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name: devices-and-control description: "Configure Mycodo environmental-control workflows using Inputs, Outputs, Functions, Actions, Widgets, Dashboards, PID, Conditional, Trigger, Methods, cameras, energy, and notes." disable-model-invocation: true metadata: disco-role: operating license: GPL 3.0

Mycodo Devices And Control

Use this sub-skill when a task asks how to configure Mycodo environmental control from the web UI: Inputs, Outputs, Functions, Actions, Widgets, Dashboards, measurements, PID, Conditional, Trigger, Methods, camera capture, energy accounting, notes, or hardware/module selection. This skill is self-contained; do not reopen repository docs, examples, or tests to use it at runtime.

What This Sub-skill Owns

• Planning measurement flows from an Input or Function into InfluxDB and then into Widgets, Dashboards, Functions, PID, Conditional, Trigger, energy usage, and notes.
• Choosing and configuring built-in Inputs, Outputs, Functions, Actions, and Widgets from Mycodo's module families.
• PID regulation, PID Autotune, Bang-Bang control, Conditional Python logic, Trigger events, Methods, and setpoint tracking.
• Output actuation choices: on/off duration, PWM duty cycle, volume/pump, value/DAC, MQTT, command, remote Mycodo, startup state, shutdown state, and Trigger at Startup.
• Input choices: sensor/system/weather/MQTT/TTN/command Inputs, measurement units, Period, Pre Output, Power Output power cycling, Input Commands, and Input Actions.
• Dashboard design with Widgets, graphs, camera widgets, PID/output controls, live measurements, energy reports, and timestamped notes.
• Hardware-aware safety triage for GPIO, I2C, UART, SPI, 1-Wire, Bluetooth, cameras, relays, pumps, fans, DACs, ADCs, and optional module dependencies.

Route Out Of This Sub-skill

• Source-level custom Input, Output, Function, Action, or Widget module authoring belongs to custom-modules.
• REST API, local Pyro DaemonControl, mycodo-client, external scripts, or remote automation belongs to api-and-automation.
• Full installation, upgrades, backup/restore operations, Docker, nginx, systemd, InfluxDB service repair, or host service hardening belongs to installation-operations.
• Repository source-code development, database migrations, Flask routes, and upstream test execution are outside this runtime operating skill.

Bundled Files

Read or run these files instead of looking up upstream material:

• references/control-workflows.md — read when designing end-to-end Input → measurement → Output/Function/Action → Dashboard workflows, PID/Conditional/Trigger/Method logic, or measurement Max Age assumptions.
• references/hardware-and-control-recipes.md — read when selecting hardware patterns for chambers, fans, relays, pumps, pH/EC dosing, TTN/MQTT, cameras, energy usage, or safe dry-run procedures.
• references/device-catalog.md — read when choosing among built-in module families, interfaces, output types, Actions, and Widgets without source lookup.
• references/troubleshooting.md — read when an Input has no data, an Output will not actuate, PWM behaves oddly, PID does not control, Conditional code errors, Trigger timers miss, widgets show stale data, camera/energy/notes fail, or optional dependencies/hardware are absent.
• scripts/summarize_supported_modules.py — run only when the user has a Mycodo checkout and wants a static, no-import catalog summary from source metadata. Use --help first.

Start Here: Control Planning Loop

1. Name the goal and risk: what condition changes, which device can change it, and what can be damaged by wrong state, frequency, duration, volume, or credentials?
2. Choose the measurement: add and activate the Input or Function that writes the needed measurement to InfluxDB; set units, Period, and Max Age assumptions before adding control logic.
3. Choose the actuator: add an Output with the correct type (on_off, pwm, volume, or value), interface, channel, startup state, shutdown state, and energy-current metadata.
4. Pick the controller: PID for proportional feedback, Bang-Bang for simple hysteresis, Conditional for custom Python decisions, Trigger for events or timers, and Method/Setpoint Tracking when the target should change over time.
5. Attach Actions: connect Input Actions, Conditional Actions, or Trigger Actions to Outputs, PID controls, MQTT, e-mail/photo, notes, logs, or controller activation.
6. Observe first: create Live Measurements, Dashboard Widgets, graphs, and notes before leaving control unattended.
7. Bound mutation: require explicit confirmation before changing Outputs, PID activation, system restart/shutdown, command Outputs, credentials, network endpoints, or any live wiring.

