Hardware Discovery

Hardware Discovery

1. What this skill is for

Use this skill to perform hardware discovery tasks from natural language: list connected devices, search by capability, inspect a device's details and capabilities, and check if required support packages or add-ons are installed.

This skill exposes hardware discovery functionality through MATLAB helper functions bundled in scripts/. Always use the provided helpers — do not attempt to replicate their behavior or call any internal MATLAB functions directly.

When To Use

Activate this skill when the user asks about:

• What hardware is connected or available (e.g., "what's plugged in?", "what devices do I have?")
• Which devices support a given capability (e.g., "what supports CAN?", "which devices can do analog input?")
• Details or capabilities of a specific device (e.g., "tell me about the Arduino Due", "what can the NI USB-6211 do?")
• Whether required support packages or add-ons for a device are installed
• What needs to be installed to use a specific device

When Not To Use

Do not activate this skill for:

• Non-hardware MATLAB work (general scripting, algorithm development, plotting, etc.)
• Acquiring or streaming data from a device (use device-specific skills instead)
• Configuring or programming a specific device after discovery (use device-specific skills)
• Installing support packages directly — this skill only reports install state; defer to an install-capable skill when one is available
• Listing all installed MATLAB products or support packages without a hardware context (use matlab-list-products instead)

2. Device-specific skill routing

This skill handles hardware discovery only — enumerating MATLAB-supported devices, searching by capability, and checking install state. When the user's intent goes beyond discovery (connecting, configuring, acquiring data, troubleshooting, or using a device), always explore the currently loaded skills for a matching device-specific skill.

Routing rule: When the user asks to use a device (not just discover it), search the available skills list for any skill whose name or description matches the device type, hardware category, or the user's task. Do not maintain a hardcoded list of skills to defer to — discover them dynamically at runtime.

How to route:

1. Complete the discovery step (confirm device exists, check install state)
2. Tell the user what you found (e.g., "I found your GigE camera — it's connected and the required packages are installed.")
3. Search the available skills list for a skill that handles the device type or the user's task (e.g., a skill mentioning "arduino", "camera", "DAQ", "OPC UA", etc.)
4. If a matching skill is found: silently invoke it to handle the usage/connection/troubleshooting task — do not name the skill to the user
5. If no matching skill is found: fall back to discovery-only output (see below)