Home Assistant MCP Server for Claude Desktop 15 tools — connect in under 2 minutes
Claude Desktop is Anthropic's native application for interacting with Claude AI models on macOS and Windows. It was the first consumer application to ship with built-in MCP support, making it the reference implementation for the Model Context Protocol standard.
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{
"mcpServers": {
"home-assistant": {
// Your Vinkius token — get it at cloud.vinkius.com
"url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"
}
}
}
* Every MCP server runs on Vinkius-managed infrastructure inside AWS - a purpose-built runtime with per-request V8 isolates, Ed25519 signed audit chains, and sub-40ms cold starts optimized for native MCP execution. See our infrastructure
About Home Assistant MCP Server
Connect to your Home Assistant instance (local or Nabu Casa cloud) and control your entire smart home from any AI agent. Manage lights, climate, media players, covers, switches, and trigger automations via the Home Assistant REST API.
Claude Desktop is the definitive way to connect Home Assistant to your AI workflow. Add the Vinkius Edge URL to your config, restart the app, and Claude immediately exposes all 15 tools in the chat interface — ask a question, Claude calls the right tool, and you see the answer. Zero code, zero context switching.
What you can do
- Entity Discovery — List all entities and their current states across all integrations
- Device Control — Turn lights on/off, adjust brightness, set thermostat temperatures, open/close covers
- Service Calls — Call any Home Assistant service (light, switch, climate, cover, media_player, automation, script)
- State Monitoring — Get real-time state of any entity including sensors, binary sensors, and device trackers
- History & Logbook — Query historical state changes and logbook entries for analysis
- Calendar Management — List and query calendar events from Home Assistant calendars
- Event Automation — Fire custom events to trigger Home Assistant automations
- Template Rendering — Render Jinja2 templates for advanced state access
- Configuration — View system configuration, loaded components, and validate configuration
- Local or Cloud — Works with local instances (http://IP:8123) or Nabu Casa cloud (https://INSTANCE.ui.nabu.casa)
The Home Assistant MCP Server exposes 15 tools through the Vinkius. Connect it to Claude Desktop in under two minutes — no API keys to rotate, no infrastructure to provision, no vendor lock-in. Your configuration, your data, your control.
How to Connect Home Assistant to Claude Desktop via MCP
Follow these steps to integrate the Home Assistant MCP Server with Claude Desktop.
Open Claude Desktop Settings
Go to Settings → Developer → Edit Config to open claude_desktop_config.json
Add the MCP Server
Paste the configuration above into the mcpServers section
Restart Claude Desktop
Close and reopen Claude Desktop to load the new server
Start using Home Assistant
Look for the 🔌 icon in the chat — your 15 tools are now available
Why Use Claude Desktop with the Home Assistant MCP Server
Claude Desktop by Anthropic provides unique advantages when paired with Home Assistant through the Model Context Protocol.
Claude Desktop is the reference MCP client — it was designed alongside the protocol itself, ensuring the most complete and stable MCP implementation available
Zero-code configuration: add a server URL to a JSON file and Claude instantly discovers and exposes all available tools in the chat interface
Claude's extended thinking capability lets it reason through multi-step tool usage, chaining multiple API calls to answer complex questions
Enterprise-grade security with local config storage — your tokens never leave your machine, and connections go directly to the Vinkius Edge network
Home Assistant + Claude Desktop Use Cases
Practical scenarios where Claude Desktop combined with the Home Assistant MCP Server delivers measurable value.
