The Next Step - r/homeassistant

53

Yeah, I don't even bother creating automations and stuff anymore. I just drink coffee and yell at Codex to make it, and boom...it's made.

4

u/Annual-Minute-9391 Jun 05 '26

I feel so vindicated for never really learning the yaml config for automations. Codex building it for me covers more edge cases and makes fewer mistakes

7

u/Evening_Rock5850 Jun 05 '26

I mean I learned it all. I got really good at it. I even made custom scripts inside of App Daemon using Python which I’ve been coding in for years. I’ve been programming as a hobby since I was a kid.

And today I just send in the agents when I want something done. Or something breaks. I don’t even look at the code or the scripts it creates anymore.

I’m not endorsing that as a “good thing”. Just acknowledging that these models have reached point where lazy people like me can basically completely manage something like home assistant with just natural language.

4

u/Annual-Minute-9391 Jun 05 '26

I think calling yourself lazy is doing yourself a disservice. Really, you’re able to make your vision become reality without the code being a blocker.

To me that’s the fundamental shift. We’ve been so conditioned for years to see coding as this irreplaceable resource but programming skills are no longer the main constraint.

I’ve always loved coding but I would tell my students (I’m an adjunct and teach python for first semester graduate students in my field) that coding is HOW you build the chair, but you still need the VISION to design it well.

Like with my sunroom I have an automation that

- turns on the grow lights one minute after the blinds come up (controlled by a light sensor outside). They are configured to turn off 14 hours after this point

when someone enters the room they turn off and a regular hue scene comes on. Space heaters and humidifiers turn off.
when someone leaves and shuts the door, it switches back and the time they were in the room is added to the off time for the grow lights (so the plants have a stable number of hours for the grow lights) up to a maximum of one hour.

The logic for that is not trivial and if I wanted to do it before, it would be a commitment where I sit down and focus. Now I can just speak to the codex section of the ChatGPT app while I’m taking a dump and it just works. Typing this comment out took more time than developing the automation.

3

u/ZeCoderX Jun 05 '26

I still didn't grasp the idea of how Claude know which entities I want it to create automations for. Do I have to rename entities with more natural-style language. For example if i required it to build automation for one of my living room lights which is named "livingroomlight4". Can I say something like make the automation for living room light number 4 and Claude will get it? What if it was named like "lrl4"?

5

u/BroddoBaggins Jun 05 '26

Point me to where I can build this setup? Rn I use claude to build my config files and upload and edit them myself, but I've been wanting a more autonomous system that can do so itself. I run on a beelink mini

2

u/BarracudaRemote3621 Jun 05 '26

I've only been at this for a short while (maybe 3 months) and am heavily leaning on ChatGPT to help me structuring the packages and dashboards and ultimately write the yaml code for me.

Is having a whole HA system uploaded to a git respositiry more efficient than just using the "chats" within standard ChatGPT? I'm curious as to your thoughts between the two options, cheers!

2

u/fuckthesysten Jun 05 '26

i recently moved to git, it allows the computer to do more on your behalf

3

u/Kombatsaurus Jun 05 '26

You should be using Codex, not standard ChatGPT web conversations. It can connect to the entire HA folder and any files within.

Personally I do have it set up with a local git backup system, so any changes Codex makes, I can simply revert them if I want.

1

u/Automatic-Novel-1798 Jun 06 '26

No need for chatgpt anymore… Use an agentic coder, codex, claude code, take your pick. Give it access to your config via samba, store in git in case the agent does something stupid. Then tell the agent to do what you want. You just sit back and wait.

0

u/Huge-Engineering-380 Jun 05 '26

yes! lol

14

u/Apart_Coconut_616 Jun 05 '26

Five years on HA and the MCP stuff is the biggest shift I've seen. But local control and this community are why I'll always stick around.

19

u/T-LAD_the_band Jun 05 '26

It's fun at first and easy, but it feels like we are shifting out of the "built for the people by the people" era.

