Kitchen Display Overview
Route orders to kitchen screens in real time, track ticket progress on the line, and audit fulfillment history from the dashboard.
The Kitchen Display System (KDS) is GreenSails' cook-line workflow: when a POS order is saved, eligible items become kitchen tickets that appear on dedicated screens, advance through prep statuses, and leave a full audit trail in the dashboard.
Unlike a printed chit that disappears when it leaves the printer, KDS tickets stay visible until the line bumps them complete, and managers can review every status change afterward.
KDS requires a Kitchen Display service account with the kitchen display
module enabled plus kds:view and kds:manage permissions. Configuration
lives under Settings → KDS Stations and Catalog → Items.
Core Concepts
Kitchen ticket
A routed slice of an order: one ticket per station group (Grill, Bar, or the default Kitchen board).
KDS station
A named prep line at a location (e.g. Grill, Cold). Used to filter what each screen shows. Not to assign categories.
Send to kitchen display
An item- or category-level toggle that decides whether an ordered item generates a kitchen ticket.
Bump workflow
New → In progress → Ready → Complete. Each step is a deliberate tap so the line controls pacing.
How Orders Become Tickets
Mark catalog items for the kitchen
In the dashboard, toggle Send to kitchen display on items or whole categories. An item gets a ticket when either its item toggle or its category toggle is on. See KDS Routing.
Save the order on POS
When a cashier saves an order, the cloud creates kitchen tickets for every eligible line item. Tickets inherit modifiers and the order label customers and staff see on the line.
Route to stations
Items with a station override go to that station's board. Everything else lands on the default Kitchen board (unrouted tickets).
Fulfill on the KDS app
Kitchen screens show active tickets in real time. Cooks start tickets, mark individual items done, and bump tickets through to complete. See The Ticket Board.
Audit in the dashboard
Every ticket event, status changes, item done/undone, is stored. Managers browse history under Sell → Kitchen tickets. See Ticket History.
Order Labels on the Line
Kitchen tickets show a human-readable order label so the line can match food to the counter:
| Priority | Example | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Custom label | Table 4 | Cashier entered a name at POS save |
| Daily number | #12 | Automatic sequential number per location, resets at local midnight |
| Fallback | #a3f2b1 | Last six characters of the order ID (legacy / edge cases) |
Daily order numbers are automatic, there is no setting to configure. They appear on KDS tickets, kitchen history, order detail, and receipts. See Order Numbers.
Real-Time Sync
The KDS app maintains a live connection to GreenSails cloud and updates the board when new tickets arrive or existing tickets change. When the connection drops, the board refreshes automatically every 15 seconds and shows a Polling badge instead of Live.