I’ve done lots of research but can’t find the answer.
I want to have a Zigbee RGBW light that is directly controlled by a switch, and can also be controlled by SmartThings. I am trying to avoid having SmartThings in between the switch and the light’s direct control.
Is this possible with Zigbee?
Nope - that’s Zwave…
It’s not called direct association in Zigbee, it’s just called binding, or sometimes endpoint binding, and it’s possible only if the switch was designed for that purpose. You’ll see some people doing this, for example, with some of the handheld remotes like the Phillips hue dimmer switch or the Ecosmart remote. It’s most often implemented for zigbee 3.0 devices, since they don’t require a hub at all when not used with smartthings.
What’s the brand and model of the switch?
Also tagging @johnconstantelo in case he has any more to add.
And here’s a very very old thread back from 2015 which talks more about it in a smartthings context, but again, very old.
Thanks, often the keywords are half the research battle!
I was looking at the RGBGenie RGBW remote because it has a color selection wheel and is battery powered.
That particular device describes “find and bind” as a method for configuring the switch to directly control the lighting device, I think. That is in the remote’s user manual item 6.
Yep, if the devices are in zigbee 3.0 or ZLL and support touchlink commissioning, it’s way easier to do this because you don’t need the smartthings hub to participate in the endpoint binding. Which you do for ZHA Devices, that’s what the old thread I linked to is talking about.
The basic procedure is:
add both the trigger Device and the target Devices to smartthings account so they are all on the same zigbee network.
ideally, use touch link commissioning to do endpoint binding between the target device and the trigger device.
Once this is done, it works in a fashion similar to Z wave direct association, and the target device can control the trigger devices even if the hub is off power.
HOWEVER… you can run into a problem that you won’t run into with zwave direct association, which is that the trigger device may have a group number built in and use groupcasting for its endpoint binding. And some target devices will have a group predefined, although really they shouldn’t. But some do.
When that happens, you may find that the trigger Device Controls Targets you didn’t want it to because of those predefined group numbers.
For example, you might want one handheld remote for the upstairs lights and another one for the downstairs lights but find that both remotes turn on all of the lights no matter what you did with touchlink.
Or for some brands you might find that only one remote can be used in this way.
So it’s more of a brute force technique than Z wave direct association, but it can be done with some models.
Tagging @garrett.kranz just because he likes stuff like this… 
Hi @JDRoberts, catching up on topics finally! I’ve not had a need for something like this, so I can’t contribute too much.
This worked, thank you for the pointers! I was able to pair the RGBGenie ZB-1005 RGBW Controller to SmartThings, and to pair the RGBGenie ZB-5008 RGBW remote to SmartThings, and then link them together via TouchLink.
My steps were:
Controller:
Factory reset the Controller by pressing Program 5x.
Within 5 minutes of factory reset, perform a SmartThings “Add->Scan Nearby”, this added the controller.
Remote:
Factory reset Remote by press-hold the Power button till red light is solid, then press power 5x.
Pair to SmartThings by press-hold the Power button till the red light is solid, quickly put SmartThings into Add->Scan nearby mode, quickly press S2 on the remote.
The remote shows up as a Thing.
TouchLink the two together:
Cycle power on the controller.
Within 5 minutes after power cycle, on the remote press Power. Then press Zone 1. Press-hold Power till red light is solid, press S2, place remote <10CM from controller, and wait. Both the remote the the RGBW lights did some blinking, and presto.
I can now control/automate the RGBW lights via SmartThings, control the lights via Remote, and control the lights via the remote even when SmartThings is turned off.
This video shows you the steps, you just have to SmartThingify them: Zigbee RGBW LED strip Controller and remote control - YouTube
Ryan
Cool. Glad it worked! 
I really like the design on those remotes
Very nice! Thanks for sharing the steps.
I need to see if this will work for the Sengled Multicolor BR30s I have in my garage… 
As always, the first rule of home automation applies: “the model number matters.“
The original sengled BR30s used ZHA 1.2, not ZLL or Zigbee 3.0. So for those you have to get the hub to issue the binding, which is tricky. See my first post above which linked to a really old thread from 2015 and discusses that issue.
There is a newer model which uses zigbee 3.0, but I think even that model doesn’t support touchlink commissioning, which means again you have to have the hub involved. And then I’m not sure if this particular remote will accept the endpoint binding.
So maybe, but it’s going to be a lot more work than if you had bulbs that supported touchlink commissioning. 
Sorry I should’ve specified, I know I have the Zigbee 3.0 version. The newer ones have a multicolor band near where the bulb screws in.
Is this usually in their Zigbee conformance statement?
The profile? Yes, that’s required.
Use of touchlink? Not always, because it’s an optional feature. It would typically be in the user manual.
