Capsuleers.app logo CAPSULEERS.APP

Guide · Industry

Planetary Interaction — complete guide

All the planetary colonies of one of your EVE Online characters on one screen: when each extractor runs out, which colony needs you now, what every factory produces and what sits in the launchpads. This guide explains each part.

Last updated:

Open the PI monitorFrequently asked questions
Account
EVE login with the Planetary service
Data
CCP ESI, planets of the character
Freshness
ESI caches colonies for about 10 minutes
Writes
None — extractors are reset in game
The Planetary Interaction monitor: five colonies in Ikami, one expired, one expiring, one factory-only and two healthy
The colonies that need you come first: expired in red, expiring in amber.

What is the Capsuleers Planetary Interaction monitor?

The Planetary Interaction monitor on Capsuleers.App is an EVE Online PI tracker that shows all the colonies of one of your characters on one page, with a countdown to the next extractor expiry. It reads the colonies from ESI, sorts them by urgency (expired, expiring within 24 hours, idle, healthy) and lets you open each colony to see its layout, extractors, factories and storage. It needs an EVE login with the Planetary service on the character.

Planetary interaction in EVE Online is a background job: extractors run for hours or days, factories turn raw resources into commodities, and a colony stops producing when an extractor program ends. The problem is knowing when that happens without opening every planet in the client. The monitor puts the deadline first, coloured by urgency, and the colonies that need you move to the top.

It only reads: restarting an extractor, changing a schematic or picking up commodities still happens in the EVE client. The same colonies also appear on the character overview page, and ESI caches them for about ten minutes, so the page can lag slightly behind the game.

PI farmers with alts

Check every colony of every character without logging each one in.

Industrialists

See which planets produce which commodities and what is ready in the launchpad.

Casual players

Know when to log in to restart the extractors before the colony sits idle.

Getting started

  1. Turn on the serviceIn your profile, enable Planetary on the characters with colonies.
  2. Pick the capsuleerThe selector lists only the characters with the service on.
  3. Read the timersRed and amber cards come first: those are the colonies to fix.
  4. Open the detailDetail shows the layout, extractors, factories and storage.

Features

Each card: what it does, how to use it, what it needs.
01

How do I choose which character's colonies to check?

The Planetary Interaction monitor shows the colonies of one character at a time. Open the selector under «Select capsuleer», pick the character and its colonies load below; Refresh reads ESI again after you change something in game. The selector lists only the characters of your account with the Planetary service on, which uses the ESI planets permission. A character missing from the list does not have the service: enable it on its card in your profile. The same colonies also show on each character overview page. Without an EVE login the monitor has nothing to show.

How to use it

  1. Open the selector under «Select capsuleer».
  2. Pick the character: its colonies load below.
  3. Press Refresh after changing something in game.
EVE loginPlanetary service on the character

Tip A character missing from the list does not have the Planetary service: enable it on its card in the profile.

The capsuleer selector opening and switching to TremalJack, with the colonies reloading below
AnimatedOne character at a time; only those with the Planetary service are listed.
02

How do I know how many colonies need attention?

Three numbers at the top of the Planetary Interaction monitor sum up the character: how many colonies it has, how many are healthy and how many need attention. A colony needs attention when an extractor has already stopped or stops within 24 hours. If «Attention» is above zero, there is something to do today. «Healthy» also counts colonies with no extractor, which never expire, such as factory-only or storage planets. The counters are computed from the colonies ESI returned, so they follow the 10-minute ESI cache.

How to use it

  1. Read «Attention»: if it is above zero, there is something to do today.
  2. «Healthy» also counts colonies with no extractor, which never expire.
EVE loginPlanetary service on the character
Three counters: 5 colonies, 3 healthy, 2 needing attention
The state of every colony in three numbers.
03

How do I read the extractor timers on the colony cards?

Each colony of the PI monitor is a card with the planet, its type, region and security, the number of pins and the command center upgrade level. The large number is the time until the next extractor stops, with a badge: EXPIRED in red, EXPIRING in amber under 24 hours, OK in green, IDLE when the colony has no extractor. The grid is ordered by urgency: expired first, then expiring, idle and healthy. A negative timer tells how long ago the extractor stopped. Timers count down live while the page is open. With several extractors on one planet, the card shows the one that stops first.

How to use it

  1. The grid is ordered by urgency: expired first, then expiring, idle and healthy.
  2. A negative timer tells how long ago the extractor stopped.
  3. Timers count down live while the page is open.
EVE loginPlanetary service on the character

Tip With several extractors on one planet, the card shows the one that stops first.

Five colony cards: Ikami VI expired, Ikami IV expiring in hours, Ikami III idle, Ikami II and V healthy for days
Expired in red, expiring in amber, healthy in green.
04

How do I see a colony's layout, extractors and factories?

Press Detail at the bottom of a colony card and the Planetary Interaction monitor opens the colony: a map of the pins on the planet surface, coloured by role (extractor, factory, storage, command center) and joined by their links; the list of extractors with product, quantity per cycle, cycle length, number of heads and time left; and the factories with the schematic they run. Hover a dot on the map to see which structure it is, and an extractor also shows its product. A factory without a schematic is marked Idle. Press Close to fold the card.

How to use it

  1. Press Detail at the bottom of a colony card.
  2. Hover a dot on the map to see which structure it is; an extractor also shows its product.
  3. Check the factories: one without a schematic is marked Idle.
  4. Press Close to fold the card.
EVE loginPlanetary service on the character
Opening Ikami II: the colony map with coloured pins, two extractors with their timers and the factory list
AnimatedThe colony as it is laid out on the planet, with what each pin does.
05

How do I check what is stored in launchpads and storage?

At the bottom of a colony detail, the PI monitor lists every launchpad and storage facility with its contents and quantities, and marks an empty structure as empty. It is the quickest way to see whether there are commodities ready to haul to a customs office. ESI reports the colony as it was at its last update in game, so quantities can lag behind what the factories have produced since: treat them as a minimum, not as a live count.

How to use it

  1. Open a colony with Detail.
  2. Read «Storage / Launchpad»: each structure shows its total units and what they are.
  3. An empty structure is marked as empty.
EVE loginPlanetary service on the character

Tip ESI reports the colony as it was at its last update in game: quantities can lag behind what the factories have produced since.

The storage section of Ikami II: a launchpad with Construction Blocks, Reactive Metals and Toxic Metals, a storage facility with Base Metals and Heavy Metals
What is stored in each launchpad and silo of the colony.

Frequently asked questions

How can I check my PI extractor timers without logging in to the game?

Sign in with your EVE character, enable the Planetary service in the profile and open the Planetary Interaction monitor on Capsuleers.App. Every colony shows the time left on its next extractor, read from ESI.

What does EXPIRING mean on a PI colony?

It means at least one extractor of that colony stops within 24 hours. EXPIRED means one has already stopped and is producing nothing until you restart it in game.

Why does a colony show IDLE?

IDLE means the colony has no extractor running a program: it is a factory or storage planet that works on imported materials, so it has no expiry timer.

How fresh is the data?

ESI caches the planet list and each colony for about ten minutes. In addition, ESI reports a colony as it was at its last update in game, so stored quantities can be behind.

Can I restart extractors from the site?

No. ESI only allows reading planetary colonies: restarting extractors, changing schematics and launching commodities happen in the EVE Online client.

Can I see the colonies of all my characters?

Yes, one at a time: every character with the Planetary service appears in the selector. The same colonies also show on each character overview page.

Which permission does the PI monitor need?

The ESI planets permission, granted by turning on the Planetary service for the character in your profile.