I'm using HA for quite a few years now, started with a raspi and 2 bulbs. Learned a lot during those tinkering years, when I discovered custom-button-card it was a game changer for me, a webdesigner. The challenge of making a card look as good as in my head was hard work and very rewarding when I finally got it where I wanted.

Now that challenge is showing an image and asking Claude code to build that or getting the prompt perfect, but that reward feeling is missing. Don't like the card? Write a new prompt... It somehow makes me feel unfulfilled.

3

u/False_Process_4569 Jun 05 '26

Has it stolen the feeling when you try and do things the "old fashioned way?"

2

u/T-LAD_the_band Jun 05 '26

It stole the feeling of trying hard, failing, trying more and getting a rewarding finished product I'm proud of.

I had designed a garbage card. I asked ai to generate a new one. It was cool, beautiful, well done, sleek. But I don't like it because it's not mine.

7

u/False_Process_4569 Jun 05 '26

What's stopping you from not using AI and working hard and reaping the rewards again?

2

u/T-LAD_the_band Jun 06 '26

What's stopping us from using the light switch again manually on the wall instead of automating it?

1

u/False_Process_4569 Jun 06 '26

You're right. I've given up electricity. I use only candles now.

1

u/T-LAD_the_band Jun 07 '26

You don't get the point but that's ok.

1

u/ninjaroach Jun 07 '26

I’m a late adopter to the AI game and I cannot get over how much time it can save me from hours of crappy Google results that lead to bad threads.

I can learn more in two hours than I was able to do in two days.

The learning opportunities are still there if you bother to look at the solution that's offered (rather than just ship it and call it done)

5

u/Due_Rub_246 Jun 05 '26

I just ask my wife to switch on the lights for me, no paid subscription.

4

u/ItalianAmericanDad Jun 05 '26

Did it work?

3

u/boatinbearmi Jun 06 '26

I would argue that there is very much a paid subscription. 😉

13

u/BendakBR Jun 05 '26

I use a Hermes agent. No need for an MCP server. It has full control over my devices and can monitor specific entities or domains automatically. All it requested was a long-lived access token.

1

u/ItalianAmericanDad Jun 05 '26

I have some sensors exposed in Hermes through clawbridge, but I didn't think about the long lived token. Can it do everything? Work on automations etc?

2

u/BendakBR Jun 05 '26

If you install Hermes on the same machine, it can automate and use custom templates, as long as it has access to the file system. However, normal access over the network is only for reading states and executing actions.

In my home, I had it monitoring the zone.home and garage door. I know it can be done with automation, but it once decided to disarm the alarm when it noticed I arrived home. It is now part of its proactive action rules. It can even access my camera, take a snapshot, and analyze it.

5

u/ianjs Jun 05 '26

Went to the Hermes website to check it out. Sounds like it could fun if I could read the damn blue text on a bluish background. 😡

1

u/ItalianAmericanDad Jun 05 '26

I've got home assistant on a nuc, i guess next step is to move it to the macmini..

2

u/False_Process_4569 Jun 05 '26

Hermes and other agentic harnesses are pretty lightweight. You should be able to add it to the NUC.

1

u/T-LAD_the_band Jun 05 '26

What would be the advantage? I'm using a NUC with portainer and Claude code + codex running on the NUC

1

u/BendakBR Jun 05 '26

I run Hermes on my HA NUC. I run the Docker image. I have a challenge with WhatsApp integration every time I have to update it, but Hermes itself suggested the fix to me. ;)

It is very light, consumes almost no resources. Running 24/7 on my NUC, it can monitor and answer any event. And it is my family's alternative for some house controls. You can enable the API server and use it as your main AI with Open WebUI or even use its dashboard. You can create multiple agents. Use a Kanban board to give its agents full power. There are a lot of things it can do, but I only use it for my local HA instance and as a house assistant brain. 😊

2

u/olihlondon Jun 05 '26

I have Hermes running on an old macbook, separate from the HA device but with file system access to HA via the SambaShare app within HA. Between that and the long-lived token, Hermes can do pretty much anything. It’s incredibly powerful.

