Contribute

The database is a set of YAML files in git. Everything — new devices, findings, claims — arrives as a pull request, by hand or through the MCP server.

Pull request workflow

Fork the repository (or use "Edit this record on GitHub" on any device page).
Add or edit data/devices/<vendor>/<model>.yaml. The id is <vendor-slug>/<model-slug>, lowercase a-z 0-9 -.
Run npm install && npm run validate: every record is checked against schema/device.schema.json.
Open the pull request. Say what you checked yourself and what an AI tool produced.

A curated file overrides an imported record with the same id: to enrich a device that came from another database, create its curated file — device pages for imported records link to a prefilled one.

Record format

A real record, data/devices/ryze/tello.yaml:

id: ryze/tello
vendor: Ryze Tech
model: Tello
aliases: [DJI Tello]
category: drone
identifiers:
  ble_names: []
status: controllable
vendor_support: degraded
summary: >-
  Small Wi-Fi drone with an official text command SDK over UDP. Community libraries
  also cover the undocumented binary protocol used by the vendor app (video, telemetry).
interfaces:
  - name: Tello SDK text commands
    transport: wifi
    status: documented
    confidence: high
    notes: UDP 8889 commands, 8890 state, 11111 video
projects:
  - name: DJITelloPy
    url: https://github.com/damiafuentes/DJITelloPy
    kind: library
    license: MIT
provenance:
  sources: [curated]
  ai_assisted: false
updated: 2026-10-17

The specification describes every field; the JSON Schema is normative.

Status levels

Unknown — Listed, nothing public is known yet.
In progress — Someone holds a live claim; no usable result yet.
Partial protocol — Part of the protocol is documented (e.g. telemetry, not control).
Controllable — Fully drivable by open code over the stock firmware.
Open firmware — A free replacement firmware exists.

Claims: say you are on it

Before you start reverse engineering a device, add a claim. It shows the device asIn progress on the site and in agents' lookups, with your contact, so nobody starts the same job in parallel. Claims expire (90 days at most); renew or publish.

claims:
  - who: Jane Doe
    contact: https://github.com/janedoe
    scope: BLE control protocol
    since: 2026-10-17
    expires: 2026-11-16
    agent: claude-code

Agents do this with the claim_device tool.

Verification levels

AI-produced protocol descriptions can be confidently wrong. Each interface carries aconfidence (low, medium, high), and each record a verification list:

hardware-replay — a replayable test (script, capture replay) was run on a real device, with the firmware version stated. Only this earns the Verified on hardware badge.
manual — someone tried it by hand on a real device.
none — not verified; desk research or captures only.

verification:
  - method: hardware-replay
    by: Jane Doe
    date: 2026-11-10
    firmware: "1.4.2"
    notes: tests/replay_takeoff_land.py passes on two units

Set provenance.ai_assisted: true whenever an AI tool wrote part of the record, and list the tools.

What we accept

Protocol descriptions, original open-source code and links — never firmware images, vendor code or keys, and nothing that defeats a safety function (Remote ID, geofencing, radio limits…). Read the content policy.

News posts

Add news/YYYY-MM-DD-slug.md with title, date, summary and tags in the frontmatter.