Communication is via WiFi to the Zimi Cloud Connect, and not directly to the devices via Bluetooth. But communication is completely direct between your HA instance and the ZCC, not via any external servers.
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Thanks for clarifying. Iām trying to work out how to build out smart switches/lights etc in my house and havenāt bought any Zimi products yet. I was wondering if Iād need to invest in the Zimi Cloud Connect so youāve answered my question there. Will definitely be back here to use the add-on if I go ahead and purchase their switches!
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Ok, weāve had a few people helping out with testing, more is always better! Anyone who wants to give this a go is welcome to do so now. All the normal caveats apply - backup before install, no guarantees etc. I donāt think there are any remaining major bugs.
The Zimi team have been great and some of the changes in the recent API update helped a lot, the integration is fast and (mostly) reliable. The only known issue is that sometimes the integration will lose contact with the ZCC so you might miss updates and you might experience a scenario where the first action (turn light on) after a long period of no interaction will not fire. A fix is in test.
INSTALL:
It is recommended you install as a custom repository using HACS, this will ensure you get notifications of new updates. Link to the repository: GitHub - markhannon/zimi-integration: Home Assistant Zimi Controller Integration
When you install the integration in HA can you please try the UDP discovery mode first (not put in any IP address and leave port at the default). This should work, you will see the integration box for zimi display an authentication error it will retry and then should become active - this is the zimi API model validating you onto the platform and is expected. If this doesnāt work try again by inputting your ZCC IP.
If you are interested, here is the link to the python module that is the real magic, there are details in the project description that will help you understand HA logs, you can also used this as a command line tool (or to build integration to other platforms): zcc-helper Ā· PyPI
Feedback is appreciated!
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Thanks man! I just add integration normally but added the ip of ZCC and itās all working fine!
Novice at all this home assist stuff. In the process of building a new house and was wanting to use the Zimi switches throughout but only if I can use them in HomeKit. Iām using Hoobs and was wondering how hard it would be to get these working in HomeKit ?
someone would need to make a plugin for it, somewhere on here was a guy saying he was interested in making one not sure if his still around
Could you share the full error and warning?
I also just noticed today that version 1.0 was released yesterday!
Iām not sure if youāve just downloaded today or working with an earlier version.
And just in case it helps, perhaps share info on your general setup (VM, etc).
I just installed this and it is fantastic!
Thanks to Bystander and everyone else involved.
Is there any reason this should not be part of the official HA integrations? That is where most people would look for it.
Hi Bystander00,
I am having trouble trying to connect to ZCC, running V1.0 setup as per normal. But Home Assistant just cannot connect, integration displays the following message:
āRetrying setup: Socket error when connecting to ZCC 192.168.0.47:5003ā
Zimi Cloud Connect firmware version: 20220516010011
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
I just installed this integration and it is amazing! So much so I went and created this account just so I could provide feedback!
Network discovery was fast and flawless. It picked up my garage door, the batteries and sensors. Using the integration is also super fast. To be honest Iām very surprised at how seamless the whole integration works - super pumped to start writing some automations for it!!
Thanks @Bystander00 and others!!!
Looking into this. No promises but the zcc-helper provides the base capability required to get a HomeKit āthingā working. Iām not in this eco-system however understand there is some demand. No idea what may be required to get HomeKit ācertifiedā 
The general idea is to get this to an offical HA integration. As you can probably tell, work kind of ebbs and flows on this little project based on time availability. With V1.0 we are satisfied that it is as robust as we can reasonably make it. The self recovery when dealing with disconnects and timeouts has been tested for about a month now and appears solid. Very happy with that, took ages to get this to a point we felt it was ready for a full release.
There are things that need to be cleaned up and coding standards to be aligned before we can submit to the HA team for review. You can assume this will happen anywhere between this weekend and sometime next year 
Would be good to see some screenshots and implementation stories.
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Thanks for the feedback and glad you are finding it useful.
Question: do your sensor readings for the garage door appear correct? Mine are way off (i.e. suggest temp is currently 34deg, it would be lucky to be 12deg in there at the moment).
I can only speak for myself but for me, it has been 100% solid and I cannot tell you how grateful I am.
