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Configuration

The agent’s configuration lives at /etc/ados/config.yaml. It is a single YAML file validated by Pydantic models at load time. Every field has a sensible default, so a minimal config (or no config file at all) produces a working agent.

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Config search order

When the agent starts, it looks for config in this order:
  1. Path passed as argument or environment variable (ADOS_CONFIG)
  2. /etc/ados/config.yaml
  3. ./config.yaml (current directory)
  4. Pure defaults (no file needed)

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Full config structure

The config is organized into 14 top-level sections. Here is the complete structure with defaults: 
agent:
  device_id: ""           # Auto-generated on first boot
  name: "my-drone"        # Human-readable name
  tier: "auto"            # auto | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
  profile: "auto"         # auto | drone | ground_station

mavlink:
  serial_port: ""         # Auto-detected if empty
  baud_rate: 57600        # Common: 57600, 115200, 921600
  system_id: 1
  component_id: 191
  signing:
    enabled: false
    key: ""
  endpoints:
    - type: websocket
      host: "0.0.0.0"
      port: 8765
      enabled: true

video:
  mode: "wfb"             # wfb | rtsp | disabled
  wfb:
    interface: ""          # RTL8812EU interface, auto-detected
    channel: 149           # 5 GHz channel
    tx_power: 25           # dBm
    fec_k: 8              # FEC data blocks
    fec_n: 12             # FEC total blocks (data + parity)
  camera:
    source: "csi"         # csi | usb | test
    codec: "h264"         # h264 | h265
    width: 1280
    height: 720
    fps: 30
    bitrate_kbps: 4000
  recording:
    enabled: false
    path: "/var/ados/recordings"
    max_duration_minutes: 30
  cloud_relay_url: ""

network:
  wifi_client:
    enabled: false
    ssid: ""
    password: ""
  cellular:
    enabled: false
    apn: ""
  hotspot:
    enabled: true
    ssid: "ADOS-{device_id}"
    password: "ados1234"
    channel: 6

server:
  mode: "cloud"           # cloud | self_hosted | disabled
  cloud:
    url: "https://convex-site.altnautica.com"
    mqtt_broker: "mqtt.altnautica.com"
    mqtt_port: 443
  self_hosted:
    url: ""
    mqtt_broker: ""
    mqtt_port: 8883
    api_key: ""
  telemetry_rate: 2       # Hz, MQTT publish rate
  heartbeat_interval: 5   # Seconds
  mqtt_transport: "websockets"  # websockets | tcp
  mqtt_username: "ados"
  mqtt_password: ""

security:
  tls:
    enabled: true
    cert_path: "/etc/ados/certs/device.crt"
    key_path: "/etc/ados/certs/device.key"
    ca_path: "/etc/ados/certs/ca.crt"
  wireguard:
    enabled: false
    config_path: "/etc/wireguard/ados.conf"
  api:
    api_key: ""
    cors_enabled: true
    cors_origins: ["*"]
  hmac_enabled: false
  hmac_secret: ""

suites:
  manifest_dir: "/etc/ados/suites"
  active: ""              # Name of the active suite
  ros2_workspace: "/opt/ados/ros2_ws"

scripting:
  text_commands:
    enabled: true
    udp_port: 8889
    websocket_port: 8890
  scripts:
    enabled: true
    script_dir: "/var/ados/scripts"
    max_concurrent: 3
  rest_api:
    enabled: true
    host: "0.0.0.0"
    port: 8080

ota:
  channel: "stable"       # stable | beta | dev
  check_interval: 24      # Hours between auto-checks
  auto_install: false     # Auto-install after check
  github_repo: "altnautica/ADOSDroneAgent"
  pip_path: "/opt/ados/venv/bin/pip"
  service_name: "ados-agent"

logging:
  level: "info"           # debug | info | warning | error
  max_size_mb: 50
  keep_count: 5
  flight_log_dir: "/var/ados/logs/flights"

pairing:
  state_path: "/etc/ados/pairing.json"
  convex_url: ""
  beacon_interval: 30
  heartbeat_interval: 60
  code_ttl: 900

discovery:
  mdns_enabled: true
  service_type: "_ados._tcp.local."

