Newbie with basic questions

Hello experts. I am new to HA and have a small system up and running and now ready to take next steps. My first question is what are the required interfaces or hubs which are needed to create custom dashboards with SharpTools? Excuse this basic question but I know my current hub would not support this use and I am waiting on stock availability for SmartThings (Aerotec now) to change it out for a number of reasons( mainly to do with more flexibility). So, first is this a requirement and can the information be supplied from a hub like AmazonEcho? Just trying to understand how it all works. What about wifi only connected devices that might not show up in any hub, can they still be part of the dashboard? Thanks so much for your input.

Hi @Tom_Goben, welcome to the SharpTools family. :grinning: Yes, you would need either a SmartThings hub or Hunitat hub to connected your zigbee/z-wave devices to SharpTools, and you would want to research a bit if your current smart devices are supported in either of the hub, if you haven’t already.

There are ways to bring wifi-only devices to SharpTools via Alexa (echo). Ex: create the simulated/virtual switches using the SmartThings/Hubitat community developed device handler and use Alexa Routine to sync the state between the device and this simulated/virtual switch which can be shown/controlled in SharpTools.

@josh also posted the details about this approach previously that you might be interested to check.

Welcome @Tom_Goben
As @James says, you don’t absolutely need a Hub - many devices will link directly with SmartThings without having to actually buy or connect the physical hub.
Where are you located?
In the US, readily available wall switches/outlets/bulbs for example are Kasa/TPLink which integrate directly with ST and therefor Sharp Tools. Amazon.com : kasa Don’t know specifically about their cameras but would think that they would.
(Tuya based switches are hit or miss - some do, some don’t - essentially same product offerings, choose the Kasa!)
Another suite of excellent devices is Shelly (regardless of where you are) - these also connect directly with ST. Everything they make will go directly into ST, no hub required.
https://shop.shelly.cloud
Google Nest is starting to create directly linking to SmartThings however that is pretty much a work in progress - for example my Nest Thermostats are in ST, but it does not yet extend to Sharptools integration.
And yes, also echoing @james again, you can link pretty much any Alexa- enabled device using virtual switches.