Hey @DustinKazi,
App Shortcuts can be parameterized, they just can't be open ended (like an Int or String for example). In your situation, defining set values at whatever granularity makes sense for your app as AppEnum cases could work for your SetBrightnessIntent.
Check out this clip from WWDC23 – Spotlight your app with App Shortcuts.
App Shortcuts supports parameters that have a fixed set of well-known parameter values that you can specify to Siri ahead of time. They do not support open-ended values like "Search my app for X," where X can be any input from the user. You can use parameters that are App Enums, in which case, the values are known ahead of time, or you could use parameters that are App Entities to be fully dynamic. All you need to do is return a list of entities in your query via suggestedEntities, like in my app.
This whole session from WWDC24 is great too – Bring your app's core features to users with App Intents.
An important distinction is that an App Shortcut is a higher level wrapper around an App Intent. And a parameterized App Shortcut is only valid with the parameter types mentioned above. That being said, you can still create an App Intent with an open ended parameter type. Any valid app intent can be exposed as an action building block for users in the Shortcuts app. The limitation is just around what intents can be used in a developer pre-defined App Shortcut.
re: SiriKit - this framework predates App Intents and is only relevant today if your app aligns with one of the predefined SiriKit domains. If you were looking to create a custom SiriKit intent, then you should just start with App Intents.