How we count

We separate our numbers into two kinds, and label which is which: verified means a third party controls it and you can check it yourself; self-reported means we measure it, and we tell you precisely how.

Verified verified — numbers we don't control

These come from platforms we don't own, so we can't inflate them. They're the anchor for everything else.

• GitHub release downloads — the sum of download_count across every release asset. The homepage figure is this total. Verify it yourself, two ways (both bypass us):
  • An independent render by shields.io (which we don't control) — this badge queries GitHub live: — it should match the number on our homepage.
  • The raw source: GET /repos/vyomi-cloud/appliance/releases — each asset's download_count is right there in the JSON; sum them and you get our figure.
  (GitHub's own Releases web page only shows per-asset counts when you expand each release — it never shows the aggregate, which is why we point you at the badge and the API instead.)
• GitHub stars — from the same public API (and visible on the repo page).
• Docker Hub pulls — the public pull count, minus a conservative owner/CI offset (default 250) so it reflects external pulls, not our own release pipeline. Cross-check on the Docker Hub page.

Self-reported install funnel self-reported

On first boot each appliance sends one anonymous record — no IP, no PII. We measure it as follows:

Deduplicated per install

Each appliance has a stable, SHA-256-derived install_id (24 hex chars, no PII). It is the primary key of the record, so re-registrations on every boot update the same row — we count installs, never boots.

Internal / dev installs excluded

Our own development, CI, and demo installs are suppressed from the public counts (configured allow-list, VYOMI_INTERNAL_INSTALL_IDS) — the same principle as the Docker owner-offset above. The suppressed count is exposed as excluded_internal so the number stays auditable.

The funnel

• Downloaded → fired by the package-manager post-install step.
• Installed → the simulator container is healthy (appliance boot hook).
• Activated → a license was applied (paste-key or device flow).
• Active (30 days) → installs whose last check-in was within 30 days — a live, churn-honest number, not cumulative-forever.

Countries & the globe

Country is a two-letter code from Cloudflare's edge (CF-IPCountry), or the appliance's own country hint when it isn't behind Cloudflare. We never read or store the source IP — only the country string. Unknown countries (??) are excluded from the map so it doesn't render a false dot at (0,0).

Audit it yourself

The aggregate is a public, unauthenticated endpoint — inspect the raw numbers any time:

• /api/stats/installs — the install funnel, countries, the verified anchor block, and excluded_internal.
• GitHub Releases — cross-check every download number.

If a number can't be backed by one of the sources above, we don't show it.