Overview on Tinkerbus

What Tinkerbus is

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Tinkerbus is an open-source, ETS-compatible tool for KNX installations. It consists of:

A desktop application. Built with Wails (a Go backend and a React and TypeScript interface in a native window). It opens ETS 6 projects, edits them, shows the bus and programs devices. See the application.
Five command line tools. knxproj, knxprobe, knxdownload, knxprogram and knxcap. They share their code with the application. See command line tools.
An optional online catalog client. The application can search the knxprod-index service for manufacturer product data and install it with one click.

What it works with

ETS 6 project files (.knxproj), including password-protected ones. ETS 4 and ETS 5 projects are not supported.
.knxprod product databases from manufacturers, including the zip files some manufacturers wrap them in.
KNXnet/IP gateways and routers (tunnelling over UDP or TCP).

What it does not do

It makes only simple new projects: “Start from scratch” writes an empty project with one area and one line, without a password. Whether ETS 6 opens it has not been tried.
It cannot produce a project signature that ETS accepts, so after editing, ETS 6 may warn about the file or refuse to open it. See Saving.
It does not implement KNX IP Secure.
It is not an ETS licence replacement and does not handle ETS licences.

See Tinkerbus compared with ETS 6 for the full list, and Status for what is open.

Tinkerbus compared with ETS 6

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

ETS is the engineering tool of the KNX Association. Tinkerbus is an independent project that reads and writes the same project format for part of what ETS does. This page lists what Tinkerbus does and does not do compared with ETS 6. It describes Tinkerbus only; it makes no claims about ETS beyond what is needed to name a feature.

Done implemented and tested. Partial implemented with a limit that the note names. Not yet not implemented.

Status and open items

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

This page follows the roadmap of the project (TODO.md in the repository). It is a snapshot; the source of truth is the repository.

What this documentation describes

The documentation was last checked against these revisions of the source repositories. Anything committed after them is not covered yet.

Project	Documented at revision	Date of that revision
Tinkerbus	`b6db70b2`	2026-10-22
knxprod-index	`005cabab`	2026-10-21

Maturity

The public repository starts with the initial release of 22 October 2026. No tags, no version number.
No continuous integration yet. The Go and TypeScript test suites run locally.
Tinkerbus is MIT licensed; knxprod-index has no licence yet. See Legal.

Verified on real hardware

See Programming: verified masks for the details. In short: full loads were done on devices of mask versions 0x0021, 0x0705, 0x07B0, 0x091A and 0x0012.

FAQ

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Can I use Tinkerbus instead of ETS?

For some jobs, yes: inspecting and reporting on a project, bulk editing group addresses, comparing versions, watching the bus, and loading a device whose mask is on the verified list. Not for others: new projects with a password, IP Secure, ETS 4 and 5 projects, or any workflow that needs a project signature ETS accepts. See the comparison.

Will ETS open a project I saved with Tinkerbus?

Maybe. Tinkerbus changes the project content, so the ETS signature in the file no longer matches, and Tinkerbus says so when you save. The result has not been checked in ETS 6 yet. Save replaces the file you opened, after copying its previous version to a backup folder (the last five are kept). Use Save as to work on a copy, and keep a copy of your original file.