Mendix Workstation under the hood: components, deployment, and what to consider
10/02/2026
In a previous article, we explained what Mendix Workstation is and why your operators might need it. Now let's go deeper. How does it actually work? What are the components? And what should you consider before rolling it out across your plants?
Why the server route doesn't work
If you've built Mendix applications for manufacturing, you've probably run into this limitation: browsers cannot make raw TCP/IP connections. It's a security restriction and it means your web application can't directly communicate with a scale, printer, or any other device on the local network.
The traditional workaround is to route everything through the server. The Mendix server opens TCP/IP connections to the devices, receives the data, and pushes it to the browser via Websockets.
But that doesn't scale. Each workstation you add, adds extra load to the server. A typical industrial scale emits 20 to 50 readings per second. If your server is in Frankfurt and your operator is in Dublin, you're adding latency to every reading, while the server processes thousands of data points it doesn't need. It only cares about the final confirmed weight.
And then there's security. Manufacturing networks don't like outbound connections from shop floor devices to cloud infrastructure.
Mendix Workstation solves this with a local bridge: device communication stays on the operator's PC, the server only receives what it needs.
The three components of Mendix Workstation
Mendix Workstation consists of three parts that work together:
Workstation Client The bridge application that runs on the operator's PC. It connects to local devices via TCP/IP, serial, or other protocols on one side, and exposes a Websocket server on the other side that the browser can talk to.
The client runs as a Windows service and is designed to be robust, you can't easily kill it from the system tray. Versions are available for Windows, Linux ARM64 (including Raspberry Pi), and there's a portable version for setups without admin rights.
One important detail: the Websocket connection runs on localhost. The browser must be on the same machine where the Workstation Client is installed.
Workstation Connector A Mendix Marketplace module you add to your application. It provides nanoflow actions to communicate with the local client. Everything runs client-side through Websockets; the Mendix server isn't involved in the device communication at all.
Workstation Management A central portal where you register workstations and configure their devices. You install the client on a PC, copy the station ID, register it in Workstation Management, and add devices with their connection details. That configuration gets pushed down to the local client automatically.
Accessible via the Mendix platform, or deployable privately if your network doesn't allow outbound connections to Mendix cloud.
Configuring Mendix Workstation: stations and devices
The Workstation Management portal handles governance. You create a workspace, register your stations (the operator PCs), and register your Mendix apps that will use the workstation functionality.
For each station, you add devices. The portal asks what type, TCP/IP client, serial, smartcard reader, and you configure the specifics. For a scale, that's IP address and port. For serial connections, you configure message delimiters, character encoding, and buffer sizes.
Once configured, the local client picks up the settings automatically.
What Mendix Workstation supports
The Workstation Client supports:
- TCP/IP for network-connected devices (scales, printers, PLCs)
- Serial port (COM/RS232) for older equipment
- PC/SC for smartcard readers — useful for operator identification or supervisor authorization
- Bluetooth LE
- File system access
For common industrial devices, Mendix provides protocol implementations out of the box. The sample app includes complete integrations for Mettler Toledo scales (MT-SICS protocol) and Zebra label printers (ZPL), including a template editor with live preview.
We tested the Zebra integration, it works out of the box.
The sample app and emulators
The Marketplace includes a sample app worth exploring before you start building. It contains step-by-step instructions, working implementations of all supported protocols, and emulators that simulate scales, printers, and other devices.
The emulators are particularly useful. You can test the entire flow, reading weights, confirming values, printing labels, without physical hardware.
Mendix Workstation: network and security considerations
A few things to evaluate:
Outbound connections. The Workstation Client connects to Mendix cloud for registration and configuration sync. In restricted OT networks, you'll need to whitelist this connection or deploy Workstation Management privately.
Local network access. The client needs to reach the devices it connects to. Verify that operator PCs can actually reach the shop floor network segment.
No inbound connections required. The architecture doesn't require opening up access from outside to your devices. All device communication stays local; only the management sync goes outbound
Getting started with Mendix Workstation
Everything is available on the Mendix Marketplace (Requires Studio Pro 9.24.11 or higher) :
Workstation Client - Windows Installer for all users
Workstation Client Portable - For Windows User without administrator right
Workstation Client Linux ARM64 - Debian package for Linux ARM64 (e.g. Raspberry PI)
For Mendix Studio Pro
Sample app (basic tutorial)
What's next
After testing Mendix Workstation ourselves, a few things stood out: the Zebra and Mettler Toledo integrations save significant development time. The architecture is solid. But plan for the rollout: 100 stations means 100 installations.
Want to assess whether Mendix Workstation fits your architecture? We've been testing it hands-on and can help you evaluate the practical implications.