Mode

The mode microservice provides a high-level interface for reading and changing the operating mode of a MAVLink device.

It is a wrapper around MAVLink primitives: the microservice reads the current mode from HEARTBEAT (base_mode / custom_mode) and requests mode changes via the Command Protocol (client implementations populate MAV_CMD_DO_SET_MODE).

The mode microservice can be used in two roles:

A client implementing IModeClient
(for example, a ground control app) — sends mode change requests and observes the current mode via heartbeats.
A server implementing IModeServer
(for example, an autopilot or simulator) — accepts mode change requests, applies them and reflects the current mode in heartbeats.

ICustomMode (source)

Reference for the ICustomMode shape — an implementation describes a single autopilot-specific flight mode (examples: ArduCopter, ArduPlane, PX4, Unknown).

Property	Type	Description
`Name`	`string`	Gets the name of the property.
`Description`	`string`	Gets the description of the property.
`InternalMode`	`bool`	This flag indicates whether the vehicle can be set into this mode by the user command. You shouldn't show this mode in the user interface if this flag is true.

Method	Return Type	Description
`GetCommandLongArgs(out uint baseMode, out uint customMode, out uint customSubMode)`	`void`	Get args.
`IsCurrentMode(HeartbeatPayload? hb)`	`bool`	Checks if the given `HEARTBEAT` payload represents this mode.
`IsCurrentMode(CommandLongPayload payload)`	`bool`	Checks if the given `COMMAND_LONG` payload requests this mode.
`Fill(HeartbeatPayload hb)`	`void`	Fills mode-related fields in a `HEARTBEAT` payload.

`ICustomMode.GetCommandLongArgs`

Parameter	Type	Description
`baseMode`	`out uint`	Base mode.
`customMode`	`out uint`	Custom mode.
`customSubMode`	`out uint`	Custom submode.

`ICustomMode.IsCurrentMode(HeartbeatPayload? hb)`

Parameter	Type	Description
`hb`	`HeartbeatPayload?`	Heartbeat payload to check against this mode.

`ICustomMode.IsCurrentMode(CommandLongPayload payload)`

Parameter	Type	Description
`payload`	`CommandLongPayload`	Command payload to check against this mode.

`ICustomMode.Fill`

Parameter	Type	Description
`hb`	`HeartbeatPayload`	Heartbeat payload to fill with the current mode info.

Last modified: 09 October 2025