Edge SDK (Python) — Edge Adapter API Reference

Exhaustive method reference for EdgeAdapter. For a narrative introduction and worked examples, see the Edge Adapter guide. For Java, see edge-sdk-adapter.md.

Every method takes a RequestContext (ctx) as its first non-self argument and returns EdgeResponse, except get_detections (an async-generator, server-streaming) and send_custom_command (returns CustomCommandResponse). Methods you don't override return EdgeResponse.not_supported(...) / NotImplementedError and are reported unavailable in get_capabilities.

RequestContext

@dataclass
class RequestContext:
    tid: str        # transaction id (correlate response/progress to request)
    sn: str          # asset serial number
    timestamp: datetime

Exactly these three fields — no metadata field exists on RequestContext. Always pass ctx.tid and ctx.sn back into your EdgeResponse to keep the platform's correlation working.

EdgeResponse

EdgeResponse.ok(tid, sn, message="Takeoff initiated")
EdgeResponse.fail(tid, sn, ErrorMessage(message="Hardware fault", code=ErrorCode.ASSET_ERROR))
EdgeResponse.not_supported(tid, sn)            # default for un-overridden methods
EdgeResponse.ok(tid, sn, progress=CommandProgress(progress=42.0, state="climbing", left_time_seconds=30.0))

ok(...) also accepts external_execution_id (keyword-only) — set it when the command you just accepted keeps running asynchronously, so a later notification (or a StopTask) can be correlated back to it. See Live Data — Notifications.

Capability/Capabilities field reference: Models Reference — Capabilities.

Capability management (required)

Method	Returns	Notes
`get_capabilities(sn, asset_id)`	`Capabilities`	The only abstract method
`_auto_capabilities(sn, asset_type)`	`Capabilities`	Helper — introspects which methods you've overridden; use this instead of building the list by hand

Flight control

Method	Notes
`take_off(ctx, coordinates: Coordinates)`	Launch the asset
`go_to(ctx, coordinates: Coordinates)`	Fly to a target
`return_to_home(ctx, request: ReturnToHomeRequest)`	Trigger RTH

Manual control

Method	Notes
`enter_manual_control(ctx, request: ManualControlRequest)`	Begin a manual session for a client
`exit_manual_control(ctx, request: ManualControlRequest)`	Tear it down
`manual_control_input(ctx, inputs: AsyncIterator[ManualControlInput])`	Client-streaming — iterate `inputs` with `async for`

Camera and gimbal

Method	Notes
`look_at(ctx, coordinates: Coordinates, payload_index: str \| None, locked: bool \| None)`	Aim camera/gimbal at a point
`take_photo(ctx)`	Trigger a single photo capture
`capture_photo(ctx)`	Capture a photo and save it to storage — a distinct method from `take_photo`, both real
`change_lens(ctx, request: ChangeCameraLensRequest)`	Switch active lens
`change_zoom(ctx, request: ChangeCameraZoomRequest)`	Set zoom factor
`enable_gimbal_tracking(ctx, enabled: bool)`	Enable/disable gimbal auto-tracking

Live streaming and recording

Method	Notes
`start_live_stream(ctx, request: LiveStreamStartRequest)`	Start a video live stream
`stop_live_stream(ctx, request: LiveStreamStopRequest)`	Stop the stream identified by `request.video_id`
`start_recording(ctx)`	Start video recording (separate from live streaming)
`stop_recording(ctx)`	Stop video recording

Detection (server-streaming)

Method	Notes
`get_detections(ctx, stream_url: str \| None) -> AsyncIterator[DetectionResponse]`	The one real async-generator method on `EdgeAdapter` — implement it as `async def ... : yield DetectionResponse(...)`, not as a coroutine returning a value

Dock and asset operations

Method	Notes
`open_cover(ctx)`	Open dock cover
`close_cover(ctx, force: bool \| None)`	Close dock cover; `force` is a required positional parameter, not keyword-only and has no default
`start_charging(ctx)`	Start charging the drone in the dock
`stop_charging(ctx)`	Stop charging
`reboot_asset(ctx)`	Reboot the main asset (dock)
`boot_up_sub_asset(ctx)`	Power on the sub-asset (drone) — two separate methods, not one `boot_sub_asset(value: bool)`
`boot_down_sub_asset(ctx)`	Power off the sub-asset
`register_asset(ctx, asset: Asset)`	Not the same as `ConnectorClient.register_asset`. This is the platform notifying your adapter that registration already happened — see Connector reference for the outbound call
`deregister_asset(ctx)`	Same distinction — notifies the adapter the asset was removed from the platform

Debug and maintenance

Method	Notes
`enter_or_close_remote_debug_mode(ctx, enabled: bool)`	One toggle method, unlike the Java SDK's two separate `enterRemoteDebugMode`/`closeRemoteDebugMode`
`change_ac_mode(ctx, mode: AssetAirConditionerState)`	Change dock air-conditioner mode

Tasks

Method	Notes
`prepare_task(ctx, task_id: str)`	Receives a bare `task_id` string, not a `Task` object
`start_task(ctx, task_id: str)`	Same — bare `task_id` string
`stop_task(ctx, task_id: str)`	Bare `task_id` string

No confirmed real Python adapter resolves task_id through ConnectorClient.get_task — see Connector reference — Missions and tasks and Mission Autonomy — Best practices for what SAPIENT and MAVLink actually do with these.

Custom commands

Method	Returns	Notes
`send_custom_command(ctx, request: CustomCommandRequest)`	`CustomCommandResponse`	Handles a command identified by `request.command_type`, with parameters in `request.params: dict`. This is the path MAVLink and the simulator use for waypoint missions instead of the Task methods above

Capability-name mapping quirks

_auto_capabilities maps each overridable method name to a capability's command string via an internal table. Two things worth knowing if you're cross-referencing against the Java SDK or the platform's command IDs:

enter_or_close_remote_debug_mode maps to a single EnterOrCloseRemoteDebugMode capability — there's no separate enter/close command pair the way the Java EdgeAdapterService has.
The internal map also carries a take_photo → TakePhoto entry that is unrelated to (and independent of) the real, distinct capture_photo → CapturePhoto entry — both are real, separately-overridable methods; neither is a typo of the other.