Building automation / Desktop app

Dial

A Niagara desktop app that can stay out of the way like Raycast or expand into a full workspace when the job needs more room.

Status: In development
Year: 2026
Role: Product design + development
Built with: Next.js · React · TypeScript · Electron · baskStream

Dial Command showing a Niagara air-handling unit summary — Command opens directly into a useful equipment view without taking over the desktop.

The problem

Niagara holds a lot of useful building information, but getting to the right piece often means digging through trees and opening one view at a time.

Dial is my take on a faster way through it. Command is for finding and shaping a useful view quickly. Workspace carries those same views into a more traditional full-screen app when the work needs more context.

What it does

Command mode

A Raycast-like surface for quickly filtering equipment and points into the view I want. It can open summaries and trends without leaving the keyboard, then save or pin a useful view for later.

Empty Dial Command window ready for a keyboard query — Command starts small and stays ready for the next search.

Dial Command filtering Niagara equipment from a text search — Quick filtering narrows the station model to the equipment or view I need.

Dial Command showing a compact summary of live air-handler values — Summaries turn the filtered result into a compact live view.

Dial Command showing selected Niagara point histories in a trend — Selected histories can become a trend without leaving Command.

Workspace mode

A full-screen app organized around the same views as Command. Tabs can be pinned, the side navigation follows the building's equipment and relationship model, and the window can keep splitting until the right working layout is on screen.

Dial Workspace showing pinnable tabs, equipment-based navigation, and a live equipment summary — Workspace adds persistent tabs and relationship-based navigation around the same views.

Dial Workspace split into several live equipment and trend views — The workspace can keep splitting to hold the exact combination of views a task needs.

One set of views

A view is not tied to one mode. Something found, filtered, or saved in Command can be carried into Workspace without rebuilding it from scratch.

Live Niagara context

Current values, equipment summaries, histories, and the station relationship model come through baskStream while Niagara remains responsible for identity and permissions.

What else could a BAS interface look like?