ECFMP VATSWIM Integration Guide

> Integration guide for consuming ECFMP (European Collaborative Flow Management Programme) data via the VATSWIM API.

Overview

ECFMP provides flow control measures for European FIRs on VATSIM. VATSWIM polls the ECFMP API server-side and exposes the processed data through REST endpoints. External consumers read this data from VATSWIM rather than polling ECFMP directly.

Architecture

ECFMP API ──poll (300s)──> ecfmp_poll_daemon.php ──> tmi_flow_measures
                                                      tmi_flow_events
                                                      tmi_flow_providers
                                                           ↓
Consumers <────────────── GET /api/swim/v1/tmi/flow/* ────┘

Key point: ECFMP integration is read-only from the consumer's perspective. VATSWIM handles all polling, transformation, and storage.

Endpoints

All endpoints are READ-only and accept any valid SWIM API key.

Query Parameters

Flow Events

Flow events represent time-bounded flow management scenarios (e.g., "EGLL Arrival Congestion").

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer swim_dev_your_key" \
     "https://perti.vatcscc.org/api/swim/v1/tmi/flow/events.php?active=1"

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": [
    {
      "event_id": 42,
      "provider_code": "ECFMP",
      "ecfmp_event_id": 12345,
      "name": "EGLL Arrival Congestion",
      "start_utc": "2026-03-06T14:00:00Z",
      "end_utc": "2026-03-06T18:00:00Z",
      "fir_codes": ["EGTT", "EGPX"],
      "status": "active",
      "created_at": "2026-03-06T13:45:00Z"
    }
  ]
}

Flow Measures

Flow measures are the specific restrictions applied during flow events.

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer swim_dev_your_key" \
     "https://perti.vatcscc.org/api/swim/v1/tmi/flow/measures.php?active=1"

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": [
    {
      "measure_id": 99,
      "event_id": 42,
      "ecfmp_measure_id": 67890,
      "measure_type": "MINIMUM_DEPARTURE_INTERVAL",
      "value": 10,
      "unit": "minutes",
      "affected_firs": ["EGTT"],
      "filters": {
        "airport_arrival": ["EGLL"],
        "level_above": 240
      },
      "start_utc": "2026-03-06T14:00:00Z",
      "end_utc": "2026-03-06T18:00:00Z",
      "status": "active"
    }
  ]
}

Measure Types

ECFMP flow measures are mapped to PERTI TMI concepts:

Measure Filters

Measures can be scoped using filters:

Provider Registry

Flow data providers are tracked in VATSWIM's tmi_flow_providers table. Currently registered providers:

Becoming a Flow Provider

To register a new flow data provider (e.g., for a regional VATSIM facility):

1. Implement a REST API that returns flow events and measures in ECFMP-compatible format

2. Contact the vATCSCC development team with your API URL

3. Your provider will be added to tmi_flow_providers with appropriate sync configuration

Poll Daemon Details

VATSWIM's ecfmp_poll_daemon.php runs server-side:

• Poll interval: 300 seconds (5 minutes)
• External API: https://ecfmp.vatsim.net/api/v1
• Circuit breaker: 6 errors in 60s triggers 180s cooldown
• Data stored in: tmi_flow_events, tmi_flow_measures
• Started by: scripts/startup.sh (runs during both normal and hibernation mode)

Client SDK

A Python client library for reading ECFMP data from VATSWIM is available at integrations/connectors/ecfmp/.

from vatswim_connector import VATSWIMConnector

connector = VATSWIMConnector("swim_dev_your_key_here")

events = connector.get_flow_events()
measures = connector.get_flow_measures()
providers = connector.get_flow_providers()