iocmng 2.6.1

A pluggable task/job framework for IOC Manager applications with REST API

iocmng — IOC Manager Framework

A pluggable task/job framework for EPICS soft IOC applications on Kubernetes. Provides base classes for continuous tasks and one-shot jobs, a declarative rule/transform engine, and a REST API for dynamic plugin management at runtime.

Key Features

• TaskBase — base class for continuous, triggered, or reactive tasks
• JobBase — base class for one-shot jobs returning structured results
• DeclarativeTask — zero-code tasks driven entirely by config.yaml rules and transforms
• Wired inputs/outputs — automatically read/write external PVs (poll or monitor)
• Declarative rules — safe boolean expressions that fire actuators and set outputs
• Transforms — computed outputs using built-in math/statistics/array functions
• Ring buffers — buffer_size accumulates time-series data for signal processing
• Built-in function library — mean, std, sqrt, clamp, moving_avg, derivative, and more
• Safe expression evaluator — AST-validated expressions; no arbitrary code execution
• REST API — add/remove/restart plugins at runtime from git repos or local paths
• EPICS soft IOC PVs — every task gets STATUS, MESSAGE, ENABLE, CYCLE_COUNT PVs
• Per-plugin config.yaml — parameters, directional PVs, rules, transforms in one file
• PV client abstraction — transparent PVA (p4p) or CA (PyEPICS) access
• Plugin validation — syntax, inheritance, abstract methods checked before acceptance
• Docker image — ready-to-run container with the REST API
• Standalone runner — iocmng-run for local development without a server
• Optional Ophyd — device abstraction via ophyd/infn_ophyd_hal

Quick Start

Install

pip install iocmng

# With all optional dependencies
pip install iocmng[all]

Run the API Server

iocmng-server

# With configuration
IOCMNG_PORT=8080 IOCMNG_PREFIX=SPARC:CONTROL iocmng-server

Create a Task (Python)

my_monitor.py

from iocmng import TaskBase

class MyMonitor(TaskBase):
    def initialize(self):
        self.logger.info("Starting monitor")

    def execute(self):
        value = self.get_pv("READING")
        if value and value > self.parameters.get("threshold", 75):
            self.set_pv("ALARM", 1)

    def cleanup(self):
        pass

config.yaml

parameters:
  mode: continuous
  interval: 1.0
  threshold: 75.0

arguments:
  inputs:
    SETPOINT:
      type: float
      value: 50.0
      unit: "%"
      prec: 2
      low: 0
      high: 100
  outputs:
    READING:
      type: float
      value: 0.0
    ALARM:
      type: bool
      value: 0
      znam: "OK"
      onam: "ALARM"

Create a Declarative Task (Zero Code)

No Python needed — all logic lives in config.yaml:

my_interlock.py

from iocmng import DeclarativeTask

class MyInterlock(DeclarativeTask):
    pass

config.yaml

parameters:
  mode: continuous
  interval: 1.0
  pva: false

arguments:
  inputs:
    temp:
      type: float
      value: 0.0
      link: "DEVICE:TEMP"         # Wired to external PV
      buffer_size: 100            # Keep last 100 readings
    pressure:
      type: float
      value: 0.0
      link: "DEVICE:PRESSURE"
  outputs:
    avg_temp:
      type: float
      value: 0.0
    alarm:
      type: bool
      value: 0
      znam: "OK"
      onam: "ALARM"

transforms:
  - output: avg_temp
    expression: "mean(temp_buf)"

rule_defaults:
  alarm: 0

rules:
  - id: OVER_TEMP
    condition: "mean(temp_buf) > 80 or pressure > 2.0"
    message: "Temperature or pressure limit exceeded"
    outputs:
      alarm: 1

Run Standalone (no server)

iocmng-run -m my_interlock --config config.yaml --prefix MY:IOC --name interlock

Deploy via REST API

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/v1/plugins \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "my-interlock",
    "git_url": "https://github.com/org/my-tasks.git",
    "path": "plugins/interlock/",
    "auto_start": true
  }'

Documentation

Document	Description
MANUAL.md	Complete reference: architecture, API, configuration, all features
HOWTO.md	Step-by-step recipes for common tasks
INSTALL.md	Installation and environment setup

Task Modes

Mode	Behavior	Use Case
continuous	execute() loops with interval sleep	Monitoring, polling, periodic updates
triggered	triggered() called when RUN PV is written	Operator-driven actions from CS-Studio
reactive	on_input_changed() fires on wired input change	Event-driven interlocks, fast response

Built-in Functions

Available in rule conditions and transform expressions:

Category	Functions
Math	abs, round, sqrt, log, exp, pow, floor, ceil, clamp
Statistics	mean, std, variance, median, rms, min, max
Logic	any_of, all_of, count_true
Array	length, sum_of, diff, last, moving_avg, derivative

Extend with register("my_fn", callable) from iocmng.core.functions.

Default PVs

Every task automatically gets:

PV	Type	Description
ENABLE	boolOut	Enable/disable the task
STATUS	mbbIn	INIT / RUN / PAUSED / END / ERROR
MESSAGE	stringIn	Human-readable status
CYCLE_COUNT	longIn	Cycle counter
RUN	boolOut	Trigger execution (triggered mode)

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
IOCMNG_PREFIX	—	Controller PV prefix
IOCMNG_PORT	8080	Server port
IOCMNG_HOST	0.0.0.0	Server bind address
IOCMNG_PLUGINS_DIR	/data/plugins	Plugin clone directory
IOCMNG_PLUGINS_CONFIG	—	Startup plugins YAML
IOCMNG_LOG_LEVEL	info	Logging level
IOCMNG_PVA	true	Use PVA (true) or CA (false)
IOCMNG_DISABLE_OPHYD	true	Skip ophyd initialization

Project Structure

src/iocmng/
├── __init__.py           # Exports: TaskBase, JobBase, DeclarativeTask, pv_client, run_ioc
├── declarative.py        # DeclarativeTask (zero-code tasks)
├── runner.py             # Standalone CLI runner (iocmng-run)
├── base/
│   ├── task.py           # TaskBase — continuous/triggered/reactive tasks
│   └── job.py            # JobBase — one-shot jobs
├── core/
│   ├── controller.py     # Central plugin manager
│   ├── loader.py         # Git clone + config loading
│   ├── validator.py      # Plugin validation
│   ├── plugin_spec.py    # PvArgumentSpec, PluginSpec, RuleSpec, TransformSpec
│   ├── safe_eval.py      # AST-validated expression evaluator
│   ├── functions.py      # Built-in function registry
│   └── pv_client.py      # PVA/CA abstraction layer
├── api/
│   ├── app.py            # FastAPI application
│   ├── routes.py         # REST endpoints
│   └── models.py         # Pydantic models
└── ophyd/
    └── factory.py        # Optional ophyd device creation

Development

pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest tests/ -v
black .
flake8 .

License

MIT