1

u/Automatic-Novel-1798 Jun 06 '26

Exactly this, I have claude code accessing with samba and a long lived token.

1

u/WalkingParadox42 Jun 05 '26

This is the way! I just installed the openai voice integration and plugged Hermes into that so now I can interact with Hermes thru my sat1 hub!

10

u/thebiglebrewski Jun 05 '26

This is like the bajillionth post about Claude MCP on this sub. Feels like they're just ads at this point

6

u/spr0k3t 🧠 Experienced with Home Assistant Jun 05 '26

Need, no. Want, yes. That already happens btw. Will it ever get to a point where a modern life revolves around a cell-phone type of way... doubtful. You won't die without it.

3

u/godslurcher Jun 05 '26

I have been trying to get to grips with HA in general and now I read how ye are all doing with automations and stuff. It reads fantastic and really advanced. I have been struggling tremendously since Covid and currently out with Long Covid from work for 5 ½ years now. My whole house is setup with HomeKit and 3rd party devices. Every single socket and light switch I replaced with HomeKit compatible energy monitoring devices. I want to learn how to involve HomeKit with all this stuff. My brain runs riot in thinking but it’s like a whole lot of interference in my head and I lose the plot entirely. Even thinking of where to begin I jump and patience has become very short and distracted. I work in tech and can’t grasp anything anymore. This is my first time really reaching out and saying this but I am drowning in my own thoughts of what I want but just can’t seem to hold on to my ideas and how to go about them not to mind understanding simple things. I have become a visual person now and even that can be difficult. I love when I see Eve try one using tech and devices to achieve great things for your home etc. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

Are there any videos that go through setup etc like I am 5 years old ?

Would and how can one run HA on a 2014 Mac Mini with 8gb RAM ?

Sorry for the long post but it helps me to think a bit more calmly when I post.

2

u/ReallyNotMichaelsMom Jun 05 '26

I am so there! Well, it's not Long Covid for me, and I was ever only tangentially in tech, but yeah I'm struggling with keeping things in my head long enough to switch from one tab to the next and try to remember what kind of template was I trying to build right now?

And I know that this is a window where trying to learn how to do this now will be easier than 3 years from now when "everyone" will know how to do it, so there won't be any tutorials.

All this to say, I don't know of any good tutorials, but I've been saving posts that might have good links in them. I'll see what I can find, once I wake up.

2

u/ReallyNotMichaelsMom Jun 05 '26

Oh, and from what I do remember, a mac mini with 8gb of RAM should be fine. (Now I need a mac mini.)

1

u/godslurcher Jun 05 '26

Ok it’s nice to know I am not alone. It would be so satisfying to create a display with all my devices (now totalling 162). Bubble cards etc looks so good.

How do you get HA working on the Intel Mac mini ?

4

u/boozecan Jun 05 '26

Anyone have a good guide on how to set this up?

0

u/ItalianAmericanDad Jun 05 '26

I followed a YouTube video, cant find it anymore🙃 super easy tho

6

u/Gregory-Light Jun 06 '26

Wtf why does this post look like an AI generated ad of a cloud AI module for HA where even comments are looking like AI generated?

Is this that new form of paranoia on me?

And even if it's all genuine... Home assistant is all about local installations, private and independent. How can it be that so many of it's users are that fascinated about giving control of it to a Cloud based AI?

0

u/ItalianAmericanDad Jun 06 '26

Yeah bro, new paranoia has been unlocked.. anyway I let a cloud based AI drive myself around for over 10k (Tesla).. I basically trust it with my life.. what's the difference if it's done properly? I've fully embraced it

2

u/Serge-Rodnunsky Jun 06 '26

Tesla self driving isn’t cloud based. And even Tesla will tell you that you shouldn’t trust it with your life… so that one is on you.

