Scripting in Picalo is great, but the reality is that most users will go only as deep as the menus do.  That’s where detectlets come in: they allow you to easily add a wizard interface to your scripts.  With detectlets, script-savvy users can share their work with others in the group, who see the scripts as regular menu items with a nice wizard interface.

Right now we’re primarily using detectlets to encode fraud detection routines (hence the name).  The goal is to create a worldwide repository of detectlets that all investigators can contribute to and download from.  Right now all submitted detectlets are shipped with Picalo, but we’ll develop an online community (with ratings, comments, etc.) as the number of detectlets grows.