Kbox ETS MCP

Kbox ETS MCP is an ETS App that lets an AI agent read and work on the KNX project you currently have open in ETS6. It runs inside ETS, so the agent sees the live project — the same topology, devices, group addresses and parameters you see on screen.

This guide takes you from installing the app to asking Claude its first question.

Before you start

• ETS 6 installed, with a project open. The server has nothing to talk about until a project is open.
• A Kbox account, for the remote connection. You will sign in with it once.
• Claude Desktop if you want the simplest setup, or any MCP-capable agent (Claude on the web, Codex, Gemini CLI) if you prefer.

1. Install the ETS App

Install the .etsapp file the way you install any ETS App. There is no need to restart ETS — the app is available as soon as it is installed.

2. Open the panel

The app does not open by itself and it does not add a tab of its own. Open it from the toolbar: Panels → All Panels → Kbox → Kbox ETS MCP.

Everything in this guide happens in that panel. Click the star beside Kbox ETS MCP to pin it, and it is one click away next time.

Read the warning before you connect

The panel opens with a deliberate warning, and it is worth a moment:

This server can give a connected AI agent the full topology of this building, its complete device inventory, and the firmware state of every device on the bus. That data typically leaves your computer and is processed by a cloud-hosted language model. Read-only access already exposes all of this; the write and online tiers additionally let the agent change the project or the running installation.

In other words: even the safest tier sends your project's contents to a language model. Decide with that in mind.

3. Choose what Claude may do

Three tiers, each including everything the one above it allows:

• Read only — read the project, catalogue and master data. Nothing is changed.
• Can edit the project — modify the open project. Every change is wrapped in an ETS undo marker, so it can be reverted from ETS.
• Can talk to devices — communicate with real hardware over the bus: reads, writes, downloads and firmware updates. Irreversible, and confirmed individually every time.

Two safeguards are built in and cannot be switched off:

• An agent cannot raise its own tier. Only the person sitting in front of ETS can arm write or online access.
• Elevated permissions reset to read-only every time ETS starts. Arming write or online access is a decision for the current session only.

Tool groups

Under Which tools are on? you can switch off whole groups — Topology, Group addresses, Communication objects, Parameters, Buildings, Catalog, Undo history, Bus, Device management, Network management, Commissioning, Jobs, Export, Navigation. A group you turn off is not offered to the agent at all.

4. Connect

There are two routes. Pick one.

Option A — From somewhere else (the default)

This is the choice the panel starts on. Use it for Claude on the web, or whenever the agent is not running on the ETS machine. It is two steps: first you allow this computer, then you introduce the project to Claude. Nothing connects until you press these buttons yourself.

Step 1 — Allow this computer

The panel shows an address that already carries your code, for example https://id.kboxsolutions.com/device?user_code=XXXX-XXXX.

1. Press Copy.
2. Open that address in a browser — on this computer or on your phone.
3. Check that the page shows the same code the panel shows.
4. Sign in with your Kbox account and approve.

The panel waits while you do this, and moves on by itself once you approve. If you change your mind, press Cancel. Revoke this computer's access undoes the approval later.

Step 2 — Introduce this project to Claude

Copy the Server address from the panel — https://mcp.etsmcp.kboxsolutions.com/mcp — then set it up in Claude.

Open Claude, go to Customize → Connectors:

Press + Add, give it a name and paste the server address:

Claude detects how to sign in. The defaults shown as Detected are the right ones — Sign in now and Use Claude's published identity. Leave Request headers empty; this server does not need one.

Press Add. The connector appears but is not connected yet — press Connect:

You are sent to the Kbox sign-in page to authorize Claude:

The account box is blanked out in this guide; yours shows your own user ID and e-mail address. The page lists exactly what you are granting:

• Read your ETS project — topology, devices, group addresses, parameters and the product catalogue.
• Change your ETS project — create and edit group addresses, parameters, devices and topology. Each change is one undoable entry in ETS.

Press Authorize and you are returned to Claude, connected.

This grant is a ceiling, not a switch. Authorizing project changes here does not turn them on. The agent can only do what both this grant and the tier armed in the ETS panel allow — and the ETS side goes back to read-only every time ETS restarts.

Option B — Claude Desktop, on this computer

Only for an agent running on the ETS machine itself. Claude Desktop speaks stdio directly to the server, so there is no terminal, no JSON file to edit, and no token to copy by hand.

1. Choose On this computer.
2. Press Connect Claude Desktop.
3. Restart Claude Desktop.

That is the whole setup — no pairing, no server address.

5. Set tool permissions in Claude

Claude groups the server's tools into read-only and write/delete, and lets you decide when each may run: Always allow, Needs approval, or Blocked.

A reasonable starting point: leave the read-only tools on Always allow, and set the write/delete group to Needs approval until you trust what the agent does with your project. You can override individual tools within a group.

This is a second, independent brake. It does not replace the ETS tier — it narrows what a tier already permits.

6. Ask it something

Open a conversation and ask about the project. For example:

• "How many devices are in this project, and which lines are they on?"
• "List every group address under 1/2 and tell me which devices are linked to each."
• "Which communication objects on the thermostat in the living room are unlinked?"
• "Create group addresses 0/3/1 to 0/3/8 named Kitchen Light 1 … 8."

Changes land in ETS as you watch. Each one is a single entry in ETS's own undo list, so Ctrl+Z in ETS reverts it.

Anything that touches real hardware — a bus read or write, a download, a firmware update — opens a confirmation dialog in ETS and waits for a person to answer. The agent cannot confirm it for you.

7. Other agents (Codex, Gemini CLI)

Expand Advanced in the panel. It shows the local endpoint, an access token, and ready-made instructions for other tools.

• Endpoint — the local address the server is listening on, e.g. http://127.0.0.1:62560/mcp.
• Access token — needed only by tools other than Claude. Press Show or Copy; Regenerate issues a new one immediately.
• Export directory — where exported files are written.

The token changes every time ETS starts. If your agent stops connecting, come back here and copy the new one. (The token is blanked out in the screenshot above — yours will show a real value.)

Turn access off stops the server without closing ETS.

Things worth knowing

• A project must be open in ETS. With no project open, the tools refuse and tell you so.
• The permission tier resets to read-only on every ETS restart — by design, not a bug.
• Project changes are undoable from ETS. Bus operations are not; that is why each one is confirmed separately.
• The agent never sees your ETS password or your Kbox password. Signing in happens in your browser, and the server only ever receives a token.

Troubleshooting

• The agent says no project is open — open a project in ETS, then retry.
• The agent says it lacks permission — arm a higher tier in the ETS panel. Remember it resets when ETS restarts. Also check the tool is not Blocked in Claude's connector settings.
• A non-Claude agent stopped connecting — ETS restarted, so the access token changed. Copy the new one from Advanced.
• The pairing code expired — press Cancel, then start step 1 again for a fresh code.
• A tool group is missing — it is switched off under Which tools are on? in the panel.