AI assistant (Claude & ChatGPT)
Ask your house questions and give it instructions in plain language from Claude, ChatGPT or another AI client. We install and lock down ha-mcp, an open-source Model Context Protocol server, on the Home Assistant controller in your home.
- Home Assistant
- Claude
- ChatGPT
- MCP
What we install
- ha-mcp installed as a Home Assistant component on your controller, kept up to date
- Connection to the AI client you already use: Claude Desktop, Claude Code, ChatGPT, Gemini CLI, Cursor and others
- Per-tool permissions and read-only mode wherever you want a guardrail
- Automatic backups before the assistant changes any automation or dashboard
- Remote access over an encrypted link only if you ask for it; local-only otherwise
- A written record of what the assistant can and cannot touch
How it stays local
The server runs inside Home Assistant on your controller, not on a third-party service, and it sends no telemetry. What you type and what the tools answer go to the AI provider you chose, the same as any chat. Nothing leaves the house when you are not asking.
Good to know
ha-mcp is an open-source project under the MIT licence, maintained by the homeassistant-ai community. It reaches far more than Home Assistant's built-in MCP server, which only sees devices exposed to Assist. We do not build it; we set it up properly and explain the limits honestly.
Talk to the house
Ask it a question. Ask it to build a routine.
Through an open-source MCP server on your controller, Claude or ChatGPT can read the state of your home and write automations for you, in plain language. The rules it creates run locally, like everything else.
You: Is everything locked, and is the garage closed?
Tool call: ha_get_statelocks, garage, windows5 entities
Claude: Front and back doors are locked. The garage door has been closed since 6:42 pm. One thing: the basement window contact is still open.
You: Open the bedroom and kitchen blinds at 7 every morning, but only on weekdays and only if someone is home.
Tool call: ha_config_set_automationweekday_morning_blindscreated, backup taken
Claude: Done. Weekday morning blinds: 7:00, Monday to Friday, when anyone is home, opens the four shades in the bedroom and the kitchen. I took a backup first. Want it to skip statutory holidays?
You: Yes. And set the heat to 18 when we all leave, then back to 21 an hour before we usually get home.
Tool call: ha_get_historypresence, 30 dayshome by 5:40 pm most weekdays
Tool call: ha_config_set_automationaway_setback, welcome_home_heat2 created, backup taken
Claude: Added. Heating drops to 18° when the last person leaves and returns to 21° at 4:40 pm, since you are usually back by 5:40. The blinds now skip Quebec statutory holidays. All three rules run on the controller, so they keep working without internet.
What changed
- Locks2 of 2 locked
- GarageClosed
- Basement windowOpen
- ShadesWeekdays 7:00, when home
- HeatingAway 18°, home 21°
- Backups2 taken before changes
Runs on the controller. Nothing here needs the internet, except sending your message to the AI provider you chose.
Illustrative conversation. Names, times and figures are examples, not a recording.
What people ask before they book.
Can the assistant change things in my house, or only look?
You decide. We set it to read-only until you want more, with per-tool permissions so the tools that edit files or YAML stay off unless you turn them on. When writing is allowed, ha-mcp takes a backup before it changes an automation, script or dashboard. What it can and cannot touch is written down.
Does this send my home data to an AI company?
The server runs inside Home Assistant on your own controller and sends no telemetry. What leaves is the conversation: your question and the data the tools return for it go to the AI provider you chose, exactly as in any chat. When you are not asking anything, nothing is sent.
How is this different from asking a voice assistant to turn on a light?
A voice assistant switches a device. This reads the whole home: ask why the heating ran all night and the assistant pulls the thermostat history, the window sensors and the automation trace, then explains it. Home Assistant's built-in MCP server only sees devices exposed to Assist and cannot touch automations or dashboards.
Who makes ha-mcp? Is it your own software?
No, and we say so plainly. ha-mcp is an open-source project under the MIT licence, maintained by the homeassistant-ai community. We install it as a Home Assistant component on your controller, keep it up to date, set the guardrails and explain the limits. Access stays local-only unless you ask for an encrypted remote link.
From the blog
Pairs well with
- Controller, bridges & Matter/Thread networkingThe dedicated controller, Thread border routers and network design that make everything else reliable.Learn more
- Energy & EV chargingSee where the power goes, keep the EV charger and the water heater off peak, and let the house follow your utility's peak pricing on its own, such as Hydro-Québec peak events or Ontario time-of-use rates.Learn more
- Multi-room audioWhole-home audio with AirPlay 2, wired where it matters, grouped by room.Learn more
Ask about AI assistant (Claude & ChatGPT)
Tell us about the house. The site survey is free and there is no obligation.