diff --git a/contrib/etc/ebusd/mqtt-hassio.cfg b/contrib/etc/ebusd/mqtt-hassio.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4a7baa3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/etc/ebusd/mqtt-hassio.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,320 @@
+# Configuration file for ebusd MQTT integration with Home Assistant (https://www.home-assistant.io/).
+
+# Use this file with ebusd in MQTT JSON mode to have many seen messages automatically appear on HA. This is achieved by
+# using the MQTT Discovery feature of Home Assistant (see https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/mqtt/discovery/).
+# The commandline options to ebusd should contain e.g.:
+# --mqttport=1883 --mqttjson --mqttint=/etc/ebusd/mqtt-hassio.cfg
+
+
+# This file allows flexible construction of MQTT topics and payloads depending on message and field definitions as well
+# as global status topics.
+# It is a set of named variables (or constants) with the name on the left of an equal sign and the value on the right,
+# where only the value is allowed to contain references to other variables.
+# A reference to a variable is escaped by a leading "%" character in front of the variable name consisting of only
+# alphabetic characters or the underscore. A double percent character "%%" is replaced by a single "%" in the value.
+# Curly braces may be used to separate a variable explicitly from the rest, e.g. as "%{version}" instead of "%version".
+# Every variable without an underscore in the name is automatically made available as well with an uppercase name and a
+# normalized value composed of only alphanumeric characters or underscore (i.e. suitable for being part of a topic).
+# When using "?=" instead of only the equal sign in a variable definition, the variable value is set to empty when one
+# of the variables referred to is empty or missing.
+
+# The variable replacements are constructed for each message and/or field (depending on whether the topic is field
+# specific or not) in the following order:
+
+# 1. predefined constants from ebusd, i.e.
+#   %version the ebusd version number.
+#   %prefix the invariable prefix part of the "--mqtttopic" configuration option, defaults to "ebusd/".
+#   %prefixn the same as %prefix but without trailing slashes or underscores.
+
+# 2. variables referring to constants only (directly or indirectly).
+
+# 3. circuit and message specific variables:
+#   %circuit the circuit name.
+#   %name the message name.
+#   %priority the message poll priority (or 0).
+#   %level the message access level (or empty).
+#   %messagecomment the message comment.
+#   %direction the message direction ("r", "w", "u", or "uw").
+#   %topic the message update topic built from the mqtttopic configuration option (only if the topic is not field
+#     specific) and/or the %topic variable defined here.
+
+# 4. the direction mapped from variables named "direction_map-%direction" with the actual direction in the suffix.
+#     Available as "%direction_map".
+
+# 5. the field type mapped from variables named "type_map-%direction-%type" or "type_map-%type" as fallback with the
+#     field type and the optional direction in the suffix. The variable including the direction is evaluated first and
+#     if it is missing or the result is empty, the variable excluding the direction is used instead.
+#     This is also an implicit field type filter as missing or empty mappings are not published at all.
+#     Available as "%type_map".
+
+# 6. other field specific variables for each field (only once for each message if the topic is field specific):
+#   %index the field index (excluding ignored fields).
+#   %field the field name (or the field index if no name is defined or the names are not unique in the message).
+#   %type the field type (one of "number", "list", "string", "date", "time", or "datetime").
+#   %basetype the base data type ID (e.g. "UCH").
+#   %comment the field comment (if any).
+#   %unit the field unit (if any).
+#   %min and %max the minimum/maximum possible value for number fields.
+#   %topic the field (or message) update topic built from the mqtttopic configuration option and/or the %topic variable
+#     defined here.
+
+# 7. optional field type switch in "%type_switch" using the value of the variable named "type_switch-by" and matching it
+#     against the value lines of the variable named "type_switch-%type" with the field type in the suffix.
+#     The value of such a variable needs to be a constant list of string pairs with one pair per line. Each pair is
+#     separated by "=" and the left part is the value set to the "type_switch" variable when the wildcard pattern in the
+#     right part matches the value of the "type_switch-by" value. The list is traversed from top to bottom with the
+#     first match stopping the evaluation. Optionally, "type_switch-names" can be used to define a list of variable
+#     names to be set in addition to the "type_switch" variable, in which case a list of variable names (comma
+#     separated) is expected as "type_switch-names" value and the appropriate values to set on the left side of each
+#     match list entry.
