HACS11

The HACS integrations I actually run in Home Assistant – Huawei Solar, Tapo cameras, button-card and more – plus the community must-haves worth knowing.

Install HACS in Home Assistant step by step: the Get HACS add-on (HAOS), the one-line installer (Container/Core), GitHub authorization, and common fixes.

In this story, we’ll explore HACS (Home Assistant Community Store), why it’s a game-changer, and how to get started with it.

How I update a Docker-based Home Assistant to a new version without breaking my smart home: full backup, update custom components first against the old core, recreate the container instead of in-place, note the image ID for a real rollback, and a post-update checklist.

How I run Shelly Plus 1PM/2PM behind my wall switches in Home Assistant — fully local switching plus per-channel energy metering, no cloud, physical switch kept.

A bare humidity number doesn't tell you when a cellar will condense. I added a cheap Tapo T310 to my H100 hub and turned it into a dew-point mold early-warning.

Building a security dashboard in public: simulated sensors, a debounced trigger, dual logging, and the one decision that mattered most — what NOT to show.

Making KNX motion sensors drive lights that feel like the room is paying attention — the real trick is one extra group address, not a cleverer trigger.

I didn't want Home Assistant to be a slave to the JUNG alarm panel. So I inverted ownership: HA owns the alarm state and pushes it back onto the KNX bus.

I wired an AC·THOR 9s into Home Assistant to dump PV surplus into the hot-water tank — then the device refused every Modbus write. Here's the read-local, write-cloud fix.

Home Assistant is a powerful open source platform for home automation. For hosting, the use of a Linux VM in Azure and Docker is a good option.