Published on October 02, 2025 by Claudio Cabete
In this two-part guide, we’ll show you how to set up a Raspberry Pi to log Tesla vehicle data using the Tesla Fleet API, with a focus on leveraging AI assistance from Grok, created by xAI. Part 1 covers setting up the environment—domain, Nginx, FastAPI, SSL certificates, and a Tesla Developer profile—by asking Grok the right questions to streamline the process. Part 2 will dive into the data logging script itself. Let’s get started!
Grok, created by xAI, is an AI designed to provide clear, accurate answers to technical questions, making it ideal for guiding you through complex setups. By asking targeted questions, you can get precise commands and configurations, saving time and reducing errors.
The Tesla Fleet API requires a publicly accessible domain for OAuth callbacks. Grok can help you choose and configure a domain.
yourdomain.com, ~$10-15/year). Configure an A record to point to your Pi’s public IP (curl ifconfig.me). For dynamic IPs, use a service like No-IP.Action: Buy a domain (e.g., yourdomain.com) and set the A record to your Pi’s IP.
Troubleshooting with Grok:
Nginx will act as a reverse proxy for your FastAPI application. Use Grok to get the exact setup commands.
Grok’s Response:
bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/yourdomain.com
Add:
```nginx
server {
listen 80;
server_name yourdomain.com;
location / {
proxy_pass http://localhost:8000;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
}
}
Then:bash
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/yourdomain.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx
```
Follow Grok’s Instructions:
http://yourdomain.com. If it fails, ask Grok: "Why isn’t my Nginx server responding on yourdomain.com?"FastAPI handles the Tesla OAuth callback, saving the authorization code to a file. Grok can provide the code and setup steps.
Grok’s Response:
bash
sudo apt install python3 python3-venv python3-pip
mkdir ~/homatica_server
cd ~/homatica_server
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install fastapi uvicorn
nano main.py
Add:
```python
from fastapi import FastAPI, Request
import os
app = FastAPI()
@app.get("/tesla/login") async def tesla_login(): return {"message": "Open this URL in your browser to authorize: https://auth.tesla.com/oauth2/v3/authorize?response_type=code&client_id=your_client_id&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fyourdomain.com%2Fauth%2Fcallback&scope=openid+email+offline_access+vehicle_device_data+vehicle_cmds+vehicle_charging_cmds+vehicle_location&state=homatica_state"}
@app.get("/auth/callback")
async def auth_callback(code: str):
with open("/home/pi/homatica_py_scripts/tesla_auth_code.txt", "w") as f:
f.write(code)
return {"message": "Authorization code saved"}
Run:bash
uvicorn main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000
```
Run as a Service:
Grok’s Response:
bash
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/homatica.service
Add:
```ini
[Unit]
Description=Homatica FastAPI Service
After=network.target
[Service] User=pi WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/homatica_server ExecStart=/home/pi/homatica_server/venv/bin/uvicorn main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000 Restart=always
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
Then:bash
sudo systemctl enable homatica.service
sudo systemctl start homatica.service
```
Secure your domain with HTTPS using Let’s Encrypt, guided by Grok.
Grok’s Response:
bash
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com
Follow the prompts to configure HTTPS.
Verify:
https://yourdomain.com/tesla/login. If it fails, ask Grok: "Why isn’t my HTTPS site working with Certbot?"Grok can guide you through creating a Tesla Developer profile and configuring API credentials.
Grok’s Response:
https://yourdomain.com/auth/callbackopenid, email, offline_access, vehicle_device_data, vehicle_cmds, vehicle_charging_cmds, vehicle_locationGenerate ECDSA Key:
Grok’s Response:
bash
mkdir -p ~/homatica_py_scripts
openssl ecparam -name prime256v1 -genkey -noout -out ~/homatica_py_scripts/tesla-private-key.pem
Create Config File:
bash
nano ~/homatica_py_scripts/config.yaml
Add:
yaml
tesla_client:
client_id: "your_client_id"
client_secret: "your_client_secret"
client_email: "your_email@example.com"
mqtt:
broker: "your_mqtt_broker"
port: 1883
username: "your_mqtt_username"
password: "your_mqtt_password"With your environment ready, Part 2 will cover the Tesla data logging script, which Grok helped develop. Stay tuned for how to implement and customize it!
Special thanks to Grok, created by xAI, for providing the guidance and code snippets used in this setup.