Workspace & Core Tools

Setups, Layouts, and the Activity Bar

A setup saves its plugins, Activity Bar options, run groups, and layouts. The Default, Titan, Makcu, and Remote Play families each offer Horizontal and Vertical arrangements in two styles:

• Classic: one workspace with every loaded panel included, grouped into tabs where needed. The Activity Bar starts hidden.
• Workspaces: an Activity Bar with Workspace, Resources, and Devices layouts. Resources keeps files and delivery targets visible together for drag and drop.

A fresh installation starts with Default (Horizontal, Classic); later launches restore your saved workspace. View → Load Setup offers the four Horizontal Classic families. Choose More Setups... or open Preferences → Appearance for all 16 included choices. Select the style, orientation, and family, then click OK to load it. Custom setups appear under Saved Setups.

The Activity Bar switches between layouts inside the active setup. A layout saves panel visibility, arrangement, and selected tabs without changing which plugins belong to the setup or restarting running tools.

• Right-click empty Activity Bar space to create a layout or run group.
• Right-click a layout to save the current arrangement, edit its name or icon, move it, or delete it.
• Use View → Activity Bar to turn named layouts on or off.

Turning the Activity Bar off switches to one workspace containing all loaded panels. Helios asks for confirmation if this would reveal hidden panels. That arrangement is saved separately; turning the bar back on restores the last named layout. Individual panels cannot be hidden and named layouts cannot be edited while the bar is off.

Use Save Current Setup to create a custom setup. Custom setups can be renamed; only inactive custom setups can be deleted. Included setups cannot be overwritten, renamed, or deleted.

Lock Setup

Enable View → Lock Setup to prevent accidental setup changes, panel movement or resizing, plugin loading/unloading, and layout or run-group edits. The lock is remembered after restarting Helios.

You can still switch between existing Activity Bar layouts, select tabs, use plugin controls, and start or stop configured run groups. Unlock the setup before rearranging panels or changing the Activity Bar.

Run Groups

A run group starts and stops up to six selected tools together from one Activity Bar tile.

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Enable the Activity Bar to use its run-group tiles. Only loaded tools with compatible Start/Stop controls can be added. Check each tool after starting a group: a failed member does not undo tools that already started. Deleting a run group does not delete or unload its tools.

Panels

• Float moves a docked panel into its own window.
• Hide in This Layout, in the panel header menu, hides a panel in the active named layout while its tool stays loaded and running.
• Close or Unload Plugin asks for confirmation before unloading. Unloading stops that tool; Cancel leaves it running.
• Right-click a panel header for its available quick actions, current choices, and settings. Some actions remain in the panel itself.
• View → Panels in This Layout restores hidden panels in a named layout, including Show All Panels in This Layout.
• View → Dock All Panels returns floating panels to the main window.

Panel arrangement and visibility controls require an unlocked setup. An inactive tab still counts as an included panel.

Preferences

Appearance

Choose language and theme, then select a setup style, orientation, and family or a saved setup. Language and theme changes apply immediately; a setup selection loads when you click OK.

Hardware

• Compute GPU: used for model discovery, inference, OCR, and TensorRT engine building. Auto lets Helios choose.
• Enhanced inference (Experimental): off by default, under Hardware’s GPU Acceleration controls. Available with a detected NVIDIA TensorRT GPU, including Auto when a compatible NVIDIA GPU is available. It takes effect when CV Python or CV C++ next starts; DirectML does not support it. It may reduce inference latency at the cost of higher power use and contention with other GPU work.
• Capture Audio: plays a matching capture-card audio input through the default PC output.
• Fuser Output: enables the separate Fuser display and lets you identify the selected monitor.

Enhanced inference can temporarily select Windows High performance while a CV session is running. Normal stop restores the previous plan unless you selected another plan yourself. After an unexpected application exit, check Windows power settings if the plan did not return. Compare performance in your own workflow before leaving this experimental option enabled.

Python

Search for installed Python environments or choose an executable. Helios requires Python 3.10 or newer for Python-based features and shows whether the selected environment is valid. Manage Python Environments creates managed installations and manages their packages. Select Use Environment, then confirm Preferences with OK to save a selection. See Python Environments for the complete workflow.

