Tutorial: Automating TIA Portal with Openness API (Complete Guide)

Why Automation is Inevitable

Manual engineering in TIA Portal is slow and error-prone. Right-clicking, creating blocks, copy-pasting code... These repetitive tasks must disappear. Thanks to the Openness API (and its T-IA Connect REST wrapper), you can drive TIA Portal like any modern software.

Prerequisites

TIA Portal V16, V17, V18, V19 or V21 installed
A T-IA Connect license (Freemium or paid)
PowerShell or Python installed on your machine

Step 1: Start the REST API

Instead of launching TIA Portal manually, we will start the T-IA Connect server which will act as a gateway. Open your terminal and run:

PowerShell

./TiaPortalApi.App.exe --headless

Step 2: Health Check

Before anything else, let's verify that the API is running and check which TIA Portal versions are available on the machine.

curl

curl http://localhost:9000/api/health

curl http://localhost:9000/api/health/versions

Response

{
  "status": "healthy",
  "tiaPortalConnected": true,
  "uptime": "00:01:23"
}

{
  "installedVersions": ["V17", "V18", "V19"]
}

Step 3: Create a Project

No more 'File > New' menus. Let's send a POST request to instantiate a blank project.

curl — POST /api/projects/actions/create

curl -X POST http://localhost:9000/api/projects/actions/create \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "MyAutomatedProject",
    "path": "C:\\TIA_Projects",
    "version": "V19"
  }'

Response

{
  "name": "MyAutomatedProject",
  "path": "C:\\TIA_Projects\\MyAutomatedProject",
  "version": "V19",
  "created": true
}

Step 4: Add a PLC & Create an FB

Search the hardware catalog for a CPU, add it to the project, then create a Function Block with SCL code — all in a few API calls.

curl — Search catalog + Add device

# Search the hardware catalog
curl -X POST http://localhost:9000/api/catalog/actions/search \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "searchPattern": "CPU 1511" }'

# Add the device to the project
curl -X POST http://localhost:9000/api/projects/devices/actions/add \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "PLC_1",
    "typeId": "<typeId from search>",
    "deviceName": "CPU 1511C-1 PN"
  }'

# Create a Function Block
curl -X POST http://localhost:9000/api/devices/PLC_1/blocks \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "FB_MotorControl",
    "type": "FB",
    "programmingLanguage": "SCL"
  }'

# Add SCL code to the block
curl -X POST http://localhost:9000/api/devices/PLC_1/blocks/FB_MotorControl/networks \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "title": "Motor control logic",
    "code": "#Running := #Start AND NOT #Stop;\nIF #Running THEN\n  #Speed := #SpeedSetpoint;\nEND_IF;"
  }'

Response

// Block creation response
{
  "name": "FB_MotorControl",
  "type": "FB",
  "programmingLanguage": "SCL",
  "number": 1
}

// Network added
{
  "networkId": 1,
  "title": "Motor control logic",
  "created": true
}

Step 5: Create Tags

Import PLC tags (inputs, outputs, memory) in bulk via a single API call. No more clicking through tag tables one by one.

curl — POST /api/devices/PLC_1/tags/actions/import

curl -X POST http://localhost:9000/api/devices/PLC_1/tags/actions/import \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "tagTable": "Motors",
    "tags": [
      { "name": "Motor1_Start",   "dataType": "Bool", "address": "%I0.0" },
      { "name": "Motor1_Stop",    "dataType": "Bool", "address": "%I0.1" },
      { "name": "Motor1_Running", "dataType": "Bool", "address": "%Q0.0" },
      { "name": "Motor1_Speed",   "dataType": "Real", "address": "%QD4"  },
      { "name": "Motor1_Fault",   "dataType": "Bool", "address": "%Q0.1" }
    ]
  }'

Response

{
  "tagTable": "Motors",
  "importedCount": 5,
  "tags": [
    { "name": "Motor1_Start",   "dataType": "Bool", "address": "%I0.0" },
    { "name": "Motor1_Stop",    "dataType": "Bool", "address": "%I0.1" },
    { "name": "Motor1_Running", "dataType": "Bool", "address": "%Q0.0" },
    { "name": "Motor1_Speed",   "dataType": "Real", "address": "%QD4"  },
    { "name": "Motor1_Fault",   "dataType": "Bool", "address": "%Q0.1" }
  ]
}

Step 6: Compile the Project

Trigger a compilation and track its progress via the Jobs API. The compilation runs asynchronously — poll the job status until it completes.

curl — Compile + Poll job

# Start compilation
curl -X POST http://localhost:9000/api/devices/PLC_1/actions/compile

# Poll the job status (replace <jobId>)
curl http://localhost:9000/api/jobs/<jobId>

Response

// Compilation started
{ "jobId": "c7f3a1b2-...", "status": "running" }

// Job completed
{
  "jobId": "c7f3a1b2-...",
  "status": "completed",
  "errors": [],
  "warnings": 2
}

Step 7: Export to XML

Export your blocks to SimaticML (XML) format for version control with Git. This is the key to treating PLC code like any other source code.

curl — POST /api/devices/PLC_1/blocks/actions/export

curl -X POST http://localhost:9000/api/devices/PLC_1/blocks/actions/export \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "blocks": ["FB_MotorControl"],
    "exportPath": "C:\\TIA_Projects\\Export"
  }'

Response

{
  "exportedCount": 1,
  "exportPath": "C:\\TIA_Projects\\Export",
  "files": ["FB_MotorControl.xml"]
}

Step 8: Save & Close

Save the project and close it cleanly. The TIA Portal instance is released and ready for the next automated run.

curl — Save & Close

curl -X POST http://localhost:9000/api/projects/actions/save

curl -X POST http://localhost:9000/api/projects/actions/close

Response

{ "saved": true }

{ "closed": true }

What's Next?

You have just automated 90% of the manual project creation tasks. You can now integrate this script into your CI/CD pipeline (Jenkins, GitLab CI) to validate your code on every commit.

Download the complete scripts for this tutorial and try them with the Freemium edition.