# Start Here: Which HEART Track Are You On? **Three reading tracks, so you read only what your product needs** **Status:** Reading guide, November 2026. Part of the [HEART Standards Family](HEART-Standards-Family.md). It adds no requirements: the parts it points to do that. --- ## In one minute HEART is written for products as different as a dog collar and an industrial robot. **You do not have to read all of it.** Pick one of three tracks. Each track tells you exactly which sections to read, in order, and where to stop. | Track | For products that | Feature Set (`card.level`) | Autonomy Level | Extra reading | Start | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | **1. Basic** | Watch themselves and tell a person when something is wrong | `basic` | A1 | about 1 hour 45 minutes | [Track 1](HEART-Track-1-Basic.md) | | **2. Intermediate** | People log in to, change, update, approve and connect to other systems | `connected` | A1 or A2 | 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours more | [Track 2](HEART-Track-2-Intermediate.md) | | **3. Advanced** | Act on their own, use an AI brain, run fleets, or are machines that move | `full` | A3 to A5 | 1 hour 20 minutes (Stop 3A) to about 4 hours (all three stops) more | [Track 3](HEART-Track-3-Advanced.md) | **Each track includes the one before it.** A Track 2 reader reads Track 1 first. Each track page lists only the sections it adds. --- ## Find your track Find the row closest to your product. If two rows fit, take the higher track. | Your product | Examples | Track | |---|---|---| | Reports its own health, and nothing outside can change it | A dog collar that reports battery, GNSS and uplink faults; a birdhouse camera; a soil sensor; a smart plug that only reports | **1** | | A microcontroller with only a serial port | An Arduino or ESP32 sensor, with a bridge on a PC or Raspberry Pi | **1** (HEART Line) | | Watches a machine it must never control | A pump station PLC, a 3D printer, an EV charger, a pacemaker: HEART watches, the certified controller decides | **1** | | Only reports to HEART Hub | Any device whose owner watches it on `heartcortex.ai/device/` | **1** | | Its owner logs in to see private values or history | A home gateway, a connected appliance app, a server that streams its history to a dashboard | **2** | | A person changes it through HEART | A new setpoint, a restart or sleep, a firmware update, a dog collar's lost mode | **2** | | The owner approves a waiting change from afar | Approvals through HEART Hub | **2** | | It explains **why** a fault happened, with evidence (A2) | An appliance that says "the filter is blocked, high confidence" | **2** | | Many systems behind one address, or on a message broker | A HEART Gateway, a fleet of MQTT sensors, webhooks to other systems | **2** | | It **suggests** a fix and waits for a person's yes (A3) | A thermostat that proposes a cheaper schedule | **3**, Stop 3A | | It **fixes known problems** by itself, with rules a person adopted (A4) | An online shop that restarts a stuck worker; an air conditioner that recalibrates | **3**, Stop 3A | | It uses an **AI model** to explain, plan or propose (a "brain"), or fixes new problems (A5) | A greenhouse controller that asks a model for a better watering plan | **3**, Stop 3B | | One command goes to **many systems**, or it is a **machine that moves** | A fleet rollout; industrial and warehouse robots, excavators, cranes, tractors, drones, ships, rovers, spacecraft | **3**, Stop 3C | --- ## Or answer four questions 1. **Can anything outside the product change it through HEART?** No: **Track 1**. Yes: go on. 2. **Is it always a person who starts the change?** Yes: **Track 2**. No, a rule, another system or an AI starts some changes: **Track 3**. 3. **Does it use an AI model to explain, plan or propose?** Only to explain alerts: Track 2 is enough. To plan or propose fixes: **Track 3, Stop 3B**. 