+#     Available as "%type_switch" and optionally by the set of fields as defined in "%type_switch-names".
+
+# 8. optional field type part mapping in "%type_part" for each field type in variables named "type_part-%type" with the
+#     field type in the suffix (or the value of the "type_part-by" variable).
+
+# 9. if the %fields_payload variable is used, then it is set to the concatenation of all fields of the message:
+#   %field_payload is expected to build a single field payload.
+#   %field-separator is the separator placed between consecutive field payloads.
+#   %fields_payload is set to the concatenation of all fields of the message, separated by %field-separator.
+
+# 10. %definition-topic, %definition-payload, and %definition-retain to build the message definition topic and payload
+#     and determine the retain value.
+
+
+# Before constructing the variable replacements, the messages and fields can optionally be filtered in order to use
+# certain message definitions only. All of these criteria are applied, so they are basically combined by "AND".
+# Filters with a "partial match" mention in the documentation allow using a limited glob/regex inspired case insensitive
+# matching with the following options:
+# - "|" allows defining alternatives, e.g. "a|b" matches "but" as well as "all".
+# - "^" matches the beginning of the input, e.g. "^al" matches "al" but not "hal".
+# - "$" matches the end of the input, e.g. "al$" matches "hal" but not "all".
+# - "*" matches a single arbitrary length wildcard part in the middle, e.g. "^a*l$" matches "all" but not "always".
+
+# include only messages having data sent at least once (only checked for passive or read messages, not for active write).
+# HA integration: filtering only seen messages to avoid unnecessary "pollution"
+filter-seen = 1
+# include only messages having a priority less than or equal to the specified value.
+#filter-priority =
+# include only messages having the specified circuit (partial match, alternatives and wildcard supported).
+#filter-circuit =
+# include only messages having the specified name (partial match, alternatives and wildcard supported). 
+# HA integration: filter to some useful names for monitoring the heating circuit
+filter-name = status|temp|yield|count|energy|power|runtime|hours|starts|mode|curve|^load$|^party$
+# include only messages having the specified level (partial match, alternatives and wildcard supported).
+# Note: Since the empty string matches all levels, an explicit check for empty string (with "^$") needs to be used for
+# including only messages without a level.
+filter-level = ^$
+# include only messages having the specified direction ("r", "w", "u", or "uw". partial match, alternatives and wildcard supported).
+# HA integration: writable messages excluded for now
+filter-direction = r|u
+# include only fields having the specified name (partial match, alternatives and wildcard supported).
+#filter-field =
+
+
+# HA integration: home assistant configuration topics prefix
+haprefix = homeassistant
+# HA integration: the area of all entities in home assistant
+area = Heating
+
+# HA integration: circuit specific part used as device entity for message definitions below
+circuit_part = {
+   "identifiers":"%{PREFIX}_%CIRCUIT",
+   "manufacturer":"ebusd.eu",
+   "name":"%prefixn %circuit",
+   "via_device":"%PREFIXN",
+   "sw_version":"%version",
+   "suggested_area":"%area"
+  }
+
+# the field type mapped from variables named "type_map-%direction-%type" or "type_map-%type" as fallback with the
+# field type and the optional direction in the suffix. The variable including the direction is evaluated first and
+# if it is missing or the result is empty, the variable excluding the direction is used instead.
+# This is also an implicit field type filter as missing or empty mappings are not published at all.
+type_map-number = number
+type_map-list = string
+# HA integration: skip string/date/time types completely
+type_map-string =
+type_map-date =
+type_map-time =
+type_map-datetime =
+
+# field type switch designator, see below.
+# HA integration: this is used to set several variable values depending on the field type, name, message, and field unit.
+type_switch-by = %name%field,%unit
+
+# field type switch variables names to use in addition to %type_switch in case of multiple keys (separated by comma).
+# HA integration: var names for topic/class/state values mapped from field type, name, message, and unit.
+type_switch-names = type_topic,type_class,type_state
+
+# field type switch for each field type and optionally direction (between dash before the field type) available as
+# %type_switch (as well as the variable names defined in "type_switch-names" if any).
+# The value needs to be a constant list of string pairs with one pair per line. Each pair is separated by "=" and the
+# left part is the value set to the type_switch variable (as well as the variable names defined in %type_switch-names)
+# when the wildcard string in the right part matched the "type_switch-by" value. The list is traversed from top to
+# bottom stopping at the first match. If direction specific definitions exist, these are traversed first. If no line
+# matches at all, the variable(s) are set to the empty string.
