# Router integrations

> What a router-aware connection gives you, and what Levels, destination locking and breakaway each supported router module exposes to Buttons.

A router-aware connection lets Buttons work with a router as a router, not just as a list of commands. Buttons reads all of the router's sources and destinations from the connection, so you don't have to type them in or build a button for every crosspoint. They then appear everywhere Buttons handles routing: in Router Sections and Custom Router sections on a position, for operators to take routes in the Routing view, for checking and changing routes, labels, Tielines and locks A router-aware connection still has its module's own actions, feedbacks and variables, and you can use them directly. When you work with a router, though, we advise against using them for routing at all, for two reasons: You miss out on the benefits. The routing features give you live route status, labels, locks, routing Presets, Projects and Tielines across every panel. A route taken with an action is just a command sent to the router. You take on the risk. Buttons doesn't apply its routing safeguards to routes taken this way. Whoever designs the position then has to prevent mistakes themselves, such as routing over a locked destination or taking a route without confirmation. Routers differ in what they can do, and that's what the rest of this page covers: how many independently-routable Levels a connection has, whether Buttons can lock its destinations, and whether any channels can break away across Levels. Checking this before you build a position means you won't find out later that a control you expected (a lock button, a second audio Level) isn't there for that device. Read Understand physical routing first if you haven't already: it covers sources, destinations, ports and bundles, which this page builds on. Before you begin A router-aware connection already added, running a compatible module version. See Update a connection's module safely if you're unsure which version is installed. Access to Connect → Connection to check a connection's configuration, and to Routing to verify the result. How Buttons models a router's routing behavior A router-aware connection can expose more than one Level : an independently-routable layer of a signal, such as video, left audio, right audio, or a data channel. When a connection has only one Level, its sources and destinations move as a single unit: routing a source always changes everything at once. When a connection has more than one Level, each one is its own routing matrix, and routing only one part of a bundle (sending Camera 2's video to Program while leaving its existing audio in place, for example) becomes possible. The Level's role (Video, Audio, or Data) is what the Ports view's Role filter matches against. A router-aware connection can also expose destination locking. Where it does, Buttons shows lock and unlock controls for the affected destinations and reports the lock as a user lock or a hard lock : see Understand route status for what each means and how they appear in the Routing view. Not every module reports locks the same way, and some don't support locking at all. A few modules go further than ordinary Level-to-Level routing with a device-specific breakaway feature that lets individual channels cross Levels. Where that exists, it's called out on the module's own page, along with its experimental status if it has one. What differs by module Buttons 1.8 works as a router with the modules below, at the module versions listed. Any other module can still be controlled through its own actions, but Buttons doesn't treat it as a router. Live status shows whether Buttons reads the current routes back from the device. Where it doesn't, the Routing view and route feedbacks can't show what the device is actually doing; they only know what Buttons last sent. Module Module versions Levels Locking Live status Notable behavior Blackmagic VideoHub and AJA KUMO VideoHub 2.2–3.2, KUMO 2.1–3.1 Single Level (video, audio, and data move together) VideoHub: yes. KUMO: yes with module 3.1 Yes The VideoHub module can designate one input as a black/silent "None" source; the AJA KUMO module can't. Utah Scientific BPS panel 3.0 Configurable, matching the panel's own Level setup Yes, per destination across all its Levels at once Yes Levels can auto-fill from the panel's own configured Level count. Generic SW-P-08 2.0–4.1 Configurable, up to 256 Levels No Yes Optional experimental Breakaway Audio and MADI breakaway let specific channels cross Levels. Nevion VideoIPath 0.1–2.0 Not Level-based: routes independently by resource type (Junction, Vertex, Group, and others) No Yes Every resource type has a built-in Disconnect option; nothing to configure. Arkona BLADE//runner 1.0 Fixed at two Levels (Video, Audio) No Yes Audio shufflers let individual channels route independently of the video they originated with. Evertz Quartz 3.1 Video plus audio Levels, following the level system set in the module (8, 16 or MAGNUM) Yes, including locks held by a Q-Link panel Yes Router size and Levels come from the module's own settings. None / black / silent source can be the first or last source. Imagine LRC 2.2–3.0 One Level per router level the module reports Yes Yes Riedel MediorNet 1.3–1.4 Five fixed Levels: Video, Audio, Data, Multi Channel Audio and GPIO No Yes Nevion MRP 3.1 One Level per routing level the module exposes No Yes Ross Video NK router 1.0–2.0 Single Level No No Routes are taken on the router's SDI Video level. Net Insight Nimbra Edge 1.0 Single Level: each port carries a whole stream No Yes Has a None source that disconnects an output. Blackmagic ATEM 3.12–4.4 Video, plus audio when Enable Audio is on No Yes Choose which destinations become ports under Router Configuration on the connection's Config tab: Aux/Outputs, M/Es (Program and Preview), Multiviewers and Audio. Panasonic Kairos 4.2 Single Level No No Destinations are the Kairos AUX buses. vMix 3.6–5.0 Single Level No No Set Number of Inputs under Router Configuration on the connection's Config tab. Destinations are each mix's program and vMix's outputs. AJA FS 0.1 Audio channels only No No Routes individual audio channels (SDI 1–8, AES, MADI, mix-downs and test tones) into the embedded audio of SDI outputs 1–4. Silence is the None source. Audinate Dante (DDM) 1.0–1.2 Audio channels only No No Routes Dante transmit channels to receive channels. Group Mode groups channels per device, or not at all. Kiloview NDI 2.0–2.1 Single Level No No The decoder is one destination; the sources are the NDI sources it can see. Verify a module's actual capabilities Open Connect → Connection and select the connection. If it exposes a Levels field, that's your confirmation it supports more than a single Level: check the module's own page for what to put in it. Open Routing , filter to the connection, and switch between Bundles and Ports . If more than one Level exists, you'll see separate Video, Audio, and Data ports rather than one combined port per source or destination. Select a destination and check whether lock and unlock controls appear. Their absence for a specific destination means either the module doesn't support locking at all, or this particular resource type on it doesn't. Where to go next Understand physical routing , for sources, destinations, ports, and bundles. Build a Router Section and Build a focused routing panel with Custom Router , for routing controls on a position. Take a physical route , including routing only one part of a bundle. Understand route status , for reading lock indicators. Update a connection's module safely . Monitor and troubleshoot a connection .