Applied Energistics: Insight

Applied Energistics: Insight (appliedinsight) is an addon for Applied Energistics 2 built for the moment your ME network is too big to eyeball — when items scatter across drives, type slots fill up, and opening the ME terminal starts to lag.

It helps you see what the grid is doing, organize storage the AE2 way, and grow capacity without endlessly stacking drives.

Highlights: self-expanding Digital Asset Vault (fewer backends → snappier terminals) · Smart Bus with web JSON editor & one-click presets · Sorter Command Block for explainable analysis and merge — no commands to memorize.

Recommended loop: Storage Analysis → Merge → consolidate into DAV → repeat when the network grows again.

Requirements


Minecraft	1.21.1
Mod Loader	NeoForge 21.1.224
AE2	19.2.17+
Java	21

Optional client mods: JEI, EMI (expansion cell drag-and-drop, filter editing).

Why Insight?

Late-game AE2 pain points this addon targets:

Can't see the whole picture — terminal search finds items, but not where fragmentation and pressure come from
No first-class way to tidy the grid — scattered stacks waste type slots; manual shuffling does not scale
Drive walls slow terminals down — every cell and external bus is another storage backend AE2 must enumerate on open
Opaque bus tooling — complex filters that fail silently are hard to trust

Insight stays an addon, not a fork: it reads and acts through normal AE2 grid APIs, with clear in-game feedback instead of hidden behavior.

Filter tools — no hand-written JSON required

Smart Bus filters are powerful, but you don't need to write JSON by hand:

In-game presets — one-click filters for all items, items with durability, and ores
Offline web editor — visual rule builder bundled in the repo (tools/filter-editor/); runs in your browser, no internet required
Templates — start from ready-made examples in the web editor, then tweak fields and operators
Copy for Game — build rules in the browser, copy JSON, paste into Smart Bus GUI, save

Recommended workflow: open Smart Bus GUI → Web Editor → pick a template or preset → adjust rules → Copy for Game → paste in-game → Save.

Digital Asset Vault — one block, growing storage

The Digital Asset Vault (DAV) is a centralized storage pool — not a slot-by-slot drive. Consolidating stock into DAV replaces many per-cell enumerations with one ME storage backend, which often reduces ME terminal open lag on busy networks.

Built-in capacity: 2048 bytes / 126 item types (equivalent to two empty 1k cells) — ready to use immediately
Cell absorption: feed it empty AE2 storage cells to stack more bytes and types into one pool
Import existing stock: pull scattered network items into the vault when first connected
Auto-accept: make the DAV a preferred target for incoming items
Auto-expand: at the usage threshold (default 80%), pull empty cells from the network or submit ME autocrafting jobs; finished cells are absorbed automatically
Manual expand once: GUI button with clear status feedback (missing cell, missing pattern, crafting in progress, etc.)

Auto-expand setup: set your expansion cell type in the DAV GUI, then ensure either empty cells are available on the network or a matching ME crafting pattern exists for autocrafting. Without cells or patterns, auto-expand cannot run.

Workflow: connect to ME → enable auto-accept → (optional) import stock → absorb cells → set expansion cell type & confirm patterns → enable auto-expand.

Smart Bus — JSON filters, import or export

The Smart Bus is a cable part with FilterExpression JSON — more flexible than stacking fuzzy upgrade cards.

Modes: unconfigured / import (back → network) / export (network → back) — toggle with Shift+right-click or the GUI
Filters: item ID, mod ID, tags, durability, stack size, AND / OR, nested groups
Presets & web editor: see Filter tools above — presets in-game, templates + visual editor in the browser
Throughput: up to 12 full stacks per tick by default (configurable in config/appliedinsight-server.toml) — saves many upgrade-card slots on crowded bus lines

Example — import only ae2 mod items:

{
  "combinator": "AND",
  "rules": [
    { "field": "MOD_ID", "operator": "EQUALS", "value": "ae2" }
  ]
}

Sorter Command Block — analyze, merge, sort

Right-click the Sorter Command Block for a terminal GUI.

Button	What it does
Storage Analysis	Network health: internal/external split, fragmentation, DAV capacity overview — see problems before you move items
Merge	AE2-aligned consolidation: cell → cell and cell → external only; external storage buses are never merge sources (no pulling from drawers/chests)
Plan & Move	Zone-based sorting via `config/appliedinsight/profiles/` routing profiles (server operators)

Merge semantics (v0.9.2+):

Cell → cell — combine scattered stacks across internal drives and DAV
Cell → external — push into a Storage Bus that already holds the same item
Never external → anywhere — Insight does not drain outside inventories during merge

Works well with DAV: merge reduces fragmentation → DAV regains type headroom → fewer scattered cells → terminals stay responsive. The analysis UI labels DAV separately from traditional drive cells.

Quick Start

Install AE2 + Applied Energistics: Insight
Craft the Digital Asset Vault, Smart Bus, and Sorter Command Block
Connect them to your ME network
Open the Command Block → Storage Analysis → Merge if fragmented → route stock into DAV
(Optional) Place Smart Bus on a cable → use a preset or the web editor → paste filter → set import/export mode

In-game guide chapters are included via GuideMe.

Version note

Current release: v0.9.2 — post-beta stabilization; merge route aligned with AE2 storage semantics. Feedback and bug reports are very welcome.