The SharKNX assistant lets you work with your KNX installation by typing what you want: "is 1.1.5 alive?", "which devices are in room 101?", "set the kitchen temperature to 21". It answers questions about your ETS project and runs gateway, device, group address, and monitor tasks - always after showing you what it is about to do.
This page explains how the assistant works and why it behaves the way it does. To start using it, see Use the Assistant.
A KNX assistant, not a chatbot
The assistant is built for one job: understanding requests about a KNX installation. It knows a fixed set of tasks - gateways, devices, group addresses, monitoring, project questions, and command sequences - and it does not chat about anything else or improvise when it doesn't recognise a request.
Behind it there is no AI language model and no cloud service. Your request is interpreted on your phone or computer by a deterministic engine that matches it against the tasks it knows and against the names in your loaded ETS project. This means:
- It works offline - it needs no internet connection, only your KNX gateway for bus tasks.
- Your project stays on your device - project data and prompts are never sent anywhere.
- It is predictable - the same request on the same project always gives the same result. On a live building, that matters more than eloquence.
The assistant currently understands English prompts only. Its answers are shown in your app language.
How a request is handled
- You type a request - in plain English, or as an exact
sharknxcommand. - The assistant works out what you mean - the task, and the devices, group addresses, rooms, or values you named. Names are looked up in your ETS project, so "kitchen light" becomes the group address it refers to.
- If something is unclear, it asks. When a name matches several things, or a value or target is missing, it offers the choices instead of guessing.
- It proposes, you confirm. Anything that writes to the bus or changes a device is shown first as a card with its targets and values. Nothing happens until you confirm it.
- SharKNX runs it - through the same code as the rest of the app, after checking once more that the targets still exist in the loaded project and that the gateway is connected.
Questions about your project are answered straight from the loaded ETS project - the assistant counts, lists, and follows links between devices, group addresses, spaces, and functions exactly, rather than estimating.
Confirmation levels
Every task has a fixed confirmation level, set by the app - not by the wording of your request:
| Level | Tasks | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| None | Questions about the project, reading a group address, checking a device, scans, connecting, the monitor | The task runs straight away |
| Confirm | Writing one group address, restarting a device, switching programming mode | Confirm or Cancel on the card |
| Strong confirmation | Writing several group addresses at once, write sequences, programming an individual address | Strong confirmation required - the card lists every protected step before anything runs |
A request can only ever touch a bounded number of targets - see Limits. If the project changes after a card was prepared, the card can no longer run; ask again to use the current project.
Three ways to ask
| Way | Example | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Plain English | turn off the corridor lights |
Everyday use - names from your project, clarification when needed |
| Exact commands | sharknx write 1/2/3 on |
When you know exactly what you want. Nothing is interpreted or guessed - see Assistant Commands. |
| Your own words | good night |
Aliases for names and phrases you use, and scripts for command sequences you repeat - see Aliases and Scripts |
Plain English also handles simple sequences - "connect then start monitor", "turn 1/2/3 on and 1/2/4 off". Exact commands can build full plans with conditions, for example writing to one address only if another reads above a value.
What it needs
- An ETS project for anything that uses names, rooms, or project questions. Without one, the assistant still works with literal addresses such as
1/2/3and1.1.5. - A gateway connection for anything on the bus. You can connect from the chat - "connect", or "find gateways".
- On Android, iOS, and macOS, the free plan includes a daily number of prompts, and device tasks and scans need a subscription - see Subscription Plans.
Related
- Assistant Page - the chat screen, cards, and settings
- Use the Assistant - what you can ask, with examples
- Aliases and Scripts - teach it your own words
- Assistant Commands - the exact
sharknxcommand language
