VIN Insight

Decode vehicle VIN numbers inside PILOT, review the returned vehicle details, and fill selected Vehicle Editor fields before saving.

What This Module Does

VIN Insight helps users enrich PILOT vehicle records from a VIN. The module sends the VIN to auto.dev, displays the decoded response, and can copy useful values into the PILOT Vehicle Editor.

Decode VINs

Choose a vehicle and decode its VIN from the VIN Insight tab.

Fill Editor Fields

Open a Vehicle Editor window and use Decode VIN to fill editable fields.

User API Keys

Each user saves their own auto.dev API key in this browser.

First-Time Setup

  1. Open PILOT and select the VIN Insight tab.
  2. Click API key.
  3. Paste your auto.dev API key.
  4. Click Save.
The API key is saved only in your browser localStorage. If you use another browser, another computer, or a private session, add the key again.

Decode a Vehicle from the VIN Insight Tab

  1. Open the VIN Insight tab.
  2. Select a vehicle in the left vehicle tree.
  3. Click Decode selected VIN.
  4. Review the decoded summary and raw response.

Use Test proxy to check that the API key and Cloudflare proxy are working before decoding real vehicle records.

Fill Vehicle Editor Fields

  1. Open a vehicle in the standard PILOT Vehicle Editor.
  2. Confirm the VIN code field contains the VIN you want to decode.
  3. Click Decode VIN at the bottom of the editor.
  4. Review the message showing every field that was filled and the value used.
  5. Check the form carefully, then click Save if the values are correct.

Fields the Module Can Fill

Vehicle Editor field Source from VIN decode
VIN code Decoded VIN
Prod. year Vehicle year
Model Make, model, and trim joined into one text value
Engine # / Engine Engine description, when returned by auto.dev
Engine capacity Liters parsed from the engine text, when available
Horsepower Horsepower parsed from the engine text, when available
Make / Model / Modification selectors Selected only when matching values already exist in PILOT car model lists
VIN Insight fills the form only. It does not save changes automatically. Always review decoded data before clicking Save.

Common Messages

Message What to do
API key is required Click API key, enter your auto.dev key, and save it.
VIN must be 17 characters Check the VIN. VINs cannot contain I, O, or Q.
No vehicles are shown Check that you have permission to view vehicles in PILOT.
VIN decoded, but no matching editor fields were found Make sure you opened the standard PILOT Vehicle Editor and that the form finished loading.

For Admins

The extension folder is ready for Cloudflare upload. Register the hosted base URL in PILOT with extension name vininsight.

Important URLs

URL Purpose
/Module.js Main PILOT extension file.
/api/health Proxy health check.
/api/vin/{VIN} Worker route used by the module to decode VINs.
/doc/ User documentation.

Files

File Purpose
index.html Cloudflare assets-root landing page.
Module.js PILOT extension entry point.
_worker.js Cloudflare Worker code for the VIN API proxy.
doc/index.html This documentation page. Public URL should normally be /doc/.
Cloudflare Pages may redirect /doc/index.html to /doc/. If PILOT or Nginx proxies the extension as /store/vininsight/, rewrite upstream redirects back under that prefix.

The Worker does not store auto.dev API keys. The browser sends the current user's key as an Authorization: Bearer header during VIN decode requests.