INTIFACE CENTRAL ยท BUTTPLUG ยท HOME ASSISTANT ADD-ON

Intiface Central in Rose Glass.

Operations wiki for the Intiface Central Home Assistant Add-on: installation, MQTT bridge setup, device support and troubleshooting โ€” no VNC, no X11.

Add-on Slugintiface_central
WebGUIhttp://homeassistant.local:12346
Engine Port:12345 (WebSocket)
ARM Supportvia box64

โšก Minimum Run Path

Install, optionally configure MQTT, start, open WebGUI, pair device.

WebGUI: http://homeassistant.local:12346
Engine: ws://homeassistant.local:12345

๐Ÿงญ Device Access

Bluetooth LE and USB/HID are passed through from the host kernel.

BLE:  host kernel passthrough
USB:  host kernel passthrough
ARM:  intiface-engine via box64
๐Ÿ 

Home

Overview

#home

Intiface Central is a device control server for Buttplug-compatible devices (vibrators, e-stim, toys). This add-on runs it with a browser WebGUI, MQTT bridge and Home Assistant MQTT Discovery โ€” no VNC, no X11.

On aarch64 (Raspberry Pi 4/5), the x64 intiface-engine binary runs via box64 emulation.

#Wiki Pages

PagePurpose
InstallationAdd repository, install, configure MQTT, start.
ArchitectureComponent map, MQTT bridge, WebGUI.
MQTT & HA EntitiesTopics, auto-discovery, HA integration.
Device SupportBluetooth LE, USB/HID, Lovense.
TroubleshootingBluetooth, box64, WebGUI issues.

#Minimum Operating Model

Browser        โ†’ WebGUI :12346
HA Automation  โ†’ MQTT โ†’ mqtt-bridge โ†’ Node.js โ†’ intiface-engine :12345
Bluetooth/USB  โ†’ Host kernel โ†’ intiface-engine
๐Ÿงฑ

Architecture

How It Works

#architecture
โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”      โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”
โ”‚ Browser      โ”‚โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ–ถโ”‚ WebGUI /api/* + SSE  :12346       โ”‚
โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜      โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜
                                      โ”‚ Node.js
โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”      โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ–ผโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”
โ”‚ HA MQTT      โ”‚โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ–ถโ”‚ mqtt-bridge                       โ”‚
โ”‚ Automations  โ”‚      โ”‚ โ†’ device/motor โ†’ vibrate commands โ”‚
โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜      โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜
                                      โ”‚
                      โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ–ผโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”
                      โ”‚ intiface-engine :12345             โ”‚
                      โ”‚ (x64 on amd64 | box64 on aarch64) โ”‚
                      โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜
                                      โ”‚
                      โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ–ผโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”
                      โ”‚ Bluetooth LE + USB/HID             โ”‚
                      โ”‚ via host kernel passthrough        โ”‚
                      โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜

#box64 on Raspberry Pi

The intiface-engine binary is x64-only. On aarch64 hosts, it runs via box64 x86_64 emulation. Bluetooth and USB run natively through the host kernel โ€” no performance penalty for device communication.

๐Ÿš€

Installation

Install the Add-on

#installation

#Step 1 โ€” Add Repository

  1. Open Home Assistant.
  2. Go to Settings โ†’ Add-ons โ†’ Add-on Store.
  3. Open โ‹ฎ โ†’ Repositories.
  4. Add:
https://github.com/pol4rfuchs/ha-apps

#Step 2 โ€” Install

  1. Search for Intiface Central.
  2. Click Install and wait โ€” the add-on builds locally (no pre-built image).

#Step 3 โ€” Configure MQTT (Optional)

If you want MQTT integration, configure in the Configuration tab:

mqtt_host: "core-mosquitto"
mqtt_port: 1883
mqtt_username: "your_user"
mqtt_password: "your_password"
mqtt_discovery: true

#Step 4 โ€” Start

  1. Click Start.
  2. Click Open Web UI โ€” WebGUI opens at port 12346.
๐Ÿ“ก

MQTT & HA Entities

Integration

#mqtt

#MQTT Topics

Each device and motor is published as an MQTT topic:

intiface/devices/<device_id>/motor/<motor_index>/vibrate

Publish a value between 0.0 and 1.0 to control vibration intensity.

# Example: set device 0, motor 0 to 50% intensity
mosquitto_pub -t "intiface/devices/0/motor/0/vibrate" -m "0.5"

#Home Assistant MQTT Discovery

When mqtt_discovery: true, entities appear in HA automatically after the add-on starts and detects devices.

# Example HA automation
action:
  - service: mqtt.publish
    data:
      topic: "intiface/devices/0/motor/0/vibrate"
      payload: "0.8"

#Pattern Editor

The WebGUI includes a pattern editor for creating, saving and playing vibration patterns. Patterns can be triggered via the WebGUI or MQTT.

๐Ÿ”ต

Device Support

Bluetooth & USB

#devices
ProtocolSupportNotes
Bluetooth LEโœ…Via host BLE kernel passthrough. No additional config needed.
USB / HIDโœ…Via host USB kernel passthrough.
Lovense (Bluetooth)โœ…Standard BLE protocol, works natively.
Lovense (USB Dongle)โœ…USB HID passthrough.

#Host Access

Bluetooth and USB are accessed directly through the host kernel. The add-on requires the privileged flag for device access. This is configured automatically by the add-on.

On Raspberry Pi, ensure Bluetooth is enabled in the HA OS settings and that the host Bluetooth service is not blocking the adapter.
๐ŸŒ

Ports

Port Reference

#ports
PortProtocolPurpose
12345/tcpWebSocketIntiface Engine โ€” for external clients (games, apps).
12346/tcpHTTPWebGUI โ€” browser control interface.
๐Ÿ’พ

Persistence

Data & Backup

#persistence
/data/
โ””โ”€โ”€ patterns/    # Saved vibration patterns

HA backups include the add-on /data directory automatically.

๐Ÿ› ๏ธ

Troubleshooting

Known Symptoms & Fixes

#troubleshooting
SymptomCauseFix
Web UI not openingPort not mapped.Check port 12346 in the Network tab.
Device not foundBluetooth not enabled or blocked.Ensure BT is enabled on HA host; restart add-on.
box64 error on ARMWrong engine version or incompatibility.Check ENGINE_VERSION in Dockerfile against latest releases.
MQTT entities not appearingNo device connected or wrong broker.Verify broker hostname and that MQTT integration is configured in HA.
Engine binary download failsGitHub rate limit or wrong URL.Check releases page and update ENGINE_VERSION.