CI Control Bridge vs Nickol Knx MCP

In-depth architectural comparison of the CI Control Bridge and Nickol Knx MCP MCP servers. Compare execution transports, security boundaries, tool capabilities, quality scores, and ready-to-paste client installation snippets for Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

Choose CI Control Bridge when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Home Automation domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: API Key required (Free / Open Source).
• You have access to required keys: DDC_API_KEY, MQTT_ENABLED, MQTT_HOST.
• Primary tools included: get_vcp_code, set_vcp_code, get_brightness.

Explore CI Control Bridge Details

Choose Nickol Knx MCP when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Home Automation domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).
• Primary tools included: Read-only .knxproj parsing, DPT, naming, and command/status validation, Home Assistant YAML generation.

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	CI Control Bridge DDC Home Automation	Nickol Knx MCP NickoScope Home Automation
Summary	Control monitor brightness, contrast, power and input via DDC/CI with MCP and MQTT support.	Design-time KNX/ETS6 assistant: parses .knxproj (read-only, no bus access), validates DPT/naming/command-status pairing, and generates Home Assistant YAML + ETS XML/CSV exports.
Category & Scope	Home Automation

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

Ready-to-Paste Client Configurations

Paste either (or both) of these JSON server blocks into your client config file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ddc-ci-control-bridge": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "ddc-ci-control-bridge"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DDC_API_KEY": "YOUR_DDC_API_KEY_HERE",
        "MQTT_ENABLED": "YOUR_MQTT_ENABLED_HERE",
        "MQTT_HOST": "YOUR_MQTT_HOST_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nickoscope-nickol-knx-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "nickoscope-nickol-knx-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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