signalk-autopilot-head

A modern, device-agnostic autopilot control head webapp for any Signal K v2 autopilot. Layout and interaction are modelled on the Garmin GHC 20 helm control; the data path is the standard Signal K v2 Autopilot API, so it works with any provider (Garmin Reactor, Raymarine, pypilot, …) — no dependency on any specific autopilot plugin.

Status: Phase 1 — discovery + live read-only display. Command wiring (engage/standby, mode, target adjust, tack/gybe, dodge) lands in Phase 2.

What it does (Phase 1)

• Discovers the server's autopilot device(s) via GET /signalk/v2/api/vessels/self/autopilots.
• Renders state / mode / engaged / target plus live vessel heading, rudderAngle, apparent wind, COG and STW over the Signal K delta WebSocket.
• Builds the mode and action buttons from what the provider advertises (options.modes, data.actions[].available) — so the head only ever shows what that device supports. Buttons are present but disabled until Phase 2.

Design

• Standalone Signal K webapp. A public/ folder the server auto-mounts; appears in Webapps.
• No build step, no framework, no dependencies. Vanilla JS + SVG. Runs offline on a Pi.
• Generic by construction. Nothing is hardcoded to a specific provider; the UI is driven by the v2 API's advertised options/actions. Proprietary v1 extras (e.g. Garmin steering patterns) are intentionally out of the generic core.

Requirements

• Signal K server ≥ 2.x with the Autopilot API and at least one registered v2 autopilot provider.
• A modern browser. Uses the shared server cookie session (credentials: include); if not logged in it hands off to the Admin UI login and returns.

Install

cd ~/.signalk/node_modules
npm install signalk-autopilot-head
# or, for development, symlink a checkout:
#   git clone https://github.com/ryansabin/signalk-autopilot-head
#   ln -s "$(pwd)/signalk-autopilot-head" ~/.signalk/node_modules/signalk-autopilot-head

Restart the server; open Pilot from the Webapps list.

Development workflow

Develop locally → push to GitHub → pull on the boat's Pi → run tests:

# on the dev machine
git add -A && git commit -m "..." && git push

# on the Pi (Signal K host)
cd ~/dev/signalk-autopilot-head && git pull && npm test

Tests

npm test        # node --test — validates manifest, webapp packaging, HTML wiring, JS syntax

License

Apache-2.0.