HACS - Community Integrations and UI

HACS is an invaluable resource for all Home Assistant enthusiasts who want to expand the capabilities of their smart home. It is an extensive library where you can find a wide range of integrations and UI elements developed by the community.

HACS is now in version 2, which differs significantly from the first version visually and offers much closer integration with Home Assistant. A pleasant bonus is, for example, the ability to update HACS packages from the same place as Home Assistant itself.

Note

Before you start exploring HACS, it is important to realize that the Home Assistant Community Store (HACS) is a third-party add-on that is not directly integrated into Home Assistant. To use its rich resources, you need to install it separately. This project is also maintained by an independent development team, so different conditions and support standards may apply.

Installation

The easiest way to install it is to use the HACS installation script. The specific installation steps then differ depending on the type of installation of Home Assistant you are using.

HassOS / Supervised

1. Go to the Add-on Store

2. Install one of the SSH add-ons (you will need to enable advanced mode in your HA profile)

3. Configure the chosen SSH add-on

4. Start the SSH add-on

5. Connect to the SSH add-on

6. Run the HACS installation script

   wget -O - https://get.hacs.xyz | bash -

Tip - Installation using Visual Studio Code

Alternatively, you can use the Visual Studio Code add-on to run the script, which also has a terminal and is a great editor for configuration YAML files.

Container

1. Open the terminal

2. Connect to the container and its bash - docker exec -it homeassistant bash

3. Run the HACS installation script

   wget -O - https://get.hacs.xyz | bash -

Core

1. Open the terminal

2. Run the HACS installation script

   wget -O - https://get.hacs.xyz | bash -

Now we should have the HACS integration installed in HA, but before we proceed with its configuration, we will need to restart HA.

Tip - Restart from the terminal

You can restart HA directly from the terminal using the command ha core restart.

Configuration

Refresh browser cache

Before we continue with the configuration, it will be necessary to refresh the browser cache. You can do this, for example, by pressing Ctrl(Command)+Shift+R.

1. In the settings menu, select Integrations and click the Add Integration button at the bottom right.

2. Enter HACS in the field and click on it

   

3. Check all options except the last one.

   

4. Click the link and log in to GitHub. If you do not have an account on GitHub yet, you will need to create one.

   

5. Enter the code from the previous step.

   

6. Confirm the authorization for HACS to read from GitHub under your account.

   

7. And we are done - we will automatically have a new HACS item in the left menu of HA.

   

Debugging

Debugging is a key aspect of troubleshooting integrations in Home Assistant. Here are useful tips on how to effectively debug and diagnose issues.

• Basic logs: For a basic overview of system operation and potential issues, visit the home-assistant.log log file. This file contains important information about the operation and errors of your integrations.

• Activating debug mode: If you are facing specific issues and need more detailed information, you can activate debug mode. This is done by adding the following code to your configuration.yaml. This step will increase the logging level for specific components and allow you to better diagnose the problem.

  configuration.yaml

  logger:
    default: info
    logs:
      custom_components.hacs: debug
      aiogithubapi: debug

Remember that after resolving the issues, it is recommended to return the logging settings to normal to avoid unnecessary system load.

Recommended HACS Integrations

Currently just a list, and I will gradually add descriptions.

Adaptive Lighting

Intelligent lighting control that automatically adjusts brightness and light temperature throughout the day for better comfort and reduced eye strain.

url: github.com/basnijholt/adaptive-lighting

Sonoff LAN

Allows controlling Sonoff devices locally over LAN without the need to flash custom firmware. Communicates directly with devices without using eWeLink cloud services.

url: github.com/AlexxIT/SonoffLAN

Tuya Local

Provides local control of Tuya devices without relying on the cloud. Allows using Tuya devices even without an internet connection.

url: github.com/make-all/tuya-local

Hik-Connect

Integration for communicating with Hikvision smart doorbells via the Hik-Connect cloud. Allows unlocking locks and monitoring the status of indoor stations.

url: github.com/tomasbedrich/home-assistant-hikconnect

Area Occupancy Detection

Area Occupancy Detection for Home Assistant is an advanced integration that uses Bayesian probability calculations to detect room occupancy by combining data from various sensors. This integration improves the accuracy of presence detection compared to standalone motion sensors by considering various environmental factors, device states, and historical data.

url: github.com/Hankanman/Area-Occupancy-Detection

MeasureIt

Allows measuring various events in Home Assistant based on time and templates. For example, you can measure shower duration, the number of planes at night, or TV watching time.

url: github.com/danieldotnl/ha-measureit

Auto Backup

An advanced backup service for Home Assistant. Allows automatic deletion of old backups, exclusion of items from the backup, and supports generational backup schemes.

url: github.com/jcwillox/hass-auto-backup

Recommended HACS UI Elements

Currently just a list, and I will gradually add descriptions.

Lovelace Mini Graph Card

A minimalist and customizable graph card for Home Assistant Lovelace UI. Works with entities from sensors and binary sensors and displays the current state and history in the form of a line graph.

url: github.com/kalkih/mini-graph-card

Mini Media Player

A minimalist but highly customizable media player for Home Assistant Lovelace UI. Inspired by Custom UI.

url: github.com/kalkih/mini-media-player

Example configuration for Bose speaker and Sonos speaker

Lovelace Horizon Card

A card for the Home Assistant dashboard that tracks the position of the Sun above the horizon and displays the times of various solar events, as well as the current azimuth and elevation, in a visually appealing and easy-to-read format.

url: github.com/rejuvenate/lovelace-horizon-card

🍄 Mushroom

A collection of cards for the Home Assistant Dashboard UI, designed to create a clean and minimalist Lovelace UI. Includes a built-in UI editor, support for light and dark themes, and various card types such as alarm, entity, and light cards.

url: github.com/piitaya/lovelace-mushroom

Vertical Stack In Card

A custom Lovelace card for Home Assistant that allows grouping multiple cards into one elegant card. Offers a clean, organized way to display multiple cards on your Home Assistant dashboard.

url: github.com/ofekashery/vertical-stack-in-card

Recommend another interesting HACS add-on

If you know of any other interesting HACS add-on that is not on the list, please let me know in the comments or by email.