IBH AI Copilot for TIA Portal
IBH AI Copilot for TIA Portal (S7-AIT) helps users understand, analyse and document TIA projects. The application window is titled AI Copilot.
The application reads project information through TIA Portal Openness. For online questions, it uses the selected PLC. Program sources can be retrieved as needed and analysed together with successfully read PLC values.
Documentation updated: 4 November 2026. Available functions depend on the installed application version, CPU, firmware and TIA version.
Quick start
- Start IBH AIT.
- Select Open project … and choose the project file. The appropriate installed Openness version is detected automatically.
- Wait for the project to finish opening. The project and selected PLC appear in the title bar and project information area.
- If the project contains several CPUs, select the required target under PLC / CPU. The target address is taken from the hardware configuration.
- Click Online to use current PLC values. Project analysis is also available offline.
- Enter a question and click Send.
Example questions:
Explain this project. What does FB14 do? Where is this block called? Why is MotorAlarm set? Which inputs affect the motor enable? Which modules are configured? Which module contains input I12.3? What is displayed on the HMI?
Enter sends the question. Shift + Enter inserts a new line. Automatic analysis actions do not overwrite a manually started draft in the input field.
Requirements and installation
The application requires 64-bit Windows, .NET Framework 4.8 and an installed TIA version matching the project, with an accessible Openness interface. Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime is required for embedded HTML/SVG previews. Available project information depends on the TIA version and device type.
The installer is named IBHAITSetup.exe and the shortcut is named IBH AIT. The application executable is S7-AIT.exe. Restart the application after an update.
Openness access
When a project is opened, TIA may ask whether S7-AIT is allowed to access the portal. This authorises application access to TIA; it is separate from logging in to a protected PLC.
- Yes allows the current access.
- Yes to all saves the authorisation as described in the TIA prompt.
- No denies access.
TIA may request authorisation again after application files have changed. The Windows user must have the required Siemens Openness permissions.
Licensing and demo mode
The About / Information and licensing dialog provides online activation, saving a license request, importing a license and removing a license. S7-AIT uses its own machine-bound licenses with the product identifier S7-AIT.
Without a valid license, all functions are initially available for the session. The activation dialog appears every five minutes. After 30 minutes, only activation and exiting the application remain available. A valid license removes this demo limitation. A software license does not automatically include charges incurred with an AI provider.
Interface and project structure
The top area shows the AI model, provider and API key, together with the active project, selected PLC, target address and TIA version. The language button offers English in the German interface and Deutsch in the English interface.
The project tree follows the TIA structure and displays accessible stations, devices, blocks, tags and other supported objects. Areas not exposed by the available API are hidden. An item missing from the Copilot tree does not prove that it is absent from the TIA project.
- Select an object to set the context. For CPU-related objects, the corresponding CPU is taken into account.
- Double-click an item to start its AI analysis.
- Right-click selects the clicked item and offers AI analysis.
- Search project … filters loaded project nodes.
- Blocks, Hardware and Project switch the tree view.
The chat can be detached into its own window and embedded again. Window position and size are saved when it is embedded or closed. After an answer finishes, the chat scrolls to the end.
New chat clears the conversation context. Changing projects or CPUs clears the associated analysis context to prevent information from different systems being mixed.
AI access and API key
| Provider | Configuration |
|---|---|
| OpenAI | API key and an available model |
| Gemini | Gemini access and a supported model |
| Anthropic | Anthropic access and a supported model |
| OpenAI-compatible | Endpoint, API key if required, and model name |
| Microsoft Foundry | Endpoint, API key and a valid model/deployment name |
| Company server | Endpoint and the required authorisation for the computer on the company server |
Refresh the model list to retrieve models available from the provider. Access to a provider does not necessarily include every model, and not every model supports every additional function.
To save an API key permanently, choose the provider and endpoint where applicable, enter the key and select Save. Saved keys are encrypted in the Windows user profile and loaded again. Encryption is bound to the Windows user. Keys are stored separately by provider and, where applicable, by endpoint. An existing key is displayed as masked characters. The company server does not use this local API-key storage.
PLC usernames and passwords are separate from AI API keys. They are used for PLC authentication and are not permanently stored as API keys.
Project analysis and sources
The Copilot can explain a selected block or an entire project. An explicit block number such as FB14 is searched in the current CPU context even if no block was selected first. If several objects match, no arbitrary assignment is made.
For follow-up questions, the application can search program sources, calls, cross-references and signal usages. Available project sources can be retrieved automatically instead of routinely asking the user to supply an XML export.
Reusing the project snapshot
When reuse is enabled, previously read sources and suitable analysis results remain available within the current project/CPU context. This speeds up follow-up questions. After changes in TIA, disable reuse or reload the project snapshot.
A stored offline export does not establish that the online program is identical. Current state questions require newly read live values.
Large projects
An AI request can process only a limited amount of information. The application selects relevant original sources and can retrieve further sources as needed. Large content may be analysed in sections and summarised. Summaries may lose detail and do not replace the original networks.
Object counts and reported gaps describe the coverage of the scanned project snapshot. Know-how protection, export errors and unavailable API functions remain applicable.
Online connection to the selected CPU
The selection under PLC / CPU determines the target for online requests. The IP address is taken from the hardware configuration. MPI/PROFIBUS addresses such as 21 are not used as IPv4 targets.
Online access supports S7-300, S7-400, S7-1200, S7-1500 and WinAC RTX. Available read functions depend on the CPU type and its access permissions.
Separate Ethernet communication processors are considered when they can be assigned unambiguously to the CPU in the same rack. For WinAC RTX, an appropriate separate Ethernet component in the same PC station is considered. The CPU index and Ethernet component index remain distinct.
