See AutoBrief decide.
Three sample pre-flight checks running through the live rules engine. Every reason cites the 14 CFR section it's checking. This is the engine the dispatcher will call thousands of times a year.
Scenario
GO — clean check, current pilot, clean airplane
A current IFR pilot taking a clean for-hire 172 on a VFR cross-country. Everything checks out.
Pilot
Sarah Chen
Aircraft
N7421Q · C172
Operation
VFR
Duration
1.8 hrs
No issues found. Every check passed.
Scenario
HOLD — medical expiring soon + MEL open + 100-hour close
A pilot with a medical expiring in 20 days, in a PA-28 with an open MEL item and only 5.4 hours to the next 100-hr inspection. Not blocking, but the dispatcher should know before signing off.
Pilot
Marcus Holloway
Aircraft
N3309X · PA-28
Operation
VFR
Duration
1.2 hrs
Medical (Class 3) expires 2026-06-15 — 18 day(s) remaining.
medical · warning · 14 CFR 61.23
4.2 Hobbs hour(s) remaining after this flight before next 100-hour inspection.
aircraft-inspection · warning · 14 CFR 91.409(b)
MEL item open: Landing light inoperative (MEL — VFR daytime only)
squawk · warning
Scenario
NO-GO — multiple blockers
A pilot with an expired medical, an expired flight review, no IFR currency on file, missing required complex endorsement, in an aircraft with a grounding squawk and an expired annual. The hard wall.
Pilot
Jamie Park
Aircraft
N559TL · PA-28R
Operation
IFR
Duration
1.5 hrs
Medical (Class 1) expired 2026-04-30 — 28 day(s) ago.
medical · blocking · 14 CFR 61.23
Flight review expired — last on 2024-02-15.
currency · blocking · 14 CFR 61.56
No IFR currency events on file — pilot is not current for IFR flight.
currency · blocking · 14 CFR 61.57(c)
Annual inspection expired — last annual 2024-09-01.
aircraft-inspection · blocking · 14 CFR 91.409(a)
Grounding squawk open: Engine oil leak — origin unidentified
squawk · blocking
complex endorsement required for PA-28R.
endorsement · blocking · 14 CFR 61.31(e)
About the engine
AutoBrief's rules engine is deterministic — every check is a pure function over the pilot/aircraft state. The same inputs always produce the same output. Reg references point to 14 CFR sections so a CFI can verify the logic. The AI layer (Claude) sits on topof this — it turns the engine's output into plain-English explanations for the dispatcher.