vision:
  enabled: false
  backend: "auto"         # auto | rknn | tensorrt | opencv_dnn | tflite
  confidence_threshold: 0.5
  models_dir: "/opt/ados/models/vision"
  models_cache_max_mb: 500
  auto_download: true

swarm:
  enabled: false
  lora:
    interface: ""
    frequency: 915000000
    bandwidth: 125000
    spreading_factor: 7
  wifi_direct:
    enabled: false
    interface: ""
  role: "auto"
  default_formation: "line"
  default_spacing: 10

ground_station:
  share_uplink: false
  paired_drone_id: null
  paired_at: null
  ui:
    oled: {}
    buttons: {}
    screens: {}
  use_live_state_ipc: true

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Key settings explained

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Agent profile

agent:
  profile: "auto"  # auto | drone | ground_station
When set to auto, the agent fingerprints the hardware at boot. If it finds an OLED on I2C, GPIO buttons, an RTL8812EU in receive mode, and no flight controller, it picks ground_station. Otherwise it picks drone. Force a specific profile by setting it explicitly. 
mavlink:
  serial_port: ""
  baud_rate: 57600
Leave serial_port empty for auto-detection. The agent scans /dev/ttyS*, /dev/ttyAMA*, and /dev/ttyACM* based on the board profile’s uart_paths. It tries each port at the configured baud rate and looks for MAVLink heartbeats. Common baud rates: 57600 (ArduPilot default), 115200 (PX4 default), 921600 (high-speed telemetry).

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Video codec

video:
  camera:
    codec: "h264"
    bitrate_kbps: 4000
Use h264 for maximum compatibility. Browser-based players (MSE, WebRTC) expect avc1.640029 (H.264 High Profile Level 4.1). H.265 saves bandwidth but browser support is inconsistent for WebRTC.

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Cloud server mode

server:
  mode: "cloud"  # cloud | self_hosted | disabled
  • cloud: connects to the ADOS cloud backend. Default for most users.
  • self_hosted: connects to your own MQTT broker and Convex instance.
  • disabled: no cloud connectivity. Useful for air-gapped or field-only operation.

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OTA channel

ota:
  channel: "stable"  # stable | beta | dev
  • stable: production releases only. Recommended for field use.
  • beta: pre-release versions for testing.
  • dev: bleeding edge. Expect breaking changes.

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Vision backend

vision:
  enabled: false
  backend: "auto"
When auto, the agent probes for available inference backends in order: RKNN (Rockchip NPU), TensorRT (NVIDIA), OpenCV DNN, TFLite. It picks the first one that initializes successfully.

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Reading and writing config

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From the CLI

# Read full config
ados config

# Read a specific key
ados config mavlink.baud_rate

# Write a value
ados set video.camera.fps 25

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From the REST API

# Read config
curl http://localhost:8080/api/config \
  -H "X-ADOS-Key: your_key"

# Write a value
curl -X PUT http://localhost:8080/api/config \
  -H "X-ADOS-Key: your_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"key": "video.camera.fps", "value": "25"}'

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From the TUI

Press c to open the Config screen. Browse sections, view values, and edit them interactively.

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Per-board overrides

The install script writes board-specific overrides into /etc/ados/config.yaml during installation. For example, a Raspberry Pi 4B gets: 
mavlink:
  serial_port: "/dev/ttyAMA0"
While a Radxa ROCK 5C Lite gets: 
mavlink:
  serial_port: "/dev/ttyS0"
  baud_rate: 921600
These overrides are merged on top of the built-in defaults. Your manual edits always take priority.
After editing the config file manually, restart the affected service for changes to take effect. For example, sudo systemctl restart ados-mavlink after changing the baud rate.