MAVLink Handbook

A structured reference to the MAVLink protocol — packet anatomy, messages, microservices, implementation patterns, and quick-reference cheatsheets.

This handbook is a structured reference to the MAVLink protocol, distilled from the official MAVLink Developer Guide. It covers packet anatomy, the common message set, microservice sub-protocols, serialization, routing, security, implementation patterns, and quick-reference cheatsheets.

Use the sidebar to navigate directly to any topic, or browse the section index below.

Section Index

Section	Title
1	What is MAVLink
2	MAVLink 1 vs MAVLink 2
3	Packet anatomy
4	Common message set overview
5	Heartbeat and connection management
6	MAV_CMD command reference
7	System and component IDs
8	Mission protocol
9	Parameter protocol
10	Command protocol
11	File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
12	Serialization format
13	Message routing rules
14	MAVLink 2 message signing
15	Packet loss detection
16	Language and generator options
17	Using Pymavlink
18	SITL connection examples
19	Generating custom MAVLink libraries
20	C++ implementation flowchart
21	Autopilot / flight controller implementation
22	Packet format cheatsheet
23	Common messages quick reference
24	MAV_CMD cheatsheet
25	Pymavlink snippets cheatsheet
26	Connection strings cheatsheet

Updated April 2026

Source: mavlink.io

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