I have only 5 switches so I am a smallfry. But now that the integration is working I intend to buy some more. In terms of screenshots, this is all I can offer )I am still a newbie:
I donāt yet have any Zimi devices, although I came across them when looking at options for my Steel-Line garage door.
My question is whether or not this integration (which looks like some great work has been done on by the way, kudos to you!) requires the cloud controller, or whether it will work with just the devices (assuming your HA machine has the means to connect to them via bluetooth as I understand your phone app does)?
We had this issue with one other tester but never identified the cause. We believe it has to be associated with the local network configuration as we, and several others, cannot recreate. I assume entering the IP address also doesnāt work?
What is your router model and network config?
I know it is a PITA but is there any chance you could try a different router just to test? Just isolate the network to the ZCC and your PC and see it it works? The initial discovery component is just a quick UDP broadcast so itās fairly low level.
Yes, this integration does require a zimi cloud controller (zcc) to function. It uses the Zimi local API which communicates via the local network (i.e. wifi) with the zcc.
My setup is literally 1 zcc, 1 zimi garage controller, 1 zimi garage door sensor. All located in my garage, as it turns out.
The garage controller gets wired directly into the same contacts as the physical button on the motor. I bought mine from SteelLine and connected it. Just for anyone else wondering, it doesnāt need to be a SteelLine branded door - any garage door with physical contacts will work.
The good news they promote is that the one garage door controller can be wired to two garage doors, just a second door sensor needs to be purchased. And of course you donāt need a second zcc.
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This error originated from a custom integration.
Logger: homeassistant.config_entries
Source: custom_components/zimi/controller.py:73
Integration: zimi
First occurred: 7:12:26 PM (1 occurrences)
Last logged: 7:12:26 PM
Error setting up entry ZIMI Controller for zimi
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/config_entries.py", line 357, in async_setup
result = await component.async_setup_entry(hass, self)
File "/config/custom_components/zimi/__init__.py", line 30, in async_setup_entry
connected = await controller.connect()
File "/config/custom_components/zimi/controller.py", line 73, in connect
description = await ControlPointDiscoveryService().discover()
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.10/site-packages/zcc/discovery.py", line 76, in discover
transport, _ = await self.loop.create_datagram_endpoint(
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.10/asyncio/base_events.py", line 1371, in create_datagram_endpoint
raise exceptions[0]
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.10/asyncio/base_events.py", line 1355, in create_datagram_endpoint
sock.bind(local_address)
OSError: [Errno 98] Address in use
Why is the Zimi integration not working? Is anyone else facing the same issue?
Hiya all. Iām just jumping into ha for the first time and Iām at the point of choosing a vendor for my home switches.
Until now Iāve been experimenting with Mercator and hue lights and motion sensors under ZHA.
Iāve been pretty happy with the responsiveness of these.
I originally thought Iād go with Mercator for switches as well, but this thread has me really intrigued.
I especially like the fact that the trader team are receptive to the ha community.
Iām curious to know if anyone has seen any issues with interference. If I jump into trader, that means Iāll have ZigBee + zimi + wifi + other BLE all in the same houseā¦ Concerned that 2.4 could get crowded especially since I might need a 2nd 2.4 access point at some stageā¦
Alsoā¦ How is it going using the zimi cc as a bridge? Is it solid enough yet or perhaps still a little laggy? I know that this is an issue with Phillips hue when using the hub rather than direct converted to zha.
Anyway, congrats on the progress so far!!
I have the same problem, has just started occurring.
2022-08-31 08:09:45.451 WARNING (MainThread) [homeassistant.config_entries] Config entry 'ZIMI Controller' for zimi integration not ready yet: Failure - Unable to discover ZCC by UDP broadcast.; Retrying in background
2022-08-31 08:10:54.861 ERROR (MainThread) [homeassistant.config_entries] Error setting up entry ZIMI Controller for zimi
File "/config/custom_components/zimi/__init__.py", line 30, in async_setup_entry
File "/config/custom_components/zimi/controller.py", line 73, in connect```
Have tried power cycling the ZCC and restarted HA, no go.
Grateful for any advice.