY Sense API – How It Works (Summary)

1. XY Sense is space-centric, not sensor-centric

• The XY platform does not expose individual sensor status or sensor-level occupancy via the API.

• This is intentional and by design.

• Unlike some vendors, there is no fixed 1:1 relationship between a sensor and a space.

2. How occupancy is actually calculated

• XY Sense uses multiple area sensors across a floor to detect anonymous people sightings.

• These sightings are combined across all sensors on the floor.

• The system then determines which mapped spaces those sightings fall into.

• Occupancy is calculated at the space level, not the sensor level.

This means:

• Sensors are an internal input to the analytics engine.

• Spaces are the output.

3. What the API does provide

The API (and webhooks) are designed to support integrations by exposing:

• Space IDs and space metadata (names, hierarchy, etc.)

• Live and historical occupancy status per space

• XY Sense as the source of truth for space identifiers across systems

4. Common source of confusion

Many integrators initially expect to:

• “See sensors” in their platform

• Query occupancy per sensor

This assumption usually comes from experience with other vendors.
XY Sense works differently - and more flexibly - by abstracting sensors away from consumers of the data.

 

In most cases, the answer is yes.