The application obtains the required connection parameters from the project. Missing or ambiguous assignments are reported.
Online opens the connection and reads the device identity. The button turns blue while connected. Click it again to disconnect. Connected does not mean that all variables and diagnostic information have already been read.
If a protected CPU returns an authentication error, the application requests credentials. Depending on CPU and firmware configuration, a password alone or a username and password may be required. Connection timeouts are handled separately from authentication failures. Stored PLC passwords cannot be retrieved from the project.
Current values
Read MW0 from the PLC. What is the value of MW0? What is the state of SystemStart_PB? Read the current values of Motor_DB. CPU status
For S7-300, S7-400 and WinAC RTX, absolute operands can be read directly without a matching entry in an online symbol catalog. Symbolic variables are resolved using available project and online information.
An entire block is not a single measured value. Reading DB contents requires readable variables or established addresses. Optimised DBs, protected variables and unavailable symbols can limit access. Not read does not mean FALSE or 0.
When Online is active, relevant current values are retrieved for AI analyses. Device identification is also read. Read time and quality form part of the evaluation. Multiple individual reads do not constitute an atomic snapshot.
CPU status and diagnostic buffer
CPU status Read the diagnostic buffer of the selected CPU.
The CPU status shows available information actually read from the device and its operating state. RUN alone does not prove that a particular FB or program branch is executing.
Reading the diagnostic buffer
The diagnostic buffer can be read for S7-300, S7-400 and WinAC RTX. Results include the selected CPU, target address, read time, entry count, date, time and decoded event text, with event identifiers and additional information where available.
The buffer contains historical events. A STOP entry therefore does not prove that the CPU is currently in STOP. Read the operating state separately. Undecoded event identifiers remain visible; descriptions are not invented.
Reading the diagnostic buffer of S7-1200 and S7-1500 is not available in this version. Only the selected CPU is queried.
Hardware, I/O and HMI
Hardware analysis covers accessible stations, racks, modules and submodules, along with available type, order number, slot, address and network information. Identical addresses belonging to different CPUs remain separate.
Which CPUs are configured in the project? Which input modules are configured? Which module contains I12.3? Which HMI is configured, and what does it display?
I/O assignments use available module address ranges and actual ownership relationships. Channel addresses are shown only when explicitly available. Assignment to a module, terminal wiring and the physically connected sensor are different pieces of information.
HMI functions are explained from available screens, tags, events, alarms, scripts and connections. A device name alone does not establish its operating function. Reconstructions of exported HMI data are not guaranteed to match the WinCC Runtime screen pixel for pixel.
Displaying blocks graphically
Show FB14 graphically. Show FB18 graphically. Show FB14 as a local diagram.
| View | Description |
|---|---|
| Original in the TIA editor | Opens the specific block using its original TIA representation. |
| Local XML preview | Reconstructs LAD/FBD networks or GRAPH steps and transitions from XML. Provides network selection, zoom, fit to view and PNG export. |
When reuse is enabled, a previously read graphic source may be displayed again. A snapshot notice is shown if it may be outdated. Reload the project snapshot after changes in TIA.
The local preview requires readable XML. SCL/STL source text or a block interface alone does not contain the complete graphical wiring. If neither a new export nor a matching saved XML source is available, a complete reconstruction is not possible. Opening the original in TIA is independent of the local preview.
The local layout is not guaranteed to be identical to TIA and is not an online block-status display. Offline initial values are not measured signal states.
Data use and limitations
AI requests may send required project sources, selected attachments, diagnostic information and relevant current PLC values to the configured service. For confidential projects, use an appropriately approved provider or company server.
- API keys are not supplied to the AI as project content.
- Public web/image search uses the intended public search term. Complete project exports and conversation histories are not automatically sent as search queries.
- Product images do not establish the actual wiring of a machine.
- The Copilot does not download programs to the PLC, force values or change CPU operating modes.
- AI does not remove know-how protection or make unavailable API data accessible.
- Individual snapshots cannot establish a brief pulse or prove a historical root cause.
- Answers and documentation drafts require engineering review against the available sources.
AW7 export, oscilloscope recording and control of TIA block-status monitoring are outside the scope documented here.
Frequently asked questions
The IP address is empty although one is configured
Check the selected CPU and Ethernet component. A WinAC PC station may have its address on a separate Ethernet component. An address must not be assigned arbitrarily to a different CPU. Use an application version that supports the relevant assignment.
Connected, but the AI reports missing values
Establishing a connection and requesting particular data are separate operations. CPU status, the diagnostic buffer and memory values require different read requests. A symbol-catalog query does not replace reading the diagnostic buffer. What matters is the selected CPU and a successful current read of the requested data.
The original block opens, but the local diagram is missing
The local view needs XML. TIA may reject an export because it is online, the object is inconsistent or protection applies. With reuse enabled, a matching existing export may be used. Without a readable source, a complete reconstruction is not possible. Check the original export message.
Why can an analysis take longer?
The duration includes TIA access, source searches, PLC reads where applicable and AI processing. A focused block or signal question usually needs fewer sources than a complete project analysis. Reuse speeds up follow-up questions based on unchanged sources; current PLC values still need to be read again.
Can PLC credentials be taken from the project?
Stored PLC passwords cannot be retrieved from the project. An HMI or project user is not automatically a valid PLC user. Enter required credentials in the application's local login dialog.
Trademark notice: IBH AI Copilot for TIA Portal is a product of IBHsoftec. TIA Portal is a trademark of Siemens.