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A working categorisation of the published Signal K plugin ecosystem, with the maintained/core plugins sorted into each type. Meant as an orientation map: "what kind of plugin is this, and what else lives in the same bucket?"
Data source: npm signalk-node-server-plugin keyword index (~479 packages), the @signalk npm scope, and github.com/SignalK, surveyed 2026-06-20. This is not exhaustive — it covers the maintained + historically-important core (~80 plugins), not the full long tail. Version/date stamps are point-in-time; re-query npm before trusting a "stale" verdict. Corrections welcome.
How the App Store works (context)
The in-server App Store is a live npm keyword query — anything published with signalk-node-server-plugin (server plugins), signalk-webapp (webapps), or signalk-embeddable-webapp (components) shows up. No human curation.
The @signalk/* scope marks officially-owned packages; the App Store lists everything keyword-tagged regardless of scope. Most official packages publish via CI, so npm's "publisher" field often shows GitHub Actions — GitHub org/repo ownership is the better signal for who maintains a thing.
Basic NMEA 0183 (serial/TCP/UDP) and NMEA 2000 (canboat/socketcan) ingestion are server "connections," not plugins — the keyword-tagged plugins sit on top.
The taxonomy (12 types)
Plugins routinely span two types — dual-tag rather than force one bucket.
#
Category
What lives here
1
Data sources & connectors
Bring data in/out over a transport: MQTT/UDP/TCP/WebSocket/REST bridges, mesh, AIS feeds, replay/simulators
Plus a cross-cutting tier-0: what ships inside the server vs what it auto-installs.
0. Bundled with the server (required core + default-installed)
From signalk-server's package.json (verified 2026-06-20). These are present on a fresh install — the de-facto baseline every user already has.
Required core libraries — dependencies in the server. Not plugins you install/remove; they are the server's data plane:
Package
Role
@signalk/server-api
Plugin/webapp API surface (what every plugin imports)
@signalk/signalk-schema
The SK data model / schema
@signalk/streams
Stream-processing primitives for providers
@signalk/n2k-signalk
NMEA 2000 (canboat PGN) → SK delta transform
@signalk/nmea0183-signalk
NMEA 0183 → SK delta transform
@signalk/course-provider
Backs the Course API (GC/rhumb, ETA, arrival circle)
@signalk/resources-provider
Backs the Resources API (routes/waypoints/notes/regions)
Default-installed — optionalDependencies: auto-installed on setup, shown enabled in the App Store, but removable:
Package
Category
What
@signalk/server-admin-ui
display
The admin/App-Store web UI itself
@signalk/app-dock
display
Launcher tile grid for installed webapps
@signalk/freeboard-sk
display / nav
Default chartplotter webapp
@signalk/instrumentpanel
display
Original gauge dashboard
@mxtommy/kip
display
KIP dashboard — now bundled by default
serialport
data source
Serial transport (NMEA over USB/RS-232/485)
@signalk/set-system-time
sensor/util
Set host clock from GPS
@signalk/signalk-to-nmea0183
NMEA conversion
SK → 0183 out
signalk-to-nmea2000
NMEA conversion
SK → N2K out
signalk-n2kais-to-nmea0183
NMEA conversion
N2K AIS → 0183
@signalk/udp-nmea-plugin
data source
NMEA 0183 over UDP
Note: NMEA 0183/2000 ingestion is core (nmea0183-signalk + n2k-signalk are required libs, driven by server "connections") — the keyword-tagged conversion plugins are mostly the outbound/bridge direction. A fresh boat already has Freeboard-SK + KIP + instrumentpanel for display.