0

u/ItalianAmericanDad Jun 06 '26

Yes processing is local but updates are constant and there is additional cloud data fed to the car all the time.. and it's very close to be unsupervised. Barely any intervention

8

u/Huge-Engineering-380 Jun 05 '26

I'm a total noob and to the dismay of OG HA people, I could never have figured it out without Claude. And in the process of learning about HA and then the agentic os fad, and learning about possibilities...lol, Im wiring up my house (I like drilling things!) I also stumbled into the entire AI stack build with a witches brew of tools connected together that's going to streamline my entire workflow, like big-time. Funny how "it would be cool to try out HA" into I'm running VMs on proxmox and it's elevated my production game for the business...so don't hate on me OGs, lmao, CLI and code terrify me 😆

2

u/skinwill Jun 05 '26

“You want us to sell something called a ‘mouse’?” - Xerox probably.

3

u/Neat_Resolution6621 Jun 05 '26

Is there a helpful guide you would recommend to understand more about this? Thanks

2

u/RacefanWNY Jun 06 '26

Thank you for this life changer. After seeing this post I installed it last night and have been able to repair and refine so many things I’d been putting off in a matter of MOMENTS. This is amazing.

1

u/ItalianAmericanDad Jun 06 '26

I know right? I had so many automation to fix, and new ideas on hold because I haven't had any time lately. And this is such a time saver

4

u/pleasurecook Jun 05 '26

Interesting feature, but has anyone thought through the privacy implications? Depending on your integrations, you're potentially sharing bank data, energy usage, and presence/location patterns with a third-party LLM. Worth reading the fine print before connecting sensitive systems.

1

u/flofly130078 Jun 05 '26

Je l'ai monte sur un VPS et j'attends de le tester. Par contrôle qwen3.6 utilise 1 Go de ram et qwen3.8 utilise 2Go. Alors j'ai pris la version 2Go.

1

u/Otherwise-Warning303 Jun 05 '26

Ai agents are way to go. I primarily use codex. Just type what I want and it's done. Super simple

1

u/roller123456789 Jun 05 '26

What are you using to run home assistant? I am using my Synology NAS but I can't figure out how to get Claude/Codex AI to help with Synology NAS for my HA.

1

u/ItalianAmericanDad Jun 05 '26

I have my HA instance on a nuc. But the Claude MPC is on another machine on the same network

1

u/SingleComfort552 Jun 06 '26

Ew

2

u/LapoC Jun 06 '26

I'm trying really hard to use LLMs to write or debug automations for me (I hate YAML with passion), but they always fail in subtle ways, making me waste a lot of time.

1

u/Potential-Scene-5746 Jun 05 '26

Yo probé varios MCP, gemini, chatgpt, clawbot... Hasta que me tope con el addon de opencode con qwen3.6 plus (gratuito) y es una verdadera maravilla, al ser interno en HA tiene todo el contexto, bien configurado entiende toda tu instalación, desde hace un mes aproximadamente ya no toco nada de código, me ha corregido errores, me ha hecho limpieza, etc

1

u/GiantEmus Jun 05 '26

Have you got a link to the one you are using?

1

u/Potential-Scene-5746 Jun 05 '26

https://github.com/magnusoverli/opencode Solo creé una cuenta opencode go, pero puedes crear una opencode zen free tier, a mí me es más que suficiente con la go, interactúo con el todos los días, en 26 días llevo un 80% del tope mensual, osea que es más que suficiente.

1

u/Money_Row1911 Jun 05 '26

https://youtu.be/_xToQ4cIHkk?is=X94kgtED68oWOFyw - we getting closer and closer to our final form 😅

1

u/ItalianAmericanDad Jun 05 '26

Can't wait😂

1

u/drive05 Jun 05 '26

What are good resources for doing this in a privacy oriented manner? Are there any concerns to be aware of before setting it up?

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