Interactive data exploration: ask Claude to query DNS records, look up WHOIS data, and cross-reference results in a single conversation
Ad-hoc security audits: type a domain name and let Claude enumerate subdomains, check DNS history, and flag configuration anomalies — all through natural language
Executive briefings: generate comprehensive domain intelligence reports by asking Claude to compile findings into a formatted summary
Learning and training: new team members can explore API capabilities conversationally without needing to read documentation
Home Assistant MCP Tools for Claude Desktop (15)
These 15 tools become available when you connect Home Assistant to Claude Desktop via MCP:
call_ha_service
This is the primary way to control devices in Home Assistant. COMMON SERVICE CALLS: - light.turn_on: entity_id, brightness (0-255), color_temp, rgb_color - light.turn_off: entity_id - switch.turn_on: entity_id - switch.turn_off: entity_id - climate.set_temperature: entity_id, temperature - climate.set_hvac_mode: entity_id, hvac_mode (heat, cool, auto, off) - cover.open_cover: entity_id - cover.close_cover: entity_id - media_player.turn_on: entity_id - media_player.turn_off: entity_id - media_player.media_play: entity_id - automation.trigger: entity_id - script.turn_on: entity_id DOMAINS: light, switch, climate, cover, fan, lock, media_player, automation, script, scene, input_boolean, input_number, notify PARAMETERS: - domain (REQUIRED): Domain name (e.g. light, switch, climate) - service (REQUIRED): Service name (e.g. turn_on, turn_off, set_temperature) - service_data (OPTIONAL): JSON object with service parameters including entity_id EXAMPLES: - "Turn on living room light" → domain="light", service="turn_on", service_data={"entity_id":"light.living_room"} - "Set bedroom temperature to 20" → domain="climate", service="set_temperature", service_data={"entity_id":"climate.bedroom","temperature":20} Call a Home Assistant service on a domain
check_ha_configuration
Check Home Assistant configuration validity
fire_ha_event
The event type must match automation triggers configured in Home Assistant. Fire a custom event in Home Assistant
get_api_status
Use this as a connectivity test before making other API calls. Check if the Home Assistant API is running
get_calendar_events
Get events from a Home Assistant calendar
get_entity_history
Useful for analyzing trends and past behavior. Get historical state data for an entity
get_entity_state
Use entity IDs from list_entity_states (e.g., light.living_room, climate.bedroom, sensor.temperature). Get the current state of a specific entity
get_ha_config
Get the Home Assistant configuration details
get_logbook_entries
Can be filtered by entity and time range. Get Home Assistant logbook entries
list_available_services
g., light: turn_on, turn_off, toggle; climate: set_temperature, set_hvac_mode). Essential for discovering what actions can be performed. List all available services across all domains
list_entity_states
Each entity includes entity_id, state, last_changed timestamp, and attributes. Essential for discovering available devices. List all entity states in Home Assistant
list_ha_calendars
List all calendars configured in Home Assistant
list_ha_components
List all loaded components/integrations in Home Assistant
list_ha_events
Useful for understanding what events Home Assistant is tracking. List all event types currently registered in Home Assistant
render_ha_template
Useful for accessing HA template functions and state from the API. Render a Jinja2 template in Home Assistant
Example Prompts for Home Assistant in Claude Desktop
Ready-to-use prompts you can give your Claude Desktop agent to start working with Home Assistant immediately.
"List all my smart home entities and show me the lights."
"Turn on the living room light and set it to 50% brightness."
"What is the current temperature in the bedroom and what mode is the thermostat?"
Troubleshooting Home Assistant MCP Server with Claude Desktop
Common issues when connecting Home Assistant to Claude Desktop through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.
Server not appearing after restart
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\\Claude\\ (Windows).Authentication error
Tools not showing in chat
Home Assistant + Claude Desktop FAQ
Common questions about integrating Home Assistant MCP Server with Claude Desktop.
How does Claude Desktop discover MCP tools?
claude_desktop_config.json file and connects to each configured MCP server. It calls the tools/list endpoint to fetch the schema for every available tool, then surfaces them as clickable options in the chat interface via the 🔌 icon.What happens if the MCP server is temporarily unavailable?
Can I connect multiple MCP servers simultaneously?
mcpServers section of the config file. Each server appears as a separate tool provider, and Claude can use tools from multiple servers in a single conversation turn.Is there a limit on the number of tools per server?
Does Claude Desktop support Streamable HTTP transport?
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Connect Home Assistant to Claude Desktop
Get your token, paste the configuration, and start using 15 tools in under 2 minutes. No API key management needed.