Make a Skill reusable

A Skill that flies to one fixed spot is only useful for that spot. Give it inputs instead, and the same Skill flies wherever the alarm, the schedule or the person starting it says.

Add inputs

1. Open the inputs

   Open the Skill under Build›Skills and select Inputs in the header.

2. Add a field for each value that changes

   Select Add field and give each a name, a type and a description. Tick Required when the Skill can't run without it.

   

   Type	For
   number	Coordinates, heights, durations.
   string	Text, for example a name or a serial number.
   boolean	Yes or no.
   object, array	Structured data, usually passed in by another system.

3. Name them like the parameters they fill

   A step picks up an input with the same name as its parameter by itself. Name the fields latitude and longitude, and every step with a latitude and longitude, such as navigation.go_to and gimbal.look_at, takes its position from them. Leave those parameters empty in the steps.

4. Save

   Select Done, then Save. Save it as a new version if the Skill is already in use: see Versions, staging and production.

Where the values come from

Every way of starting the Skill fills its inputs:

Started by	Fills the inputs
You, with the run button	A form asks for each input. Required ones must be filled before Run for real works.
A schedule	The values saved with the schedule, under Parameters.
An event trigger	The event, for example the position where the radar saw something. See the Quickstart.
A webhook	The JSON the other system sends.

If a schedule or trigger no longer passes an input the Skill requires, for example after you added one, it is switched off and marked Needs attention. Edit it and fill in the new input.

Pass a result to the next step

Some steps return something, for example a position or a reading. A later step can use it:

1. Open the later step

   Select the step on the canvas.

2. Switch the parameter to Mapped

   Next to the parameter, switch from Static to Mapped.

3. Pick the value

   Select Pick and choose where the value comes from:

   • This skill's input: one of the inputs you added.
   • An earlier step: what it returned.
   • This execution: the run itself, for example the serial number of the device running it.

To hand results back from a Skill to the Application that uses it, select Outputs in the header and name each value the Skill returns.

Troubleshooting

• A step is marked Incomplete. A required parameter has no value: give it a static value, map it, or add an input with its name.
• Run for real stays disabled. Fill in every required input in the form.
• A schedule shows Needs attention. The Skill now requires an input the schedule doesn't pass. Edit the schedule and fill it in.

Next steps