Build equipment models instead of copy-pasted tag folders.
This skill helps the AI design UDTs that can survive real projects: parameters, nested members, alarms, expressions, event scripts, and Perspective-friendly discovery patterns.
Why it was made
- Pushes parameterized UDT types instead of hardcoded device paths.
- Covers inherited members, overrides, alarms, expression tags, and tag events.
- Warns against blindly mirroring PLC UDTs or forcing one-off tags into a reusable type.
- Supports dynamic Perspective pages that discover equipment instead of duplicating views per device.
Common use cases
- Pump, valve, motor, tank, skid, and instrument models.
- Faceplate contracts and equipment-list screens.
- Reusable alarm metadata, runtime counters, and maintenance counters.
- Deciding when a UDT is useful and when a simpler tag folder is clearer.
- Refactoring copied tag folders into a maintainable model.
Proof style
Validate the artifact, not the promise.
The skill expects readbacks of parameters, member values, expression quality, and runtime alarm paths before promoting a pattern. It does not treat a PLC structure as a good Ignition UDT automatically.
Evidence
UDT planning proof
The graphic is AI-generated for the site. The checks below come from a sanitized runner pass that proved the UDT workflow can discover tag providers, browse UDT and tag structure, create a no-write scaffold plan, and reject a missing required override before any write. This is planning evidence, not production migration approval.
- health confirmed tagProviders, tagBrowse, tagRead, tagConfigure, and udtScaffold are supported runner actions.
- tagProviders and tagBrowse found available providers plus UDT definition and test folders without hardcoding reusable paths.
- udtScaffold dry-run planned one UDT type, two instances, four members, required member overrides, and four guarded configure steps.
- Each dry-run step returned ok with zero tag conflicts and the runner reported that no tags were changed.
- A negative dry-run rejected an instance missing the required override before any write path could be used.
Example prompt
Design a reusable PumpCore UDT with parameters, PV/status members, alarm metadata, and faceplate helpers.This is the kind of short instruction the skill is designed to make useful. The value is in the checks and Ignition-specific defaults the AI uses after reading the skill.
Expected output
- Defines UDT type location, parameters, members, alarms, and instance structure.
- Uses UDT-safe expression patterns like relative paths and typed parameters.
- Lists validation checks for member values, quality, alarm paths, and Perspective bindings.
Related workflows
Skills that pair with this one
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