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🧩 INDI Driver Contribution Guide

Thank you for your interest in contributing a driver to the INDI Library!
To maintain a high-quality and user-friendly experience, we ask all driver authors —especially device manufacturers— to follow the structured process below.

✅ Contribution Checklist

Before submitting your driver, please ensure:

  • ✅ The driver builds and runs successfully
  • ✅ It works with real hardware (or includes a simulation mode)
  • ✅ The driver is placed in the correct directory structure
  • ✅ Documentation is included in a /doc directory
  • ✅ Licensing and coding guidelines are followed

🔀 Driver Submission Guidelines: INDI Core vs. INDI Third-Party

When deciding where to submit a driver (INDI Core or INDI Third-Party), use the following rule:

  • INDI Core: If the driver can be built and run using only the dependencies already available in INDI Core, it should be included in the INDI Core repository.

  • INDI Third-Party: If the driver requires any external dependencies that are not part of INDI Core, it must be submitted as a third-party driver.

This ensures that INDI Core remains lightweight and easy to build, while still allowing flexibility for more complex drivers through the third-party ecosystem.

📁 Directory Structure

Choose the appropriate repository and structure for your driver:

📦 Core Driver

Add under: indi/drivers/

🔌 Third-Party Driver

Add under: indi-3rdparty/

Example structure:

indi-3rdparty/
└── drivers/
    └── yourdevice/
        ├── CMakeLists.txt
        ├── yourdevice.cpp
        ├── yourdevice.h
        ├── yourdevice.xml
        └── doc/
            └── index.md

indi/
└── drivers/
    └── category/
        ├── CMakeLists.txt
        ├── yourdevice.cpp
        ├── yourdevice.h
        ├── ...
        └── doc/
            └── yourdevice
                └── photo.webp
                └── index.md

📄 Documentation Requirements

Your driver must include a /doc/index.md file to help users install and use the driver effectively.

Suggested Structure for index.md:

1. 📌 Device Overview

  • Brief description of the device
  • Manufacturer, model, and supported functions

2. ✨ Features

  • List of implemented features (e.g., autofocus, temperature reporting)

3. ⚙️ Installation

  • Dependencies and build steps (if not standard)
  • UDEV rules (if applicable)

4. 🔧 Configuration

  • Connection types (USB, Serial, TCP/IP)
  • INDI Control Panel setup

5. 🧪 Usage & Tips

  • Common pitfalls
  • Testing procedures
  • Logging tips

6. 🖼 Screenshots (Optional but Recommended)

  • Driver interface
  • Logs or sample output

📚 Example: indi-duino/doc

🛠 CMake Integration

Your CMakeLists.txt should:

  • Include the driver source files
  • Respect standard INDI CMake variables (CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX, etc.)
  • Optionally install docs (if applicable)

🧾 Licensing

Drivers must be released under a compatible open-source license, typically GPLv2 or later.
Please add a license header to all source files.

🚀 How to Submit

  1. Fork the appropriate INDI repository
  2. Create a new branch (e.g. driver-yourdevice)
  3. Add your driver code and documentation
  4. Submit a Pull Request with a clear title and description

💬 Support

Need help?

  • 🗨 INDI Forum
  • 🐛 Open a GitHub Issue
  • 📫 Contact a maintainer

💡 For Manufacturers

High-quality documentation in /doc/index.md makes your hardware easier to adopt and reduces your support burden.
Consider adding:

  • Diagrams
  • Connection examples
  • Firmware version notes
  • FAQs

Thank you for contributing to the INDI community!