Glossary

This page provides an overview of the terms used in the homebridge-hue Wiki.

Term	Context	Description
accessory	HomeKit	The HomeKit representation of a real-world device. A HomeKit-enabled device exposes itself to HomeKit using HAP. It connects over WiFi, over Bluetooth Low Energy, or through a bridge.
API	HomeKit	The Objective C or Swift API exposed by HomeKit, see HomeKit API Reference. This API is not used by homebridge-hue, as it's available only to HomeKit apps on iOS, watchOS, or tvOS.
API	Hue	The RESTful API exposed by the Hue bridge, see Philips hue API. This API is used by homebridge-hue to communicate with a Hue bridge.
attribute	Hue	An attribute of a resource exposed by the Hue bridge API, like state.on. Typically, homebridge-hue maps a Hue bridge attribute to a HomeKit characteristic. See Attributes for an overview of the Hue bridge attributes supported by homebridge-hue.
automation	HomeKit	Synonymous for rule.
bridge	HomeKit	A HomeKit accessory that provides access to other, bridged, HomeKit accessories. homebridge creates a single bridge accessory to provide shared access over WiFi to the HomeKit accessories created by homebridge plugins, like homebridge-hue. homebridge-hue acts as a gateway, converting HAP to the Hue API.
bridge	Hue	A device that provides access to lights, sensors, and switches. The Hue "bridge" is actually a gateway as it converts the Hue API over TCP/IP to ZLL over ZigBee. homebridge-hue supports both the v2 (square) and the v1 (round) Hue bridge.
characteristic	HomeKit	A proporty of a HomeKit service that can be read or written by a HomeKit app. Typically, homebridge-hue maps a Hue bridge attribute to a HomeKit characteristic. See Characteristics for an overview of the characteristic types used by homebridge-hue.
device		A real-world device, like a Hue bridge, or a light, sensor, or switch connected to a Hue bridge. These devices connect to a Hue bridge using ZLL over ZigBee. The Hue API represents a device as one or more resources. HomeKit represents a device as an accessory. See Devices for an overview of the device types supported by homebridge-hue.
group	HomeKit	A collection of HomeKit services. Siri can interact with HomeKit groups.
group	Hue	A Hue bridge resource for a collection of light resources.
HAP	HomeKit	HomeKit Accessory Protocol. The protocol through which a HomeKit-enabled device exposes itself to HomeKit. This protocol has been implemented by HAP-NodeJS, which is used by homebridge and by homebridge-hue to communicate with HomeKit. The official documentation for this protocol is available only to Apple MFI partners.
request	Hue
resource	Hue	A resource exposed by the Hue API, like /lights/1, typically representing a device. Typically, homebridge-hue maps a Hue bridge resource to a HomeKit service. See Devices for an overview of the resource types per device type supported by homebridge-hue.
room	HomeKit	The HomeKit representation of a real-world room. A HomeKit room contains zero or more HomeKit accessories. homebridge-hue does not support HomeKit rooms, as they are exposed only through the HomeKit API, not through HAP.
room	Hue	The Hue representation of a real-world room. A Hue bridge room is actually a group, containing zero or more lights. Currently, homebridge-hue supports rooms only as groups.
rule	HomeKit
rule	Hue	A Hue bridge resource for one to eight conditions and one to eight actions. Each condition might act as trigger: the actions are executed when the final condition becomes true.
schedule	Hue	A Hue bridge resource for a single action to be executed at a specified time.
scene	HomeKit	A collection of characteristic values.
scene	Hue	A Hue bridge resource for a collection of light state attribute values.
service	HomeKit	The HomeKit representation of a logical device. A HomeKit accessory contains one or more services. Siri acts on services rather than accessories.
ZigBee	Hue	The wireless network technology used by the Hue bridge to connect to lights, sensors, and switches. See What is ZigBee?.
trigger	HomeKit
ZLL	Hue	ZigBee Light Link. The protocol used by the Hue bridge to connect to lights, sensors, and switches. See ZigBee Light Link.
zone	HomeKit	A collection of Homekit rooms.