Written by KuusoftAI

KuusoftAI is AI and can make mistakes. This document is pending review by a Real Human. Please use caution when reading this article.

Introduction

Square is now a supported POS provider for the NexSigns Smart Menu Editor. The SquarePOS integration lets Square sellers pull item data directly from their Square catalog, so digital menu boards stay in sync with the items, prices, and availability that are already maintained in the Square Dashboard. This article will cover how to connect Square to NexSigns and how to use that data in the Smart Menu Editor.

SquarePOS is a newly released data source. If the SquarePOS option does not appear in your Data Streams "Add" dialog yet, contact Kuusoft support.

Prerequisites

Get your Square Access Token

Unlike GeniusPOS, the Square integration connects to your own Square account, so you supply your own access token:

Sign in to the Square Developer dashboard with your Square account.
Create an application (any name, for example "NexSigns Menu Boards"). This does not change anything in your Square account.
Open the application and copy the Production Access Token.

Treat the access token like a password. It grants access to your Square account data. Only paste it into the Data Stream connection settings in OnePass. Kuusoft staff will never ask you to send your token by email or chat. You can revoke and re-issue the token at any time from the Square Developer dashboard; if you re-issue it, update your Data Stream connection settings with the new value.

Find your Location ID

Every Square account has one or more locations (stores). Each Data Stream serves exactly one location, so you need the Location ID of the store the screen belongs to:

In the Square Developer dashboard, open your application and select Locations to see each location's name and ID, or
Ask your Kuusoft representative for help identifying the Location ID for each store.

Setup Data Stream

Create a new Data Stream with the information you have gathered above. For more information on how to set up a Data Stream, see the article Data Streams Setup.

{
    "DataSource": "SquarePOS",
    "Version": "1.0",
    "AccessToken": "<Replace Square Access Token>",
    "LocationID": "<Replace Square Location ID>",
    "UseSandbox": false
}

You will need to replace the following.

<Replace Square Access Token> → Replace with the access token from your Square Developer dashboard.
<Replace Square Location ID> → Replace with the Location ID of the specific store this screen belongs to.

UseSandbox should be left as false. It only exists for testing against a Square developer sandbox account; sandbox and production tokens are separate, and a token used with the wrong setting will be rejected.

When you save connection settings with a real token and Location ID, OnePass verifies them against Square immediately. If the token is invalid or the Location ID does not belong to the account, the save is rejected with a message telling you which value to check — you do not have to wait for a refresh cycle to find out.

Franchise / Multi-location Setup

If your stores are locations under the same Square account, the AccessToken is the same for every store. The only value that changes per store is the LocationID.

Because Square keeps the item catalog at the account level, an item has the same identity at every location, while each location carries its own price overrides and sold-out status. A single menu board design can therefore be shared across all your locations — each screen simply resolves the prices and availability of its own store. See Smart Menu Editor Linking (SME Linking) for how to centralize one design across many licenses.

How SquarePOS updates work

Data appears right after the first refresh. When you create the Data Stream with valid values, the catalog is pulled immediately. If the card shows no data, press the refresh button on the Data Stream card.
The catalog is checked automatically every hour. Price changes, new items, sold-out changes, and menu re-arrangements made in Square appear on your boards within the hour. Use the refresh button on the Data Stream card when you need a change to show up immediately.
Screens only republish when something actually changed. The hourly check compares the catalog against the copy already held; if nothing a menu board can display has changed, nothing is re-sent to your screens.
Only items available at the configured location are included. Items that are archived in Square, or not enabled for the store's location, do not appear in the item picker.

Using SquarePOS data in Smart Menu Editor

You must first get familiar with how to control the basics of using Smart Menu Editor. For more information, refer to this article: Using the Digital Menu Board Editor (SME - Smart Menu Editor).

Once you are familiar with Smart Menu Editor, you can replace any fields in the Smart Menu Editor with dynamic data linking. For more information, refer to this article: Dynamic Data Linking (Data Stream Linking).

Square Menus are supported. If you organize items with Square's Menus feature (Square for Restaurants), the item picker is grouped by your menu structure — for example Lunch Menu > Drinks. If you do not use Menus, items are grouped by their regular Square categories instead. Items without a category appear under Uncategorized.

SquarePOS Data Stream Configuration Detail

The connection utility for SquarePOS consists of several fields. Here is a summary of what each field represents.

Field Name	Explanation

Field Name	Explanation
SquarePOS Basic Filter	Shown for reference only. SquarePOS locates your items by Item ID directly, so this path is recorded with the link but is not used to find your data. You do not need to change it.
Item Filter	Select the item you would like to use to retrieve the data. Items are listed by name and grouped by your Square menus or categories, and are matched by their Item ID.
Data Field	This is a list of data fields that are available for the item: Name, Variation Name, Description, Price, Calories, Inventory Status, Image URL, and Item ID.
Variation	The Variation field appears automatically when the selected item is sold in more than one variation (for example Small / Medium / Large). A drop-down will appear for you to choose which variation the linked value should use. Items with a single standard variation do not show this field.

Notes on specific Data Fields

Data Field	Notes

Data Field	Notes
Price	The price comes from the variation you pick in Variation; if you do not choose one, the item's first-listed variation is used. Store-specific price overrides set in Square are applied automatically for the configured location. Items priced "at time of sale" in Square (open price) show a blank — type the price into the design instead.
Variation Name	Returns the display name of the chosen variation, for example `Large`. Useful for building size columns next to prices.
Inventory Status	Returns 1 when the item is available, and 0 when the item or variation is marked sold out for this location in Square. Square's "sold out until" timers are honoured — when the timer lapses, the item is treated as available again. No extra configuration is required — unlike ToastPOS, there is no `UseInventory` setting to enable.
Calories	Returns the calorie count for items that carry calorie information in Square (available on Square for Restaurants items). Items without calorie information show a blank.
Image URL	Returns the address of the item image held in Square. Use this with an image field rather than a text field.

If a linked field cannot be resolved, an error code is displayed on screen instead of the value. See Error Code Lookup - Smart Menu Editor for what each code means.

Smart Menu Editor x SquarePOS Integration