Why NQ2 connects applications
Keep specialised interfaces and connect the events and actions that matter in everyday use.
One everyday action, several applications
Imagine pressing a Zigbee button to play music on a Sonos speaker. Pairing the button belongs in Zigbee2MQTT. Building the playlist belongs in a music application. Connecting the press to playback is the job of an integrator.
That is the idea behind NQ2: give everyday controls a common home while keeping specialised applications useful in their own right.
Cards bridge the gap
A card is not tied to one physical device. A gate card can combine a camera, a sensor and a relay. The people using it see the action they need rather than the boundaries between integrations.
Separation has benefits and costs
Running integrations as separate applications can limit how some failures spread. It also means several services to configure, monitor and back up. Shared network, power and MQTT services remain dependencies.
This trade-off is central to the product. Read the capabilities and limitations or start with the core concepts.