1. Custom Machines: Key notes - HellFirePvP/ModularMachinery GitHub Wiki

In order to make a custom machine, its "components" have to be defined. The machine is 1 controller block in the "center" and the rest of the machinery is placed around it in a specific pattern. If the pattern is valid, the controller will then recognize that said machine was correctly assembled and will then perform crafting/processing of whatever kind of recipes you've made up for it (explaining how to make those in another wiki page).

A machine might need more than just its controller block and some specific blocks. Input and Output Buses for Items, Input and Output Hatches for fluids and an Energy Hatch to supply power are essential to interact with the machine as a whole in any way and are used to input items or fluids for specific recipes, provide power to run those recipes and then collect/drain items/fluids from the outputs after the recipe has been completed.

Including possible positions in your machine-complex for said Input/Output Buses/Hatches and Energy Hatches is required if you want to register recipes that require said inputs/outputs. For example, you can hardly have a recipe for a machine that requires 1 item as input, but the machine doesn't have any position where you could place a input bus to actually input any items. Same goes for the output bus; If you have recipes that produce items and you don't have an output bus on your machine, it can't process it because it has no place to output the items to. Same goes if (all) output bus(es) are full.