+# HA integration: the mapping list for (potentially) writable number entities by field type, name, message, and unit.
+type_switch-w-number =
+    number,temperature, = temp|,°C$
+    number,power_factor, = power*%%
+    number,power, = power|,kW$|,W$
+    number,voltage, = volt|,V$
+    number,current, = current,|,A$
+    number,pressure, = bar$
+    number,gas, = gas*/min$
+    number,humidity, = humid*%%$
+
+# HA integration: the mapping list for numeric sensor entities by field type, name, message, and unit.
+type_switch-number =
+    sensor,temperature,measurement = temp|,°C$
+    sensor,power_factor,measurement = power*%%
+    sensor,power,measurement = power|,kW$|,W$
+    sensor,voltage,measurement = volt|,V$
+    sensor,current,measurement = current,|,A$
+    sensor,energy,total_increasing = energy|,Wh$
+    sensor,yield,total_increasing = total*,Wh$
+    sensor,,total_increasing = hours|,h$
+    sensor,,total_increasing = starts*,$
+    sensor,pressure,measurement = bar$
+    sensor,gas,measurement = gas*/min$
+    sensor,humidity,measurement = humid*%%$
+    sensor,, =
+
+# HA integration: the mapping list for (potentially) writable binary switch entities by field type, name, message, and unit.
+type_switch-w-list =
+    switch,, = onoff
+
+# HA integration: the mapping list for rather binary sensor entities by field type, name, message, and unit.
+type_switch-list =
+    binary_sensor,,measurement = onoff
+    sensor,, =
+
+# HA integration: currently unused mapping lists for non-numeric/non-binary entities.
+#type_switch-string =
+#    sensor,, =
+#type_switch-date =
+#    sensor,,measurement =
+#type_switch-time =
+#    sensor,,measurement =
+#type_switch-datetime =
+#    sensor, =
+
+# HA integration: optional variable with the entity device class for numbers
+type_class_number ?= ,
+  "device_class":"%type_class"
+
+# HA integration: optional variable with the entity device class for sensors
+type_class_sensor ?= ,
+  "device_class":"%type_class"
+
+# HA integration: optional variable with the entity state class
+state_class ?= ,
+  "state_class":"%type_state"
+
+# HA integration: optional variable with the entity unit
+unit_of_measurement ?= ,
+  "unit_of_measurement":"%unit"
+
+# field type part suffix to use instead of the field type itself, see below.
+# HA integration: %type_part variable mapped from the mapped %type_topic
+type_part-by = %type_topic
+
+# field type part mappings for each field type (or the "type_part-by" variable value) in the suffix (available as
+# %type_part).
+# HA integration: %type_part variable for number %type_topic
+type_part-number = ,
+  "command_topic":"%topic/set",
+  "min":%min,
+  "max":%max%unit_of_measurement%state_class%type_class_number
+
+# HA integration: %type_part variable for sensor %type_topic
+type_part-sensor = %unit_of_measurement%state_class%type_class_sensor
+
+# HA integration: %type_part variable for switch %type_topic
+type_part-switch = ,
+  "command_topic":"%topic/set",
+  "payload_on":"on",
+  "payload_off":"off"%state_class
+
+# HA integration: %type_part variable for binary_sensor %type_topic
+type_part-binary_sensor = ,
+  "payload_on":"on",
+  "payload_off":"off"%state_class
+
+# the field specific part (evaluated after the message specific part).
+# HA integration: set to the mapped %type_part from above
+field_payload = %type_part
+
+
+# the message definition config topic, payload, and retain setting.
+# HA integration: the config topic for HA's MQTT discovery for the ebusd message definition found.
+# set to conditionally to avoid incomplete configs.
+definition-topic ?= %haprefix/%type_topic/%{TOPIC}_%FIELD/config
+# HA integration: this is the config topic payload for HA's MQTT discovery.
+definition-payload = {
+  "unique_id":"%{TOPIC}_%FIELD",
+  "name":"%prefixn %circuit %name %field",
+  "device":%circuit_part,
+  "value_template":"{{value_json[\"%field\"].value}}",
+  "state_topic":"%topic"%field_payload
+ }
+#definition-retain = 0
+
+
+# the message value topic (if other than the default). If set here, it will be replaced by the "--mqtttopic"
+# configuration option only if that one contains at least one variable. If the the "--mqtttopic" configuration option
+# does not contain any variable, it is taken as prefix and can be used here as well.
