# Manually bridging MQTT to Adafruit.IO ## Overview ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/034/876/medium800/weather_lightsensorscreengrab001.png?1471514281) I'm going to start this off by admitting something up front. I didn't build this the right way. Well, let's mellow that a little and say I didn't build this in the most optimal way. Sometimes you already have some infrastructure in place beyond simple networking and when you tinker with new sensors you just use the infrastructure you already have. Then later, when you want to extend your project from tinkering to the cloud, you have to jump through some hoops to make it work. If you want to skip what I actually did and just read about how I _should_ have done it, just click on "The Right Way to Have Built This!" on the left side navigation bar. So, on with the project! I bought one of the then-new Adafruit GA1A12S202 log-scale light sensors to tinker with (it's been around for a while now). At the time, I was teaching myself Lua so I could program the ESP8266 using NodeMCU. What a perfect project, I thought! I'll use the Feather Huzzah 8266 and the light sensor to record the light levels. At this point, I wasn't thinking about Adafruit.IO, I was just thinking of grabbing some light level data. Skip forward to this morning when I woke up at 1:05 AM and couldn't get back to sleep. "I should hook that sensor platform up to Adafruit.IO," thought I. And I got to work. This tutorial talks about how I did what I did. Oh, and yes, it does work. - [Next Page](https://learn.adafruit.com/manually-bridging-mqtt-mosquitto-to-adafruit-io/architecture.md) ## Featured Products ### Raspberry Pi 3 - Model B - ARMv8 with 1G RAM [Raspberry Pi 3 - Model B - ARMv8 with 1G RAM](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3055) Did you really think the Raspberry Pi would stop getting better? At this point, we sound like a broken record, extolling on the new Pi’s myriad improvements like we’re surprised that the folks at the Raspberry Pi Foundation are continuously making their flagship board better. ... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3055) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/3055/guides) ### Adafruit Feather HUZZAH with ESP8266 - Loose Headers [Adafruit Feather HUZZAH with ESP8266 - Loose Headers](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2821) Feather is the new development board from Adafruit, and like its namesake, it is thin, light, and lets you fly! We designed Feather to be a new standard for portable microcontroller cores. This is the  **Adafruit Feather HUZZAH ESP8266**  - our take on an... 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In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/354) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/354/guides) ### GA1A12S202 Log-scale Analog Light Sensor [GA1A12S202 Log-scale Analog Light Sensor](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1384) Discontinued - **you can grab** [Adafruit VEML7700 Lux Sensor - I2C Light Sensor](https://www.adafruit.com/product/4162) or [Adafruit ALS-PT19 Analog Light Sensor Breakout](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2748) **...** No Longer Stocked [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1384) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/1384/guides) ### Stacking Headers for Feather - 12-pin and 16-pin female headers [Stacking Headers for Feather - 12-pin and 16-pin female headers](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2830) These two **Female Stacking Headers** alone are, well, lonely. But pair them with any of our [Feather](https://www.adafruit.com/categories/777) boards and you're in business! What do they do? They stack. Put the headers through your Feather and then you can... Out of Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2830) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/2830/guides) ### 5V 2.5A Switching Power Supply with 20AWG MicroUSB Cable [5V 2.5A Switching Power Supply with 20AWG MicroUSB Cable](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1995) Our all-in-one 5V 2.5 Amp + MicroUSB cable power adapter is the perfect choice for powering single-board computers like Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, or anything else that's power-hungry! This adapter was specifically designed to provide 5.25V, not 5V, but we still call it a 5V USB... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1995) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/1995/guides) ## Related Guides - [Adafruit Feather HUZZAH ESP8266](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-feather-huzzah-esp8266.md) - [Adafruit IO Basics: Temperature & Humidity](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-io-basics-temperature-and-humidity.md) - [CheerLights](https://learn.adafruit.com/cheerlights.md) - [Mini Smart Home with Huzzah, HASSio and Crickit](https://learn.adafruit.com/mini-smart-home-with-esp8266-huzzah-feather-raspberry-pi-hassio-crickit.md) - [Easy Alexa (Echo) Control of your ESP8266 Huzzah](https://learn.adafruit.com/easy-alexa-or-echo-control-of-your-esp8266-huzzah.md) - [CircuitPython Hardware: LED Backpacks & FeatherWings](https://learn.adafruit.com/micropython-hardware-led-backpacks-and-featherwings.md) - [MicroPython Basics: What is MicroPython?](https://learn.adafruit.com/micropython-basics-what-is-micropython.md) - [MicroPython Hardware: Analog I/O](https://learn.adafruit.com/micropython-hardware-analog-i-o.md) - [Fair Weather Friend: Internet-Connected Migraine or Allergies Detector](https://learn.adafruit.com/fair-weather-friend-internet-connected-health-and-leisure-forecaster.md) - [MicroPython Basics: Blink a LED](https://learn.adafruit.com/micropython-basics-blink-a-led.md) - [MicroPython Smart Holiday Lights](https://learn.adafruit.com/micropython-smart-holiday-lights.md) - [3D Printed IoT On Air Sign for Twitch](https://learn.adafruit.com/3d-printed-iot-on-air-sign-for-twitch.md) - [Building CircuitPython](https://learn.adafruit.com/building-circuitpython.md) - [Adafruit IO Environmental Monitor for Feather or Raspberry Pi](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-io-air-quality-monitor.md) - [Adafruit IO Time Tracking Cube](https://learn.adafruit.com/time-tracking-cube.md) - [CircuitPython Hardware: MPR121 Capacitive Touch Breakout](https://learn.adafruit.com/circuitpython-hardware-mpr121-capacitive-touch-breakout.md)