Alpha

Under active development. Breaking changes expected. APIs, installers, and UI may shift between releases.

API AND SDKAvailable

Build on the agent.

A REST control surface for integration, a raw MAVLink WebSocket relay for real-time flight data, MQTT topics for the cloud relay, and a Python SDK for plugins and drivers. Everything you need to build on top of the drone.

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Available

Usable today. Early access — some pieces run behind a feature flag and APIs may shift between releases.

REST endpoints

MAVLink relay

JSON

Response format

API key

Auth

REST API

Eight endpoints, full control.

The control surface binds port 8080. Responses are JSON. Every request carries an X-ADOS-Key header.

GET/api/status

System health, uptime, FC connection state, agent version

GET/api/telemetry

Vehicle state: attitude, GPS, battery, RC channels, flight mode

GET/api/params

Flight controller parameters, cached, filterable by prefix

POST/api/commands

Send a MAVLink command: takeoff, land, goto, RTL, arm, disarm

GET/api/config

Agent configuration, parsed to JSON

PUT/api/config

Update configuration keys and hot-reload the affected services

GET/api/services

State of every managed service: running, stopped, failed

GET/api/logs

Structured log entries with service and level filters

TRANSPORTS

Ports and topics.

The agent exposes local ports for direct integration and MQTT topics for the optional cloud relay. Every transport speaks the same underlying MAVLink.

Ports and MQTT topics

REST control surface: :8080
MAVLink WebSocket relay: :8765
WebRTC video (WHEP): :8889
Cloud MAVLink uplink: ados/{id}/mavlink/tx
Cloud MAVLink downlink: ados/{id}/mavlink/rx
Cloud WebRTC signaling: ados/{id}/webrtc/offer

EXAMPLES

Quick start.

telemetry over REST

curl -s http://<board-ip>:8080/api/telemetry \
  -H "X-ADOS-Key: <your-key>" | jq

{
  "armed": true,
  "mode": "GUIDED",
  "battery": { "voltage": 22.4, "pct": 78 },
  "gps": { "fix": 3, "satellites": 14, "alt": 50.2 },
  "attitude": { "roll": 0.02, "pitch": -0.01, "yaw": 182.5 }
}

python client

import httpx

BASE = "http://<board-ip>:8080"
headers = {"X-ADOS-Key": "<your-key>"}

telem = httpx.get(f"{BASE}/api/telemetry", headers=headers).json()
print(telem["battery"]["pct"], telem["gps"]["satellites"])

httpx.post(
    f"{BASE}/api/commands",
    headers=headers,
    json={"command": "takeoff", "params": {"alt": 10}},
)

WEBSOCKET

Raw MAVLink relay.

The relay on port 8765 forwards raw MAVLink v2 between the flight controller and any number of consumers. Wire-compatible with the ArduPilot SITL WebSocket bridge.

✓Bidirectional: read telemetry and send commands
✓Raw binary MAVLink v2 frames, no JSON wrapping
✓Multi-consumer: many clients connect at once
✓Wire-compatible with the ArduPilot SITL bridge
✓Sub-5 ms latency on the local network

browser websocket

const ws = new WebSocket("ws://<board-ip>:8765");
ws.binaryType = "arraybuffer";

// inbound: raw MAVLink v2 frames from the flight controller
ws.onmessage = (e) => decodeMavlink(new Uint8Array(e.data));

// outbound: send a frame straight to the FC
ws.send(encodeCommandLong(sysid, compid, cmd, params));

Multi-consumer routing

Flight controllerUART or USB

MAVLink routerone in, many out

WebSocket:8765

web GCS

TCP:5760

SITL bridge

UDP:14550

legacy tools

One MAVLink stream, three transport endpoints, many consumers at once.

PYTHON SDK

ados.sdk

The SDK is for plugin and driver authors. It ships with the agent and exposes stable base classes for hardware drivers, the on-vehicle vision bus, and a plugin test harness.

CameraDriver

Camera drivers over CSI, USB UVC, IP, and vendor SDKs

GimbalDriver

Gimbal drivers with pan, tilt, and roll control

LidarDriver

LiDAR and rangefinder drivers

GpsDriver

GPS and GNSS receiver drivers

EscDriver

ESC drivers with telemetry feedback

VisionClient

Read frames and detections from the on-vehicle vision bus

SECURITY

API-key authentication.

Every request carries a key in the X-ADOS-Key header. Keys hold a permission level that bounds what they can do.

readTelemetry, status, config, logs, params. No state changes.

commandSend flight commands: takeoff, land, goto. Requires read.

missionUpload and execute mission files. Requires command.

configModify agent and FC configuration. Requires read.

adminFull access: updates, service restart, key management.

MESSAGE INTEGRITY

MAVLink frame signing.

Signing is managed from the ground station. The agent exposes a small REST surface for capability detection and one-shot enrollment. The agent holds no key material.

When MAVLink v2 signing is enabled for a drone, every outbound frame carries an HMAC-SHA256 tag derived from a 32-byte key the browser generated. The flight controller validates each frame and drops anything that does not match once signing is required.

The key is pushed to the flight controller exactly once, over the authenticated REST channel. After that the agent is a transparent pipe for signed frames and knows nothing about the key. Your browser holds it as a non-extractable Web Crypto key, so a compromised companion computer cannot forge commands.

capability check

GET /api/mavlink/signing/capability
X-ADOS-Key: <your-key>

{
  "supported": true,
  "reason": "ok",
  "firmware_name": "ArduPilot",
  "firmware_version": "4.5.0",
  "signing_params_present": true
}

Extend the agent.

Extension SystemShipping

The extension platform: signed agent plugins and sandboxed GCS panelsLearn more →

Setup & StatusAvailable

Local setup webapp and on-box status cockpitLearn more →

GimbalIn Development

Agent-native 3-axis stabilization and vision lockLearn more →

ExtensionsShipping

Python extensions for hardware, sensors, and on-vehicle behaviorLearn more →

Read the full API reference.

Complete endpoints, the WebSocket protocol, and the SDK documentation on GitHub.

View on GitHub