+# HA integration: use the prefix from --mqtttopic and non field specific topic for the actual data
+topic = %prefix/%circuit/%name
+
+
+# HA integration: global part used as device entity for the global config topics
+global_device = {
+   "identifiers":"%PREFIXN",
+   "manufacturer":"ebusd.eu",
+   "name":"%prefixn",
+   "sw_version":"%version",
+   "suggested_area":"%area"
+  }
+
+# HA integration: common prefix for global parts
+global_prefix = {
+  "unique_id":"%TOPIC",
+  "device":%global_device,
+  "state_topic":"%topic",
+  "name":"%prefixn %name"
+
+# HA integration: boolean suffix for global parts
+global_boolean_suffix = ,
+  "state_class":"measurement",
+  "payload_on":"true",
+  "payload_off":"false"
+ }
+
+# the common global config topic, payload, and retain setting (used by running, version, signal, uptime, updatecheck,
+# and scan if not otherwise defined explicitly).
+# HA integration: the config topic for HA's MQTT discovery for the ebusd global parts.
+def_global-topic = %haprefix/sensor/%TOPIC/config
+def_global-payload = %global_prefix,
+  "state_class":"measurement"
+ }
+#def_global-retain = 0
+
+# individual global running, version, signal, uptime, updatecheck, and scan config topic, payload, and retain setting.
+def_global_running-topic = %haprefix/binary_sensor/%TOPIC/config
+def_global_running-payload = %global_prefix,
+  "device_class":"running"%global_boolean_suffix
+def_global_version-topic =
+def_global_uptime-payload = %global_prefix,
+  "state_class":"total_increasing",
+  "unit_of_measurement":"s"
+ }
+def_global_signal-topic = %haprefix/binary_sensor/%TOPIC/config
+def_global_signal-payload = %global_prefix,
+  "device_class":"connectivity"%global_boolean_suffix
+
+
+# the topic and payload to listen to in order to republish all config messages.
+# HA integration: force republish of all configs when HA goes down and comes up again.
+config_restart-topic = %haprefix/status
+config_restart-payload = online
diff --git a/contrib/etc/ebusd/mqtt-integration.cfg b/contrib/etc/ebusd/mqtt-integration.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..59fdeb50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/etc/ebusd/mqtt-integration.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,180 @@
+# Configuration file for ebusd MQTT integration.
+
+# This file allows flexible construction of MQTT topics and payloads depending on message and field definitions as well
+# as global status topics.
+# It is a set of named variables (or constants) with the name on the left of an equal sign and the value on the right,
+# where only the value is allowed to contain references to other variables.
+# A reference to a variable is escaped by a leading "%" character in front of the variable name consisting of only
+# alphabetic characters or the underscore. A double percent character "%%" is replaced by a single "%" in the value.
+# Curly braces may be used to separate a variable explicitly from the rest, e.g. as "%{version}" instead of "%version".
+# Every variable without an underscore in the name is automatically made available as well with an uppercase name and a
+# normalized value composed of only alphanumeric characters or underscore (i.e. suitable for being part of a topic).
+# When using "?=" instead of only the equal sign in a variable definition, the variable value is set to empty when one
+# of the variables referred to is empty or missing.
+
+# The variable replacements are constructed for each message and/or field (depending on whether the topic is field
+# specific or not) in the following order:
+
+# 1. predefined constants from ebusd, i.e.
+#   %version the ebusd version number.
+#   %prefix the invariable prefix part of the "--mqtttopic" configuration option, defaults to "ebusd/".
+#   %prefixn the same as %prefix but without trailing slashes or underscores.
+
+# 2. variables referring to constants only (directly or indirectly).
+
+# 3. circuit and message specific variables:
+#   %circuit the circuit name.
+#   %name the message name.
+#   %priority the message poll priority (or 0).
+#   %level the message access level (or empty).
+#   %messagecomment the message comment.
+#   %direction the message direction ("r", "w", "u", or "uw").
+#   %topic the message update topic built from the mqtttopic configuration option (only if the topic is not field
+#     specific) and/or the %topic variable defined here.
+
+# 4. the direction mapped from variables named "direction_map-%direction" with the actual direction in the suffix.
