Home Automation Skill

This skill provides comprehensive knowledge for deploying and managing the Ahling Command Center home automation layer: Home Assistant, Mosquitto MQTT, Zigbee2MQTT, ESPHome, and Node-RED.

Trigger Phrases

•"home assistant", "ha setup", "smart home"
•"mqtt", "mosquitto", "message broker"
•"zigbee", "zigbee2mqtt", "z2m"
•"esphome", "esp32", "esp8266"
•"node-red", "automation flows"

Home Automation Architecture

code

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   HOME AUTOMATION LAYER (Phase 2)                        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                          │
│   ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐    │
│   │                      DEVICE LAYER                              │    │
│   │   ┌─────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐          │    │
│   │   │ Zigbee  │───▶│ Zigbee2MQTT │───▶│    MQTT     │          │    │
│   │   │ Devices │    │   (Bridge)  │    │ (Mosquitto) │          │    │
│   │   └─────────┘    └─────────────┘    └─────────────┘          │    │
│   │                                            │                  │    │
│   │   ┌─────────┐    ┌─────────────┐          │                  │    │
│   │   │  ESP32  │───▶│   ESPHome   │──────────┤                  │    │
│   │   │ Devices │    │   (Flash)   │          │                  │    │
│   │   └─────────┘    └─────────────┘          │                  │    │
│   └───────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────┘    │
│                                               │                        │
│   ┌───────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────┐    │
│   │                  CONTROL LAYER            ▼                   │    │
│   │   ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐            │    │
│   │   │              Home Assistant                  │            │    │
│   │   │         (Central Controller)                │            │    │
│   │   └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘            │    │
│   │                         │                                     │    │
│   │   ┌─────────────┐      │      ┌─────────────┐                │    │
│   │   │  Node-RED   │◀─────┴─────▶│   Ollama    │                │    │
│   │   │  (Flows)    │             │  (Intent)   │                │    │
│   │   └─────────────┘             └─────────────┘                │    │
│   └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘    │
│                                                                          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Home Assistant

Docker Compose

yaml

services:
  homeassistant:
    image: ghcr.io/home-assistant/home-assistant:stable
    container_name: homeassistant
    privileged: true
    environment:
      TZ: America/Chicago
    volumes:
      - ./homeassistant/config:/config
      - /run/dbus:/run/dbus:ro
    network_mode: host  # For discovery
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      - postgres
      - mosquitto

Configuration Structure

yaml

# homeassistant/config/configuration.yaml
homeassistant:
  name: Ahling Command Center
  latitude: !secret latitude
  longitude: !secret longitude
  elevation: !secret elevation
  unit_system: imperial
  time_zone: America/Chicago
  external_url: https://ha.ahling.local
  internal_url: http://homeassistant:8123

# Database
recorder:
  db_url: postgresql://ha_user:${HA_DB_PASSWORD}@postgres:5432/homeassistant
  commit_interval: 1
  exclude:
    domains:
      - automation
      - updater
    entity_globs:
      - sensor.weather_*

# MQTT
mqtt:
  broker: mosquitto
  port: 1883
  username: homeassistant
  password: !secret mqtt_password

# Includes
automation: !include automations.yaml
script: !include scripts.yaml
scene: !include scenes.yaml
sensor: !include sensors.yaml

# Wyoming Voice
wyoming:

# Ollama Conversation
conversation:
  - platform: ollama
    name: ahling
    url: http://ollama:11434
    model: ahling-home
    max_history: 10

# HTTP API
http:
  use_x_forwarded_for: true
  trusted_proxies:
    - 172.16.0.0/12
    - 10.0.0.0/8

Secrets Management

yaml

# homeassistant/config/secrets.yaml
# IMPORTANT: This file should be encrypted in Vault

latitude: "XX.XXXX"
longitude: "-XX.XXXX"
elevation: "XXX"

mqtt_password: "${MQTT_PASSWORD}"

# Long-lived access tokens (generate in HA UI)
ha_token: "eyJ0eXAiOi..."

# External service keys
openweathermap_api_key: "abc123..."

Mosquitto MQTT Broker

Docker Compose

yaml

services:
  mosquitto:
    image: eclipse-mosquitto:2
    container_name: mosquitto
    ports:
      - "1883:1883"
      - "9001:9001"  # WebSocket
    volumes:
      - ./mosquitto/config:/mosquitto/config
      - ./mosquitto/data:/mosquitto/data
      - ./mosquitto/log:/mosquitto/log
    restart: unless-stopped

