Here is a nice project if you work with KNX....
You know the routine. ETS is open on the laptop downstairs. You're up
the ladder, torch between your teeth, pressing the programming button on
actuator number seven. Climb down. Walk to laptop. ETS hasn't picked it
up. Was it the wrong device? Is the button stuck? Did your thumb miss?
Climb back up. Repeat. Knee hurts.
This is a small custom integration to make Home Assistant solve that -
specifically for the lone-wolf KNX installer or DIY commissioner who is
also their own apprentice, runner, and PC-watcher. The phone in your
pocket becomes a bit like the laptop you didn't bring up the ladder.
What you get
- Push notification on your phone within a few seconds of any device
entering programming mode. The body includes the device's ETS name,
description, area, line, manufacturer, product, hardware, application
program - plus a live bus read of mask version, manufacturer ID, order
info, and 6-byte serial number. Plenty to confirm "yes that was the
right one" without coming down. - A second notification when it leaves programming mode - and on iOS
it replaces the first one (per-devicetagcollapse) so you don't
end up scrolling through a wall of stale banners while balanced on
rung four. - TTS through your media players if you'd rather hear "Living-room
dimmer entered programming mode" over the in-ceiling speakers. (Yes,
this is overkill. Yes, it is also delightful.) - A dashboard view with a live list of every device currently in
programming mode and its full data dump. Open it on the phone while
you're up there. - Events (
knx_progmode_entered,knx_progmode_left) for any
automation you can dream up - "nag me if I left something in progmode
for more than 10 minutes", "log every press to Logbook so I can prove
to future-me what I did during the session", etc.
How it works
It reuses the running xknx instance owned by HA's built-in KNX
integration. No extra tunnel, no second gateway config, no duplicated
credentials - if your KNX integration already works, this just bolts
on. A single switch entity arms the scanner (off by default, because the
scan broadcasts every few seconds and you don't want that running
forever in the background). Flip it on when you head up the ladder. Flip
it off when you remember to.
Bonus if you've imported your .knxproj into HA's KNX integration:
the integration looks up every detected individual address in the
project and enriches the notification with the ETS-given name. So the
buzz in your pocket reads "Living-room dimmer entered programming mode"
instead of "1.1.5 entered programming mode" - a small thing that turns
out to matter a lot when you're trying to do mental arithmetic about
which device that is while gripping a ladder.
The real use case
You. Alone. With a ladder and an iPhone and a KNX bus full of devices
that all look identical from behind a ceiling tile or inside a distribution box!
- Climb up, press the prog button, feel the phone buzz, glance at the
notification: "yep, 1.1.5 - that's the one I meant." Climb down once,
not three times. - Forget to release a device from programming mode? The "left"
notification never came. Your phone is telling you about it from the
kitchen table. - Want a record of every device you commissioned today? The events go
into Logbook automatically. Beats writing it on the back of an
envelope you'll lose.
Install
HACS → ⋯ → Custom repositories →
https://github.com/edmondharty/ha-knx-progmode → category
Integration → install → restart → add the integration from the UI →
flip on the scanning switch. The README has the dashboard YAML and a
generic push-notification automation you can paste in.
Status & disclaimer
Personal project. MIT licensed. Available as is - no warranty, no
promises of updates or ongoing support. It works for me on my install.
Vet the code before depending on it for paid commissioning work.
Feel free to comment if you find it useful!
Enjoy it. Save your knees. Happy Home Assisting!