+#     Available as "%direction_map".
+
+# 5. the field type mapped from variables named "type_map-%direction-%type" or "type_map-%type" as fallback with the
+#     field type and the optional direction in the suffix. The variable including the direction is evaluated first and
+#     if it is missing or the result is empty, the variable excluding the direction is used instead.
+#     This is also an implicit field type filter as missing or empty mappings are not published at all.
+#     Available as "%type_map".
+
+# 6. other field specific variables for each field (only once for each message if the topic is field specific):
+#   %index the field index (excluding ignored fields).
+#   %field the field name (or the field index if no name is defined or the names are not unique in the message).
+#   %type the field type (one of "number", "list", "string", "date", "time", or "datetime").
+#   %basetype the base data type ID (e.g. "UCH").
+#   %comment the field comment (if any).
+#   %unit the field unit (if any).
+#   %min and %max the minimum/maximum possible value for number fields.
+#   %topic the field (or message) update topic built from the mqtttopic configuration option and/or the %topic variable
+#     defined here.
+
+# 7. optional field type switch in "%type_switch" using the value of the variable named "type_switch-by" and matching it
+#     against the value lines of the variable named "type_switch-%type" with the field type in the suffix.
+#     The value of such a variable needs to be a constant list of string pairs with one pair per line. Each pair is
+#     separated by "=" and the left part is the value set to the "type_switch" variable when the wildcard pattern in the
+#     right part matches the value of the "type_switch-by" value. The list is traversed from top to bottom with the
+#     first match stopping the evaluation. Optionally, "type_switch-names" can be used to define a list of variable
+#     names to be set in addition to the "type_switch" variable, in which case a list of variable names (comma
+#     separated) is expected as "type_switch-names" value and the appropriate values to set on the left side of each
+#     match list entry.
+#     Available as "%type_switch" and optionally by the set of fields as defined in "%type_switch-names".
+
+# 8. optional field type part mapping in "%type_part" for each field type in variables named "type_part-%type" with the
+#     field type in the suffix (or the value of the "type_part-by" variable).
+
+# 9. if the %fields_payload variable is used, then it is set to the concatenation of all fields of the message:
+#   %field_payload is expected to build a single field payload.
+#   %field-separator is the separator placed between consecutive field payloads.
+#   %fields_payload is set to the concatenation of all fields of the message, separated by %field-separator.
+
+# 10. %definition-topic, %definition-payload, and %definition-retain to build the message definition topic and payload
+#     and determine the retain value.
+
+
+# Before constructing the variable replacements, the messages and fields can optionally be filtered in order to use
+# certain message definitions only. All of these criteria are applied, so they are basically combined by "AND".
+# Filters with a "partial match" mention in the documentation allow using a limited glob/regex inspired case insensitive
+# matching with the following options:
+# - "|" allows defining alternatives, e.g. "a|b" matches "but" as well as "all".
+# - "^" matches the beginning of the input, e.g. "^al" matches "al" but not "hal".
+# - "$" matches the end of the input, e.g. "al$" matches "hal" but not "all".
+# - "*" matches a single arbitrary length wildcard part in the middle, e.g. "^a*l$" matches "all" but not "always".
+
+# include only messages having data sent at least once (only checked for passive or read messages, not for active write).
+filter-seen = 1
+# include only messages having a priority less than or equal to the specified value.
+#filter-priority =
+# include only messages having the specified circuit (partial match, alternatives and wildcard supported).
+#filter-circuit =
+# include only messages having the specified name (partial match, alternatives and wildcard supported).
+#filter-name =
+# include only messages having the specified level (partial match, alternatives and wildcard supported).
+# Note: Since the empty string matches all levels, an explicit check for empty string (with "^$") needs to be used for
+# including only messages without a level.
+filter-level = ^$
+# include only messages having the specified direction ("r", "w", "u", or "uw". partial match, alternatives and wildcard supported).
+filter-direction = r|u
+# include only fields having the specified name (partial match, alternatives and wildcard supported).
+#filter-field =
+
+
+# the field type mapped from variables named "type_map-%direction-%type" or "type_map-%type" as fallback with the
+# field type and the optional direction in the suffix. The variable including the direction is evaluated first and
+# if it is missing or the result is empty, the variable excluding the direction is used instead.
+# This is also an implicit field type filter as missing or empty mappings are not published at all.
