Send a command to a screen

Commands are one-off things you tell a screen to do right now — wake it, set the volume, take a screenshot, restart it. They are not stored settings: the screen does the thing and carries on playing.

How to use these commands

There are three ways to send a command. Most people only ever need the first two.

1. Device-card buttons (easiest, everyday). The common actions — display on/off, volume/mute, screenshot — are buttons right on each device's card in the device list. Click the button, done. See Managing devices day-to-day and Display control.

Device card actions

Device card actions


2. Just ask the AI assistant (plain language). Open the chat and describe what you want — the assistant picks the right command and target. You don't need to know the command names. For example:

  • "Reboot the screen named Lobby."

  • "Set device Café TV volume to 20%."

  • "Turn off all screens in the Vilnius category at night." (it can target a whole group)

  • "Set device Lobby brightness to 50%."

  • "Take a screenshot of screen K586 so I can see what it's showing."

  • "Update the player app on the Reception TV."

    AI assistant command

    AI assistant command


    3. The Publish / send dialog (any command). For commands without a dedicated button, use the send dialog: on a device's card, click the Publish / send icon (↗), choose the command in the action row, select the target device(s), and choose Publish / send to selected devices. (This is the same dialog you use to publish a playlist — a playlist and a command are just different things you send to the screen.)

    Send to selected devices

    Send to selected devices


The screen must be online to receive a command. If it's offline, the command can't be delivered — bring it back online first (check power and network).

The commands you'll actually use

✅ Everyday — safe anytime: playlist · download · stop · next · toggle_play · sync_to_main · sync_to_schedule · display_on · display_off · display_rotate · backlight · volume · mute · unmute · reboot · restart_app · screenshot · status · current_time.

⚠️ Use with care:

  • upgrade_app — updates the player; do it intentionally, ideally on one pilot screen first.

  • clean_up — frees space by deleting cached media; the screen then re-downloads it (short reload).

  • shutdown — powers the device off; a remote screen often can't be powered back on remotely — prefer display_off.

Everything else on a screen is either a setting (see Device settings reference) or a support/diagnostic command you'd only use if impressBox asked you to. The complete list is in All remote commands (reference).