4. **Does it send one command to many systems, or does it move, lift, drive or fly?** Yes: **Track 3, Stop 3C**. Two more things put you on at least Track 2: **anyone logs in** to read it, or it talks to other systems through a Gateway, webhooks or MQTT. --- ## A track is how you read, not what you claim The track is a reading guide. **Never write "HEART Track 2" on a box.** A product claims a Feature Set and an Autonomy Level, such as "HEART Connected · A2", and proves it with the tests in [Part 9](HEART-Part-9-Testing-and-Certification-1.0.md), Section 2. The tracks follow the Feature Sets of the [API Standard](HEART-API-Standard-1.0.md), Section 2, and the needs of each Autonomy Level in [Part 2](HEART-Part-2-Autonomy-Levels-1.0.md), Section 8: | Track | Feature Set | Autonomy Levels | Why the boundary is there | |---|---|---|---| | 1. Basic | Basic | A1 | Every HEART must reach A1. A0 is not a HEART at all (Part 9, Section 2, rule 3). | | 2. Intermediate | Connected | A1, A2 | A2 needs Rhythm history for its evidence, and Rhythm is Connected (Part 2, Section 8). | | 3. Advanced | Full | A3, A4, A5 | A3 needs the approval gate and the stop control, and both are Full (Part 2, Section 8). | **One exception.** A product can claim `basic` and still offer a module that changes things, such as `lifecycle` (restart, sleep) or writable `properties`. Changes need logins and the approval rules for people. So that product reads **Track 2**, even if its Card stays at `basic`. Most of the simulators do exactly this. --- ## How the tracks fit together ``` Track 1 BASIC Card, Pulse, alerts, the Valve, minimum Tending, A1 │ "It knows it is unwell, and tells a person." ▼ Track 2 INTERMEDIATE + logins, identity, history, subscriptions, receipts, │ modules, a person's changes with proof of presence, │ the Gateway, MQTT, A2 │ "People can reach it, trust it and change it." ▼ Track 3 ADVANCED Stop 3A + the full gate, stop, Playbooks, A3 and A4 Stop 3B + an AI brain, HEART Core, the Command Center, A5 Stop 3C + fleets, and machines that move (mostly planned) "It acts on its own, and people stay in charge." ``` --- ## What each track page holds Every track page has the same seven parts: 1. **Who it is for**, with examples. 2. **What you will build**. 3. **What to read**, in order: the document, the exact sections, and roughly how long each takes. 4. **What you can skip**, and why. 5. **Where to start**: templates and simulators. 6. **The Part 9 tests** that apply, with their weights. 7. **You are done when**: the finish line. Reading times assume careful reading at about 150 words a minute. Skimming a list, such as the fault codes, is faster. --- ## If you are not building a product | You are | Read | |---|---| | **New to HEART, or just curious** | [Part 1](HEART-Part-1-Basics-1.0.md) "In one minute", and [Part 2](HEART-Part-2-Autonomy-Levels-1.0.md) "In one minute" and Section 3 (15 minutes) | | **A buyer or product manager** | The same, then Part 2, Section 4, and [Part 9](HEART-Part-9-Testing-and-Certification-1.0.md), Sections 2 and 8.1 (30 minutes) | | **Writing a tool that talks to HEARTs** | [Track 1](HEART-Track-1-Basic.md), then [Part 4](HEART-Part-4-Connections-1.0.md), Section 6 (logins) | | **Responsible for privacy or compliance** | [Track 1](HEART-Track-1-Basic.md), items 5 and 9 (the Valve and what a monitor site may see), then [Track 2](HEART-Track-2-Intermediate.md), items 3, 5, 9 and 10 (Receipts, the threat list and the security fixes) | | **Testing a product** | The track page that matches the product's claim, then [Part 9](HEART-Part-9-Testing-and-Certification-1.0.md) | ## The track pages - [Track 1: Basic](HEART-Track-1-Basic.md) - [Track 2: Intermediate](HEART-Track-2-Intermediate.md) - [Track 3: Advanced](HEART-Track-3-Advanced.md) - [The whole standard, as a map](HEART-Standards-Family.md)