Mosquitto Configuration

conf

# mosquitto/config/mosquitto.conf
listener 1883
listener 9001
protocol websockets

persistence true
persistence_location /mosquitto/data/

log_dest file /mosquitto/log/mosquitto.log
log_type all

allow_anonymous false
password_file /mosquitto/config/passwd

# ACL for topic-level permissions
acl_file /mosquitto/config/acl

# Optional TLS
#listener 8883
#cafile /mosquitto/certs/ca.crt
#certfile /mosquitto/certs/server.crt
#keyfile /mosquitto/certs/server.key

ACL Configuration

conf

# mosquitto/config/acl

# Home Assistant - full access
user homeassistant
topic readwrite #

# Zigbee2MQTT
user zigbee2mqtt
topic readwrite zigbee2mqtt/#
topic read homeassistant/#

# Frigate
user frigate
topic readwrite frigate/#

# ESPHome devices
user esphome
topic readwrite esphome/#

# Read-only monitoring
user monitor
topic read #

User Setup

bash

# Create password file
docker exec mosquitto mosquitto_passwd -c /mosquitto/config/passwd homeassistant
docker exec mosquitto mosquitto_passwd -b /mosquitto/config/passwd zigbee2mqtt ${Z2M_MQTT_PASSWORD}
docker exec mosquitto mosquitto_passwd -b /mosquitto/config/passwd frigate ${FRIGATE_MQTT_PASSWORD}
docker exec mosquitto mosquitto_passwd -b /mosquitto/config/passwd esphome ${ESPHOME_MQTT_PASSWORD}

Zigbee2MQTT

Docker Compose

yaml

services:
  zigbee2mqtt:
    image: koenkk/zigbee2mqtt:latest
    container_name: zigbee2mqtt
    volumes:
      - ./zigbee2mqtt/data:/app/data
      - /run/udev:/run/udev:ro
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    environment:
      TZ: America/Chicago
    devices:
      - /dev/ttyUSB0:/dev/ttyUSB0  # Zigbee coordinator
    depends_on:
      - mosquitto
    restart: unless-stopped

Zigbee2MQTT Configuration

yaml

# zigbee2mqtt/data/configuration.yaml
homeassistant: true
permit_join: false

mqtt:
  base_topic: zigbee2mqtt
  server: mqtt://mosquitto:1883
  user: zigbee2mqtt
  password: ${Z2M_MQTT_PASSWORD}

serial:
  port: /dev/ttyUSB0
  adapter: zstack  # or deconz, ezsp depending on coordinator

frontend:
  port: 8080
  host: 0.0.0.0

advanced:
  network_key: GENERATE  # Will auto-generate
  pan_id: GENERATE
  channel: 20
  log_level: info
  log_output:
    - console
    - file
  log_directory: /app/data/log

# Device-specific settings
devices:
  '0x00158d0001234567':
    friendly_name: 'living_room_motion'
    retain: false

# Groups
groups:
  '1':
    friendly_name: living_room_lights
    devices:
      - '0x00158d0001234568/1'
      - '0x00158d0001234569/1'

Supported Coordinators

Coordinator	Adapter Type	Notes
Sonoff ZBDongle-P	zstack	CC2652P, recommended
Sonoff ZBDongle-E	ezsp	EFR32MG21
ConBee II	deconz	deCONZ firmware
SLZB-06	zstack	PoE, external antenna

ESPHome

Docker Compose

yaml

services:
  esphome:
    image: ghcr.io/esphome/esphome:latest
    container_name: esphome
    volumes:
      - ./esphome/config:/config
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
    ports:
      - "6052:6052"
    environment:
      ESPHOME_DASHBOARD_USE_PING: true
    restart: unless-stopped

Device Configuration Example

yaml

# esphome/config/living_room_sensor.yaml
esphome:
  name: living-room-sensor
  friendly_name: Living Room Sensor

esp32:
  board: esp32dev
  framework:
    type: esp-idf

wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password

  ap:
    ssid: "Living-Room-Sensor"
    password: !secret ap_password

captive_portal:

logger:

api:
  encryption:
    key: !secret api_key

ota:
  password: !secret ota_password

mqtt:
  broker: mosquitto
  username: esphome
  password: !secret mqtt_password

# Sensors
sensor:
  - platform: dht
    pin: GPIO4
    temperature:
      name: "Living Room Temperature"
      filters:
        - sliding_window_moving_average:
            window_size: 10
            send_every: 5
    humidity:
      name: "Living Room Humidity"
    update_interval: 60s