+type_map-number = number
+type_map-list = string
+type_map-string = string
+type_map-date = string
+type_map-time = string
+type_map-datetime = string
+
+
+# field type switch designator, see below.
+#type_switch-by = %name%field,%unit
+
+# field type switch variables names to use in addition to %type_switch in case of multiple keys (separated by comma).
+#type_switch-names = type_topic,type_class,type_state
+
+# field type switch for each field type and optionally direction (between dash before the field type) available as
+# %type_switch (as well as the variable names defined in "type_switch-names" if any).
+# The value needs to be a constant list of string pairs with one pair per line. Each pair is separated by "=" and the
+# left part is the value set to the type_switch variable (as well as the variable names defined in %type_switch-names)
+# when the wildcard string in the right part matched the "type_switch-by" value. The list is traversed from top to
+# bottom stopping at the first match. If direction specific definitions exist, these are traversed first. If no line
+# matches at all, the variable(s) are set to the empty string.
+#type_switch-w-number =
+
+
+# field type part suffix to use instead of the field type itself, see below.
+#type_part-by = %type_topic
+
+# field type part mappings for each field type (or the "type_part-by" variable value) in the suffix (available as
+# %type_part).
+#type_part-number = ,
+
+
+# the field specific part (evaluated after the message specific part).
+#field_payload = %type_part
+
+
+# the message definition config topic, payload, and retain setting.
+definition-topic = %prefixn/config/%CIRCUIT/%NAME/%FIELD
+definition-payload = {
+  "name":"%prefixn %circuit %name %field",
+  "topic":"%topic"
+ }
+#definition-retain = 0
+
+
+# the message value topic (if other than the default). If set here, it will be replaced by the "--mqtttopic"
+# configuration option only if that one contains at least one variable. If the the "--mqtttopic" configuration option
+# does not contain any variable, it is taken as prefix and can be used here as well.
+#topic=%prefix/%circuit/%name
+
+
+# the common global config topic, payload, and retain setting (used by running, version, signal, uptime, updatecheck,
+# and scan if not otherwise defined explicitly).
+def_global-topic = %prefixn/config/global/%FIELD
+def_global-payload = {
+  "name":"%prefixn global %field",
+  "topic":"%topic"
+ }
+#def_global-retain = 0
+
+# individual global running, version, signal, uptime, updatecheck, and scan config topic, payload, and retain setting.
+#def_global_running-...
+#def_global_version-...
+#def_global_signal-...
+#def_global_uptime-...
+#def_global_updatecheck-...
+#def_global_scan-...
+
+
+# the topic and payload to listen to in order to republish all config messages.
+#config_restart-topic =
+#config_restart-payload =
diff --git a/make_debian.sh b/make_debian.sh
index ebd354e6..77b4d8ce 100755
--- a/make_debian.sh
+++ b/make_debian.sh
@@ -66,15 +66,18 @@ if [ -n "$reusebuilddir" ] || [ -z "$keepbuilddir" ]; then
 fi
 make DESTDIR="$PWD/$RELEASE" install-strip || exit 1
 extralibs=
+mqtt=
 ldd $RELEASE/usr/bin/ebusd | egrep -q libmosquitto.so.0
 if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
   extralibs=', libmosquitto0'
   PACKAGE="${PACKAGE}_mqtt0"
+  mqtt=1
 else
   ldd $RELEASE/usr/bin/ebusd | egrep -q libmosquitto.so.1
   if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
     extralibs=', libmosquitto1'
     PACKAGE="${PACKAGE}_mqtt1"
+    mqtt=1
   fi
 fi
 
@@ -105,6 +108,10 @@ cp contrib/debian/systemd/ebusd.service $RELEASE/lib/systemd/system/ebusd.servic
 mkdir -p $RELEASE/etc/init.d || exit 1
 cp contrib/debian/init.d/ebusd $RELEASE/etc/init.d/ebusd || exit 1
 cp contrib/debian/default/ebusd $RELEASE/etc/default/ebusd || exit 1
+if [ -n "$mqtt" ]; then
+  mkdir -p $RELEASE/etc/ebusd || exit 1
+  cp contrib/etc/ebusd/mqtt*.cfg $RELEASE/etc/ebusd/ || exit 1
+fi
 cp contrib/etc/logrotate.d/ebusd $RELEASE/etc/logrotate.d/ || exit 1
 cp ChangeLog.md $RELEASE/DEBIAN/changelog || exit 1
 cat <<EOF > $RELEASE/DEBIAN/control
