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Smart Assist: how AI requests reach Scada.Ink Cloud
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The relay
Scada.Ink appliances normally have no internet connection, so they never talk to the AI service themselves. Every AI request goes like this:
- The page asks the appliance for the cloud address and the license key to use (
GET /api/settings/cloud, Admin or Editor). The browser keeps them in memory for the rest of the session. - The page (or, for deep analysis, the appliance) builds the request.
- Your browser posts it directly to Scada.Ink Cloud over HTTPS, with the appliance's license key as
Authorization: Bearer SCADA-…. - Scada.Ink Cloud checks the key, the plan and the allowance, runs the AI model, and returns the result to the browser.
- The browser hands the result to the appliance (for deep analysis) or shows it on the page.
So the appliance can stay isolated; the computer running the browser needs internet access to the cloud address. The cloud accepts requests from any web page origin, so no firewall rule on the appliance is involved.
For deep analysis only, if the browser cannot reach the cloud at all, the appliance tries the same request itself — which works only when the appliance has internet. Quick classification and the page designer have no such fallback.
| Cloud endpoint | Used by | Browser waits |
|---|---|---|
POST /api/v1/analyze-tags | AI-enhanced classification | 30 s |
POST /api/v1/analyze-observation | Deep AI analysis | 120 s (90 s when the appliance calls it) |
POST /api/v1/design-page | AI page designer | 300 s |
These paths are on Scada.Ink Cloud, not on the appliance.
The cloud address
By default the cloud is https://cloud.scada.ink. An administrator can point appliances elsewhere (for example a relay inside your network) by clicking Change next to Sent to on the Cloud health reporting card (System → Appliance, System tab), or with the CLOUD_URL environment variable on the appliance; a saved address wins over the variable. See Connecting an appliance to Scada.Ink Cloud. The address:
- must be a valid URL — "The cloud URL is not a valid URL."
- must not contain a user name or password — "The cloud URL must not contain credentials."
- must use
https://, except a relay on localhost — "The cloud URL must use https:// (plain http is allowed only for a relay on localhost)."
The cloud address and the license key are never imported from a configuration bundle.
The license key
The key sent is the appliance's activated perpetual license if it is valid; otherwise a live trial key; otherwise the stored key even if it no longer verifies (the cloud then refuses it). Activate keys under Settings (admin section) → Enter license key.
The browser keeps the key for up to a minute, and reads it again straight away after you activate or remove a license, so a newly activated license works without reloading the page.
The license key is the only credential the appliance presents to the cloud. Anyone who can see the key (Admins and Editors, through the settings endpoint) could use the account's AI allowance from another computer. Treat it like a password.
What data is sent
| Feature | Sent to Scada.Ink Cloud | Not sent |
|---|---|---|
| AI-enhanced classification | Machine purpose; your keywords; for every row in the results table: tag path, tag name, data type, scope, current value, local role and confidence | Device name, address, id; history |
| Deep AI analysis | Machine purpose; keywords; estimated cycle time; correlations between tags; per tag: name, data type, description, scope, aliases, first and last values, min, max, mean, median, standard deviation, rates, period, duty cycle, flags; up to 24 earlier accept/reject decisions for the same driver type and machine purpose | Raw samples; device name, address, id |
| AI page designer | Your description and answers; for each device you picked: device name, id, driver, tag count, and per tag: path, display name, data type, units and latest value (up to 600 tags in total); the list of widgets available; up to 8 colors read from your logo; when editing, the page's current HTML, CSS and JavaScript | The logo image itself (only its colors, read in your browser); tags on devices you did not pick |
Plus the license key in the request header, from which the cloud identifies the appliance's hardware ID and account.
Nothing is sent until you press Enhance with AI, Run deep analysis, Design the page, Continue or Apply. If tag names, values or page content are confidential, do not use the AI features on that data.