BoatKit rules work with the same named, unit-aware data used by gauges and histories. A rule can follow a selected freshwater tank, a particular battery, or a specific engine measurement without requiring the user to understand the protocol message that supplied it.
Conditions can be a single comparison or a nested combination of all and any groups. One-time rules are useful for questions such as “tell me when the tank reaches 80%”; recurring rules can continue watching for a condition, and any rule can be paused without deleting its configuration. BoatKit retains the latest evaluated state across restarts so an ordinary restart does not look like a new threshold crossing.
From condition to action
Rules can produce supported BoatKit notifications or alarms. Trigger events use the normal delivery and event-history paths, and a completed one-time rule remains visible rather than silently disappearing.
Ask with vessel and visual context
BoatKit Assistant gives administrators a conversation inside the Viewer for questions and supported vessel tasks. A turn can include text, up to four pictures, or pictures alone—useful when a panel, equipment label, wear pattern, or other visible detail is easier to show than describe. Pictures are normalized before they are sent to the connected ChatGPT account, then remain with the account-scoped conversation on the vessel and in portable configuration backups.
The Assistant can also create a dashboard or revise an existing one for a particular task. It proposes individual item edits, including several changes together, while preserving the instruments and settings it leaves untouched. Choose analog gauges for a reading’s position within an operating range, digital gauges for exact values and states, linear gauges for levels, and history gauges for trends. Available specialized items include charts, cameras, wind and power instruments, equipment controls, switches, sensor status lights, calendars, and embedded websites.
Review the proposal, apply it to the editor draft, and save when satisfied. Adding a control tile does not operate the equipment, and a status light displays conditions without creating an alarm rule.
Existing Assistant threads remain readable aboard without internet access. A new response needs the connected ChatGPT service, but Assistant availability never gates BoatKit’s local monitoring, navigation, history, alarms, automation, settings, or controls.
Administrators can build and manage rules in BoatKit itself. On supported platforms, Siri and Shortcuts provide an opt-in way to read vessel data or make confirmed changes, while the Amazon Alexa integration can read supported data and create confirmed rules through BoatKit Cloud. Voice assistants do not bypass BoatKit access controls or the confirmation required for a configuration change.