Minimal Web UI Workflows

Add An Input Measurement

1. Navigate to Setup -> Input.
2. Add the Input family matching the sensor/system source.
3. Set interface/location fields such as GPIO BCM pin, I2C address and bus, UART device, FTDI device, 1-Wire serial, Bluetooth adapter, IP/HTTP/MQTT, or TTN credentials as required by the module.
4. Set Period (seconds) and measurement unit/channel options.
5. If a sample requires a purge fan, pump, or valve, configure Pre Output, Pre Output Duration, and whether it stays on during measurement.
6. If the sensor can recover from power cycling, configure Power Output and verify the physical circuit can safely switch sensor power.
7. Save, activate, then confirm Live Measurements and graph data before adding control logic.

Add An Output Actuator

1. Navigate to Setup -> Output.
2. Choose output type by physical action: On/Off relay, PWM, volume/pump, value output, MQTT, command, remote Mycodo, motor, DAC, or expander board.
3. Configure channel options, On State, command strings, duty cycle, flow rate, value range, or protocol as appropriate.
4. Set Startup State and Shutdown State; use Do Nothing only when the device has an independent safe state.
5. Set Current Draw (amps) when energy duration accounting matters.
6. Test with short, supervised Seconds to turn On, duty cycle, volume, or value commands before connecting loads that can heat, flood, dose, or move.

Add A Function Controller

• Use PID for feedback that should approach and maintain a setpoint with proportional/integral/derivative terms. Set Max Age so stale measurements do not actuate Outputs.
• Use PID Autotune only as experimental guidance after a supervised dry run; watch the daemon log and graph output during perturbation.
• Use Bang-Bang when a simple hysteresis band is sufficient.
• Use Conditional when Python logic must combine measurements, Output state, controller state, actions, and custom status text.
• Use Trigger for Output/PWM state events, edge events, timers, sunrise or sunset, and Run PWM Method schedules.
• Use Methods for PID setpoint tracking or time-varying PWM duty cycle.

Safety Checklist Before Activation

• Confirm target controller IDs, channel numbers, units, setpoints, and Max Age values from the live web UI.
• Confirm the Output can physically affect the selected measurement and that the effect direction (Raise, Lower, or Both) is correct.
• Confirm Min Off Duration, Min/Max On Duration, duty cycle limits, volume limits, or DAC value limits for devices that can be damaged by rapid cycling.
• Confirm command Outputs and Python code cannot leak secrets, erase files, restart services, or run untrusted input.
• Confirm MQTT/TTN/API credentials are scoped and not copied into logs or notes.
• Stop and ask the user before mutating GPIO/I2C/UART/1-Wire/Bluetooth/camera, system services, nginx, InfluxDB, Docker, backup/restore, or installer state.

Script Usage

Static source catalog summary from a checkout:

python scripts/summarize_supported_modules.py --repo-root /path/to/Mycodo --family all --limit 20

JSON for integration notes:

python scripts/summarize_supported_modules.py --repo-root /path/to/Mycodo --json --show-modules

The helper only parses Python source text with ast; it does not import Mycodo, load optional dependencies, contact hardware, use credentials, or run daemon operations.

Verification Limits

This sub-skill was produced from CPU/source inspection and documentation inspection only. Raspberry Pi GPIO/I2C/UART/1-Wire/Bluetooth/camera behavior, systemd/nginx/InfluxDB services, Docker deployment, backup/restore operations, and full installer execution were not run. Treat hardware and service claims as configuration guidance that must be verified on the user's live system before unsafe mutation.