@@ -132,6 +139,12 @@ EOF
 cat <<EOF > $RELEASE/DEBIAN/conffiles
 /etc/default/ebusd
 EOF
+if [ -n "$mqtt" ]; then
+  echo '/etc/ebusd' >> $RELEASE/DEBIAN/dirs
+  for i in contrib/etc/ebusd/mqtt*.cfg; do
+    echo "${i##contrib}" >> $RELEASE/DEBIAN/conffiles
+  done
+fi
 cat <<EOF > $RELEASE/DEBIAN/postinst
 #!/bin/sh
 if [ -d /run/systemd/system ]; then
diff --git a/src/ebusd/mqtthandler.cpp b/src/ebusd/mqtthandler.cpp
index e4ad13bc..ab5dcb79 100755
--- a/src/ebusd/mqtthandler.cpp
+++ b/src/ebusd/mqtthandler.cpp
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ static const char* knownFieldNames[] = {
 /** the number of known field names. */
 static const size_t knownFieldCount = sizeof(knownFieldNames) / sizeof(char*);
 
-std::pair<string, int> makeField(const string name, bool isField) {
+std::pair<string, int> makeField(const string& name, bool isField) {
   if (!isField) {
     return {name, -1};
   }
@@ -350,38 +350,55 @@ std::pair<string, int> makeField(const string name, bool isField) {
   return {name, knownFieldCount};
 }
 
+void addPart(ostringstream& stack, int inField, vector<std::pair<string, int>>& parts) {
+  string str = stack.str();
+  if (inField == 1 && str == "_") {
+    inField = 0; // single "%_" pattern to reduce to "_"
+  } else if (inField == 2) {
+    str = "%{" + str;
+    inField = 0;
+  }
+  if (inField == 0 && str.empty()) {
+    return;
+  }
+  stack.str("");
+  if (inField == 0 && !parts.empty() && parts[parts.size()-1].second < 0) {
+    // append constant to previous constant
+    parts[parts.size()-1].first += str;
+    return;
+  }
+  parts.push_back(makeField(str, inField>0));
+}
 
 bool MqttReplacer::parse(const string& templateStr, bool onlyKnown, bool noKnownDuplicates, bool emptyIfMissing) {
   m_parts.clear();
-  size_t end = templateStr.length();
-  bool inField = false;
+  int inField = 0; // 1 after '%', 2 after '%{'
   ostringstream stack;
-  for (size_t pos = 0; pos < end+1; pos++) {
-    char ch = pos<end ? templateStr[pos] : '\0';
+  for (auto ch : templateStr) {
     bool empty = stack.tellp()<=0;
-    if (ch=='%' || ch=='\0') {
-      if (inField && empty) {  // %% for plain %
-        inField = false;
+    if (ch=='%') {
+      if (inField==1 && empty) {  // %% for plain %
+        inField = 0;
         stack << ch;
       } else {
-        if (!empty) {
-          m_parts.push_back(makeField(stack.str(), inField));
-          stack.str("");
-        }
-        inField = true;
+        addPart(stack, inField, m_parts);
+        inField = 1;
       }
+    } else if (ch=='{' && inField==1 && empty) {
+      inField = 2;
+    } else if (ch=='}' && inField==2) {
+      addPart(stack, 1, m_parts);
+      inField = 0;
     } else {
-      if (inField && !((ch >= 'a' && ch <= 'z') || (ch >= 'A' && ch <= 'Z') || ch == '_')) {
+      if (inField>0 && !((ch >= 'a' && ch <= 'z') || (ch >= 'A' && ch <= 'Z') || ch == '_')) {
         // invalid field character
-        if (stack.tellp()>0) {
-          m_parts.push_back(makeField(stack.str(), true));
-          stack.str("");
-        }
-        inField = false;
+        addPart(stack, inField, m_parts);
+        inField = 0;
       }
       stack << ch;
     }
   }
+  addPart(stack, inField, m_parts);
   if (onlyKnown || noKnownDuplicates) {
     int foundMask = 0;
     int knownCount = knownFieldCount;
@@ -576,7 +593,7 @@ ssize_t MqttReplacer::matchTopic(const string& topic, string* circuit, string* n
         // non-name in remainder found
         return -static_cast<ssize_t>(idx)-1;
       }
-      value = topic;
+      value = topic.substr(last);
     }
     last += value.length();
     switch (part.second) {
@@ -1075,7 +1092,7 @@ void MqttHandler::notifyTopic(const string& topic, const string& data) {
   logOtherDebug("mqtt", "received topic %s with data %s", topic.c_str(), data.c_str());
   string circuit, name, field;
   ssize_t match = m_replacers.get("topic").matchTopic(topic.substr(0, pos), &circuit, &name, &field);
-  if (match<0 && !isList) { // TODO
+  if (match<0 && !isList) {
     logOtherError("mqtt", "received unmatchable topic %s", topic.c_str());
