Bring Smart Home
to Claude Desktop
Create your Vinkius account to connect Home Assistant to Claude Desktop and start using all 15 AI tools in minutes. Fully managed, enterprise secure, and ready to use without writing a single line of code. No hosting, no server setup — just connect and start using.
GDPR Free for SubscribersCompatible with every major AI agent and IDE
Gemini
What is the 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.
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)
How it works
- Subscribe to this server
- Enter your Home Assistant URL and Long-Lived Access Token
- Start controlling your smart home from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client
Your AI becomes a smart home assistant, helping you manage lighting, climate, media, and automations across your entire home.
Who is this for?
- Smart Home Enthusiasts — control all Home Assistant-connected devices from AI assistants
- Home Automation Builders — integrate HA into broader automation workflows and scripts
- Property Managers — monitor and control devices across multiple properties
- Energy-Conscious Users — optimize device states for energy savings via automations
- Security-Conscious Users — monitor sensors, cameras, and alarm states remotely
Built-in capabilities (15)
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 Home Assistant configuration validity
The event type must match automation triggers configured in Home Assistant. Fire a custom event in Home Assistant
Use this as a connectivity test before making other API calls. Check if the Home Assistant API is running
Get events from a Home Assistant calendar
Useful for analyzing trends and past behavior. Get historical state data for an entity
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 the Home Assistant configuration details
Can be filtered by entity and time range. Get Home Assistant logbook entries
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
Each entity includes entity_id, state, last_changed timestamp, and attributes. Essential for discovering available devices. List all entity states in Home Assistant
List all calendars configured in Home Assistant
List all loaded components/integrations in Home Assistant
Useful for understanding what events Home Assistant is tracking. List all event types currently registered in Home Assistant
Useful for accessing HA template functions and state from the API. Render a Jinja2 template in Home Assistant
Why Claude Desktop?
Claude Desktop is the definitive way to connect Home Assistant to your AI workflow. Add 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.
- —
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 Vinkius Edge network
Home Assistant in Claude Desktop
Why run Home Assistant with Vinkius?
The Home Assistant connection runs on our fully managed, secure cloud infrastructure. We handle the hosting, maintenance, and security so you don't have to deal with servers or code. All 15 tools are ready to work instantly without any complex setup.
You stay in complete control of your data. Your AI only accesses the information you approve, keeping your sensitive passwords and private details completely safe. Plus, with automatic optimizations, your AI works faster and more efficiently.
* Every connection is hosted and maintained by Vinkius. We handle the security, updates, and infrastructure so you don't have to write code or manage servers. See our infrastructure
Over 4,000 integrations ready for AI agents
Explore a vast library of pre-built integrations, optimized and ready to deploy.
Connect securely in under 30 seconds
Generate tokens to authenticate and link external services in a single step.
Complete visibility into every agent action
Audit live requests, latency, success rates, and active security compliance policies.
Optimize spending and track token ROI
Analyze real-time token consumption and cost metrics detailed by connection.
Explore our live AI Agents Analytics dashboard to see it all working
This dashboard is included when you connect Home Assistant using Vinkius. You will never be left in the dark about what your AI agents are doing with your tools.
Home Assistant and 4,000+ other AI tools. No hosting, no code, ready to use.
Professionals who connect Home Assistant to Claude Desktop through Vinkius don't need to write code, manage servers, or worry about security. Everything is pre-configured, secure, and runs automatically in the background.
Raw MCP | Vinkius | |
|---|---|---|
| Ready-to-use MCPs | Find and configure each manually | 4,000+ MCPs ready to use |
| Connection Setup | Manual coding & server setup | 1-click instant connection |
| Server Hosting | You host it yourself (needs 24/7 uptime) | 100% hosted & managed by Vinkius |
| Security & Privacy | Stored in plaintext config files | Bank-grade encrypted vault |
| Activity Visibility | Blind execution (no logs or tracking) | Live dashboard with real-time logs |
| Cost Control | Runaway AI token spend risk | Automatic budget limits |
| Revoking Access | Must delete files or code to stop | 1-click disconnect button |
How Vinkius secures
Home Assistant for Claude Desktop
Every request between Claude Desktop and Home Assistant is protected by our secure gateway. We automatically keep your sensitive data private, prevent unauthorized access, and let you disconnect instantly at any time.
Frequently asked questions
What Home Assistant URL should I use?
For local instances, use your Home Assistant's local network URL: http://YOUR_IP:8123 (or http://homeassistant.local:8123). For cloud access via Nabu Casa, use your remote URL: https://YOUR_INSTANCE.ui.nabu.casa. The API is accessible at the same base URL as your Home Assistant frontend.
How do I get a Long-Lived Access Token?
Log in to your Home Assistant web interface, go to your user profile (click your name in the sidebar, then Profile), scroll down to Long-Lived Access Tokens, click Create Token, give it a name (e.g., 'MCP Server'), and copy the generated token. This token never expires unless manually revoked.
What devices and integrations are supported?
All Home Assistant integrations are supported since the API works at the service/state level. This includes lights (Philips Hue, LIFX, etc.), thermostats (Nest, Ecobee, etc.), covers/blinds, switches, media players (Sonos, Chromecast, etc.), sensors, cameras, locks, vacuums, and 1000+ other integrations. Use list_entity_states to discover all available entities.
Can I trigger Home Assistant automations from the API?
Yes! You can trigger automations in multiple ways: 1) Call the automation.trigger service directly, 2) Fire a custom event using fire_ha_event that matches an event trigger in your automation, 3) Call the script.turn_on service to run scripts. You can also control devices directly which will trigger related automations.
How does Claude Desktop discover MCP tools?
When Claude Desktop starts, it reads the 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?
Claude Desktop handles disconnections gracefully. if the server is unreachable at startup, the tools simply won't appear. Once the server becomes available again, restarting Claude Desktop will re-establish the connection. There is no timeout penalty or error loop.
Can I connect multiple MCP servers simultaneously?
Yes. You can add as many servers as you need in the 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?
Claude Desktop can handle hundreds of tools per server. However, for optimal LLM performance, Vinkius servers are designed to expose focused, well-documented tool sets rather than overwhelming the model with too many options.
Does Claude Desktop support Streamable HTTP transport?
Yes. Claude Desktop supports both SSE (Server-Sent Events) and the newer Streamable HTTP transport that Vinkius uses. Simply provide the server URL. Claude auto-negotiates the transport protocol.
Server not appearing after restart
Ensure the JSON is valid (no trailing commas). Check the file path: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\\Claude\\ (Windows).
Authentication error
Verify your Vinkius token is correct. Go to cloud.vinkius.com to regenerate it if needed.
Tools not showing in chat
Click the 🔌 icon at the bottom of the chat input. If it shows 0 tools, the server may still be connecting. wait a few seconds.
Explore More MCP Servers
View all →
CB Insights
13 toolsResearch emerging technologies, track venture capital deals, and analyze market trends with AI-powered business intelligence.
Contrast Security
10 toolsEquip your AI with Contrast Security AppSec data to monitor applications and hunt critical vulnerabilities directly via chat.
U.S. Census Full — Complete Demographic & Economic Intelligence
14 toolsThe U.S. Census Mega-Server: 14 tools providing comprehensive access to the ACS and County Business Patterns. Analyze population, age, race, income, poverty, education, home values, rent, and businesses across all 50 states, 3,000+ counties, and cities.
Contractor+
12 toolsRun your contracting business with job estimates, invoicing, client management, and field crew tracking in one mobile platform.