1. Data sources & connectors
Plugin
npm
Maintainer
What
Status
MQTT gateway
signalk-mqtt-gw
Teppo Kurki
Canonical bi-directional SK ⇄ MQTT broker bridge
v2.0.0, 2024-02
MQTT import / export
signalk-mqtt-import / -export
community
Selective topic↔path mapping with web UI (each direction)
beta, 2025-12
MQTT sensors
signalk-mqtt-sensors
community
Sensor-oriented MQTT↔SK transfer
v2.1.0, 2025-04
MQTT bridge
signalk-mqtt-bridge
community
General SK↔MQTT bridge
v0.3.2, 2023 — stale
UDP NMEA sender
@signalk/udp-nmea-plugin
SK org / Kurki
Sends NMEA 0183 out over UDP
v2.0.0, 2023
Edge link
signalk-edge-link
community
Secure UDP link between SK nodes
v2.9.1, 2026-06 — active
WS provider
ws-provider-plugin
SK org
Connect to other SK servers over WebSocket
2018 — stale
REST provider
rest-provider-signalk
community
Inject data into SK via REST
v0.7.5, 2026-05
Meshtastic
@meri-imperiumi/signalk-meshtastic
Henri Bergius
SK ⇄ Meshtastic LoRa mesh
v1.4.0, 2026-06 — active, novel
AISstream
signalk-aisstream
community
Global AIS over websocket from aisstream.io
v0.9.0, 2026-05
NMEA log streamer
nmea-streamer
Aswin Bouwmeester
Replays an NMEA 0183 logfile at set speed
v2.2.0, 2024-12
Sim data generator
sksim
panaaj
SK data-stream generator for testing
v1.9.0, 2025-05
Simulator
@signalk/simulatorplugin
Kurki
Original simulated-delta source
2017 — historical
What-if helper
signalk-whatif-helper
community
Webapp to browse/modify/create paths for testing
v0.1.2, 2025-12
2. NMEA conversion
Plugin
npm
Maintainer
What
Status
N2K → SignalK
@signalk/n2k-signalk
Teppo Kurki
The canonical canboat-PGN → SK delta transform
v4.6.0, 2026-05 — core lib
SK → NMEA0183
@signalk/signalk-to-nmea0183
SK org
SK deltas → 0183 sentences on TCP 10110
v1.18.0, 2026-06 — active
SK → NMEA2000
signalk-to-nmea2000
SK org / Bender
SK → N2K PGNs back onto the bus
v2.24.0, 2026-01
Emitter "Cannon"
signalk-nmea2000-emitter-cannon
NearlCrews
Modern TS rewrite of SK→N2K, ~92% PGN coverage
v1.7.1, 2026-06 — active fork
SignalK over N2K
signalk-over-n2k
SK org
Read/send SK deltas over the N2K bus
2021 — low activity
N2K AIS → 0183
signalk-n2kais-to-nmea0183
Bender
N2K AIS PGNs → 0183 AIS sentences
v2.0.3, 2025-08
AIS700 → N2K
@talmnes/signalk-ais700-to-nmea2000
talmnes
Emit GPS PGNs so MFDs see position from an AIS700
v0.1.1, 2026-05 — niche
Vessels → AIS
signalk-vessels-to-ais
community
Other-vessel data → 0183 AIS
v2.0.0, 2025-12
AIS → Navionics
signalk-ais-navionics-converter
community
AIS → 0183/N2K for Navionics MFDs
v1.0.10, 2026-04
3. Sensor hardware
Plugin
npm
Maintainer
What
Status
SensESP
signalk/SensESP (PlatformIO, not npm)
SK org / Matti Airas
ESP32 firmware framework: physical sensors → SK over WiFi
v3.x — flagship DIY path
BT Sensors
bt-sensors-plugin-sk
naugehyde
BLE hub: Ruuvi, Victron, Shelly Blu, Gobius tank, batteries
Gaps worth knowing: MOB and DSC have no dominant server plugin — MOB is usually raised/shown via Freeboard-SK/KIP as a standard notification; DSC distress is parsed from raw NMEA 0183 into notifications. For collision, both derived-data and ais-target-prioritizer do geometric CPA/TCPA, but neither encodes COLREGs rule text.
6. Autopilot
Plugin
npm
Maintainer
What
Status
Autopilot
@signalk/signalk-autopilot
SK org / Bender
Raymarine-emulating GUI + backend; drives N2K/Seatalk-1 pilots
active, 2026-05 — Raymarine-only
PyPilot provider
pypilot-autopilot-provider
panaaj
Exposes PyPilot to the Autopilot Provider API
active, 2026-06
Mock autopilot
mock-autopilot-provider
SK org
Mock provider for testing the Autopilot API
maintained
The ecosystem has consolidated on the Autopilot Provider API (SK Server 2.x); these are its two real providers plus the mock.