Account

Sign in with Discord or Login with Email. Email sign-in uses a one-time link and needs no password. Keep Helios open, check your inbox and junk folder, and only approve an email whose verification code exactly matches the code shown in Helios. Sign-in finishes automatically after confirmation.

The signed-in page shows your Input Sense Account ID and age. Use the copy button to share your account ID with a resource author who needs to grant you access. This 21-digit ID is different from your Discord ID.

Use Link Email or Link Discord to add the other sign-in method to your current account. Publishing, managing resources, and integration keys require both a linked Discord account and a verified email. Browsing and receiving resource access do not require both methods.

Unlinking a sign-in method requires confirmation through your verified email and signs out other account sessions. Your Input Sense account and resource ownership remain. Keep another sign-in method linked so you can still access the account.

Other

• Enable Developer Mode: shows publishing, selected authoring controls, and the direct input-to-output passthrough switches. GPC 3 source compilation is available through its slots without this setting.
• Disable Overlay Drawing: shows raw video in Video Display while script, inference, and OCR processing and results continue normally.
• Power → Keep PC awake: off by default. Enable it and click OK to prevent automatic display timeout, screen saver, and idle sleep while Helios runs. Turning it off or closing Helios releases the request. Manual sleep, lock, lid actions, and Windows policies still apply.
• Cache → Clear all caches: clears downloaded resource images, unused theme icons, and temporary extracted app files. Installed apps, user data, Python environments, weights, settings, and files in use are kept. Wait for the cleanup result; caches refill when needed.

Developer Mode is optional for normal Helios use. Enable it when publishing or authoring content, or when a physical input should write directly to Controller Output or KBM Output without a processor such as GPC 3.

Engine Builder

Open Tools → Engine Builder to manage downloaded weights. With a compatible NVIDIA/TensorRT Compute GPU, the dialog also imports ONNX/ENNX weights, reviews model information, builds TensorRT engines, and manages separate source and built-engine lists.

With a DirectML or other non-TensorRT selection, Engine Builder shows the Downloaded Weights list without TensorRT build controls.

Before building:

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Use a self-contained ONNX export with a supported task and model family; see Model Compatibility. TensorRT requires FP32 model inputs and outputs, including when internal computation uses FP16. With TensorRT 11, use a compatible mixed-precision ONNX source for FP16; selecting FP16 does not convert an entirely FP32 graph.

Builds can take several minutes. The status area identifies TensorRT and CUDA compatibility. An engine made for a different GPU or TensorRT environment may need to be rebuilt locally. Building protected ENNX weights also requires sign-in, access to the model, and an internet connection.

Select a built engine and click Rebuild to use its existing input size and precision. Rebuild is available only while the matching original source is present and still belongs to that engine. If the source was moved, replaced, or deleted, import the correct original weights and build again.

The progress window shows the model, current stage, elapsed time, and Cancel. Optimization may show activity without a numerical percentage. Closing the progress window or Engine Builder requests cancellation; wait until the operation finishes stopping. Minimizing or hiding the window leaves the build running.

Dataset Capture

Open Tools → Dataset Capture to save JPEG or PNG frames from the active video source.

Available controls include output folder, optional crop, JPEG quality, minimum interval, maximum image count, maximum folder size, and these triggers:

• while a selected controller button is held;
• when one of the listed inference class IDs is detected;
• at a fixed time interval.

When multiple triggers are enabled, any one can capture. Button and time triggers can save raw video without a running inference script; a class trigger requires active inference.

Agent Integration

Helios includes an optional MCP server for compatible local AI clients and automation tools. It can inspect and operate supported application and plugin controls. Normal use of Helios does not require it. See MCP Server for connection and troubleshooting.

Updates

Helios checks for updates after startup. Use Tools → Check for Updates to check again manually. Follow the updater prompts and let it finish before reopening Helios. If a download cannot be saved or verified, check free disk space, folder/antivirus access, the internet connection, and the Windows clock before retrying.