BTick: Behavior Tree Visualizer & Debugger

BTick is a real-time visualization, debugging, and authoring tool for BehaviorTree.CPP v4, designed for robotics development and ROS 2 applications.

It provides a graphical interface for inspecting behavior tree execution, understanding node states, debugging failures, and working with behavior tree XML files. BTick can run as a Docker-based web application or as a native Linux desktop application.

What is BTick?

Behavior trees are widely used in autonomous robotics to coordinate tasks such as mobile navigation, docking, manipulation, and recovery behaviors.

As behavior trees become more complex, understanding their runtime behavior through terminal logs alone can be difficult. BTick provides a visual way to inspect tree execution and investigate unexpected behavior.

Key Features

• Automatic Tree Discovery & Multi-Tree Support: Discover and monitor multiple Behavior Trees and nested subtrees in real time.

• Real-Time Execution Monitoring: Visualize node statuses and execution flow as they change.

• Interactive Breakpoints & Step Execution: Pause, resume, succeed, fail through execution, and inspect node states.

• Fault Injection & Runtime Overrides: Force node statuses(SUCCESS, FAILURE, RUNNING, SKIPPED) and inject delays to test failure scenarios.

• Runtime Port Editing: Modify supported node input ports during execution.

• Live Blackboard Monitoring & Editing: Inspect and modify blackboard variables at runtime.

• Session Recording & Time-Travel Replay: Record execution transitions and replay sessions using a timeline scrubber.

• Standalone Session Logging & Export: Save and load session logs for offline analysis and debugging.

• Execution Timing & Performance Analysis: Analyze execution timing to identify delays and potential bottlenecks.

• Integrated Behavior Tree XML Editor: Create, edit, and validate BehaviorTree.CPP v4 XML files visually.

• Scalable Visualization & Navigation: Navigate complex Behavior Trees with interactive panning and zooming.

• Multi-Protocol Monitoring & Telemetry: Support BTick, Groot2 Pro Features compatibility, and Nav2 logging.

• Web & Desktop Applications: Use BTick through web and desktop interfaces.

Getting Started

Ready to use BTick? Start with Installation & Getting Started to set up your environment and connect to a behavior tree.

Documentation Contents

Getting Started

• Installation & Getting Started
  • Prerequisites
  • Option A: Docker Compose Deployment
  • Option B: Native Linux Desktop Package (.deb)

Concepts

• System Architecture
  • System Overview
  • Components
  • Robot Communication Protocols
  • Internal Web Transports
  • Common Event Model
  • Connection States
• Protocol Comparison
  • Capability Comparison Matrix
  • Which One Should I Use?

Application Guides

• Monitor User Guide
  • 1. Overview
  • 2. Monitor Workspace
  • 3. Behavior Tree Display Area
  • 4. Selecting Nodes and Inspecting Details
  • 5. Execution Logs and Failure Investigation
  • 6. Blackboard Inspection
  • 7. Interactive Debugging
  • 8. Session Recording and Replay
  • 9. Integration Differences
• XML Editor User Guide
  • Accessing the Editor
  • Opening & Creating Behavior Tree XML Files
  • Editing the Tree Structure
  • Configuring Node Properties & Ports
  • Validation & Error Handling
  • Raw XML Mode
  • Saving & Exporting Files

Integrations

• BTick Integration
  • Overview & Capabilities
  • Prerequisites & Dependencies
  • Package Configuration
  • C++ Integration Example: Adding BTick to main()