Inject SK batteries/tanks/env/switches into a Cerbo as virtual devices
v1.0.19, 2026-03
Victron BLE
signalk-victron-ble
Rivera
Victron via BLE Instant Readout
v0.1.9, 2025-11
VE.Direct serial
@signalk/vedirect-serial-usb
SK org
Victron over serial
v1.7.0, 2026-06
BMV monitor
signalk-victron-battery-monitor
Bender
Parse Victron BMV-70x sentences
2022 — superseded
N2K switching
signalk-n2k-switching
Bender
SK ⇄ N2K binary switching (relays, switch banks)
v2.0.3, 2026-05
Shelly / Shelly2
signalk-shelly / signalk-shelly2
Bender
Control Shelly smart relays
2026
EmpirBus NXT
signalk-empirbusnxt-plugin
Bender
Monitor/control Garmin EmpirBus NXT
2025-07
Fusion stereo
signalk-fusion-stereo
Bender
Control a Fusion marine stereo
2025-08
Battery guard
signalk-nightswimming-battery-guard
Teodoro Lio
Cut solar at high SOC / inverter at low SOC
v0.2.5, 2026-06 — new
INA219
signalk-raspberry-pi-ina219 (+ -4ch)
Caprace
DIY current/voltage/power shunt on a Pi
2022 — stale but used
9. Engine & tanks
Plugin
npm
Maintainer
What
Status
Engine hours
signalk-engine-hours
K-E Gustafsson
Persistent hour logger for any engine reporting revolutions
v1.6.0, 2026-05 — active
Hour meter
signalk-hour-meter
joelkoz
Generic run-time meter off any path + webapp/API
2022 — works, unmaintained
Alternator engine-on
@meri-imperiumi/signalk-alternator-engine-on
Bergius
Engine-on detection from alternator output (no RPM sender)
v1.2.1, 2026-06 — active
Usage
signalk-usage
O. Fernander
Track electrical and tank usage over time
v0.2.6, 2026-03
Tanks/fuel is a thin category — no maintained dedicated tank or fuel-economy plugin. Tank levels arrive via @signalk/n2k-signalk (fluid-level PGNs) and get surfaced/derived by signalk-derived-data + signalk-usage. The engine-hours pattern is 3-stage: detect (alternator-engine-on) → accumulate (engine-hoursorhour-meter). What's missing is a derived endurance layer: slosh/heel-filtered consumption rate, range/time-to-empty, per-tank strapping-table calibration for non-linear geometry, and hysteresis on low-fuel / full-holding alerts — the trivial 80% (% volume) is covered; the useful 20% isn't. A good contribution opportunity.
10. Environment & weather
Plugin
npm
Maintainer
What
Status
Open-Meteo provider
@signalk/open-meteo-provider
panaaj
Open-Meteo via the SK Weather API
active, 2026-06
OpenWeather provider
signalk-openweather-provider
panaaj
OpenWeather via the Weather API
active, 2026-06
NOAA weather
signalk-noaa-weather
Bender
NOAA conditions + forecast for position
v1.4.4, 2026-04
Virtual weather sensors
signalk-virtual-weather-sensors
Nearl Crews
Keyless Open-Meteo/AccuWeather → 30+ env deltas + severe alerts
Tommy Mauricio (@mxtommy) — KIP, now the default dashboard.
Ilker Temir, Brandon Keepers / OpenWaters, and many more across tides, Saillogger, crowd-depth, sensors, and the long tail.
Surveyed 2026-06-20 from the npm registry, the @signalk scope, and github.com/SignalK. Plugin rows trace to npm/GitHub. Treat date/version stamps as point-in-time and "stale" verdicts as re-checkable. Corrections and additions welcome.
The Signal K plugin ecosystem, by the numbers (June 2026)
I spent a day mapping the published Signal K plugin landscape and figured the
numbers were worth sharing back. All counts are from the npm registry search
API on 2026-06-20 — reproducible, see queries at the bottom.
~605 keyword-tagged packages total in the App Store index
11 plugins/webapps ship default-installed with the server
7@signalk/* libraries are required core (the data plane itself)
The App Store isn't a curated list — it's a live npm keyword query. Anything
you publish with the right keyword shows up. That's a feature (zero gatekeeping)
and explains the long tail: a large fraction of those 479 are single-boat,
single-author plugins, many dormant. The maintained, broadly-used core is
more like 70–90 plugins.
What you get out of the box
Required core (in the server, not removable): @signalk/server-api,
signalk-schema, streams, n2k-signalk, nmea0183-signalk,
course-provider, resources-provider. NMEA 0183 and 2000 ingestion are
core — the conversion plugins are mostly the outbound direction.
Tommy Mauricio (@mxtommy) — KIP, now the default dashboard.
Ilker Temir, Brandon Keepers/OpenWaters, and many more across tides,
Saillogger, crowd-depth, sensors…
A working taxonomy (12 types)
Data sources/connectors · NMEA conversion · sensor hardware · navigation ·
AIS & safety · autopilot · anchor & security · electrical/battery/Victron ·
engine & tanks · environment & weather · instrumentation/display ·
notifications/logging/cloud — plus a tier-0 "bundled with the server."
Gaps I noticed (where contributions would help)
Tanks & fuel is thin. Levels are on the bus, but nobody publishes a clean
endurance / range-to-empty layer with slosh-filtered consumption rate and
per-tank strapping-table calibration. The trivial 80% (% volume) is covered
by derived-data; the useful 20% isn't.
MOB / DSC have no dominant server plugin — handled via UI + raw NMEA
parsing into notifications.
Collision plugins do geometric CPA/TCPA (derived-data,
ais-target-prioritizer) but none encode COLREGs rule text.
Default-installed / required lists are from signalk-server's package.json
(optionalDependencies and dependencies).
Huge thanks to the maintainers above and everyone in the long tail — building
some MCP servers on top of all this and the foundation is genuinely solid. 🙏