   }
   if (isList) {
@@ -1251,12 +1268,16 @@ void MqttHandler::run() {
         m_definitionsSince = 1;
       }
       if (m_connected && m_hasDefinitionTopic) {
+        ostringstream ostr;
         deque<Message*> messages;
         m_messages->findAll("", "", "", false, true, true, true, true, true, 0, 0, false, &messages);
         for (const auto& message : messages) {
           if (filterSeen) {
             if (message->getLastUpdateTime()==0) {
-              continue;  // no data ever
+              if (message->isPassive() || !message->isWrite()) {
+                // only wait for data on passive or read messages
+                continue;  // no data ever
+              }
             }
             if (message->getDataHandlerState()==1) {
               // already seen in the past, check for poll prio update
@@ -1286,9 +1307,6 @@ void MqttHandler::run() {
           msgValues.set("level", message->getLevel());
           msgValues.set("direction", direction);
           msgValues.set("messagecomment", message->getAttribute("comment"));
-          if (!m_publishByField) {
-            msgValues.set("topic", getTopic(message, "", "")); // TODO already present?
-          }
           msgValues.reduce(true);
           string str = msgValues.get("direction_map-"+direction, false, false);
           msgValues.set("direction_map", str);
@@ -1325,7 +1343,7 @@ void MqttHandler::run() {
             } else {
               typeStr = "string";
             }
-            ostringstream ostr;
+            ostr.str("");
             ostr << "type_map-" << direction << "-" << typeStr;
             str = msgValues.get(ostr.str(), false, false);
             if (str.empty()) {
@@ -1337,11 +1355,11 @@ void MqttHandler::run() {
               continue;
             }
             MqttReplacers values = msgValues;  // need a copy here as the contents are manipulated
+            values.set("index", static_cast<signed>(index));
+            values.set("field", fieldName);
             values.set("type", typeStr);
             values.set("type_map", str);
             values.set("basetype", dataType->getId());
-            values.set("index", static_cast<signed>(index));
-            values.set("field", fieldName);
             values.set("comment", field->getAttribute("comment"));
             values.set("unit", field->getAttribute("unit"));
             if (dataType->isNumeric()) {
@@ -1390,9 +1408,6 @@ void MqttHandler::run() {
             }
             str = values.get("type_part-" + typePartSuffix, false, false);
             values.set("type_part", str);
-            if (m_publishByField) {
-              values.set("topic", getTopic(message, "", fieldName)); // TODO already present?
-            }
             values.reduce();
             if (m_hasDefinitionFieldsPayload) {
               string value = values["field_payload"];
@@ -1413,6 +1428,12 @@ void MqttHandler::run() {
           if (filterSeen && message->getLastUpdateTime()>message->getCreateTime()) {
             // ensure data is published as well
             m_updatedMessages[message->getKey()]++;
+          } else if (filterSeen && direction=="w") {
+            // publish data for read pendant of write message
+            Message* read = m_messages->find(message->getCircuit(), message->getName(), "", true);
+            if (read && read->getLastUpdateTime()>0) {
+              m_updatedMessages[read->getKey()]++;
+            }
           }
         }
         time(&m_definitionsSince);
diff --git a/src/lib/ebus/filereader.cpp b/src/lib/ebus/filereader.cpp
index 3e1414aa..69e20817 100755
--- a/src/lib/ebus/filereader.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/ebus/filereader.cpp
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ bool FileReader::matches(const string& input, const string& search, bool ignoreC
       return matches(inputSub, search, false, true);
     }
     string searchSub = search;
-    tolower(&inputSub);
+    tolower(&searchSub);
     return matches(inputSub, searchSub, false, true);
   }
   // walk through alternatives