  - platform: adc
    pin: GPIO34
    name: "Living Room Light Level"
    update_interval: 10s

binary_sensor:
  - platform: gpio
    pin:
      number: GPIO5
      mode: INPUT_PULLUP
    name: "Living Room Motion"
    device_class: motion
    filters:
      - delayed_off: 30s

switch:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: GPIO23
    name: "Living Room Relay"
    id: relay1

Node-RED

Docker Compose

yaml

services:
  nodered:
    image: nodered/node-red:latest
    container_name: nodered
    environment:
      TZ: America/Chicago
    ports:
      - "1880:1880"
    volumes:
      - nodered_data:/data
    depends_on:
      - mosquitto
      - homeassistant
    restart: unless-stopped
    labels:
      - "traefik.enable=true"
      - "traefik.http.routers.nodered.rule=Host(`nodered.ahling.local`)"

Recommended Palettes

bash

# Install via Node-RED UI or CLI
npm install \
  node-red-contrib-home-assistant-websocket \
  node-red-contrib-mqtt-broker \
  node-red-contrib-ollama \
  node-red-contrib-cron-plus \
  node-red-contrib-dashboard \
  node-red-contrib-influxdb

Example Flow: Voice-Activated Automation

json

[
  {
    "id": "mqtt_voice",
    "type": "mqtt in",
    "topic": "voice/commands",
    "broker": "mosquitto"
  },
  {
    "id": "ollama_intent",
    "type": "ollama",
    "model": "ahling-home",
    "system": "Extract home automation intent from voice command"
  },
  {
    "id": "ha_service",
    "type": "api-call-service",
    "server": "homeassistant",
    "domain": "{{ msg.intent.domain }}",
    "service": "{{ msg.intent.service }}"
  }
]

Integration Patterns

MQTT Topics Structure

code

# Device state
zigbee2mqtt/living_room_motion
esphome/living_room_sensor/sensor/temperature/state
frigate/events

# Commands
zigbee2mqtt/living_room_light/set
homeassistant/switch/relay1/set

# Discovery (Home Assistant)
homeassistant/sensor/living_room_temp/config
homeassistant/binary_sensor/motion/config

Home Assistant Automations

yaml

# homeassistant/config/automations.yaml
- id: motion_lights
  alias: "Motion Activated Lights"
  trigger:
    - platform: mqtt
      topic: "zigbee2mqtt/living_room_motion"
      payload: '{"occupancy": true}'
  condition:
    - condition: sun
      after: sunset
  action:
    - service: light.turn_on
      target:
        entity_id: light.living_room
      data:
        brightness_pct: "{{ 30 if now().hour > 22 else 100 }}"

- id: voice_control
  alias: "Voice Control via Ollama"
  trigger:
    - platform: mqtt
      topic: "voice/transcription"
  action:
    - service: conversation.process
      data:
        agent_id: conversation.ahling
        text: "{{ trigger.payload }}"

Resource Allocation

Memory Budget (61GB)

Component	RAM
Home Assistant	2GB
Mosquitto	256MB
Zigbee2MQTT	256MB
ESPHome	512MB
Node-RED	512MB
Total	~3.5GB

Best Practices

•MQTT: Use QoS 1 for important messages, QoS 0 for sensors
•Zigbee2MQTT: Keep firmware updated, use external coordinator
•ESPHome: Use secrets.yaml for credentials
•Node-RED: Version control flows with git
•Home Assistant: Use packages for organization

Troubleshooting

bash

# Check MQTT connectivity
mosquitto_sub -h mosquitto -u monitor -P ${MONITOR_PASSWORD} -t '#' -v

# Zigbee2MQTT logs
docker logs -f zigbee2mqtt

# Home Assistant logs
docker logs -f homeassistant | grep -E "(ERROR|WARNING)"

# ESPHome device logs
docker exec esphome esphome logs living_room_sensor.yaml

Related Skills

•[[home-assistant-brain]] - Deep HA API integration
•[[perception-pipeline]] - Frigate, Wyoming integration
•[[ollama-mastery]] - Voice intent processing

Home Automation Skill

Trigger Phrases

Home Automation Architecture

Home Assistant

Docker Compose

Configuration Structure

Secrets Management

Mosquitto MQTT Broker

Docker Compose

Mosquitto Configuration

ACL Configuration

User Setup

Zigbee2MQTT

Docker Compose

Zigbee2MQTT Configuration

Supported Coordinators

ESPHome

Docker Compose

Device Configuration Example

Node-RED

Docker Compose

Recommended Palettes

Example Flow: Voice-Activated Automation

Integration Patterns

MQTT Topics Structure

Home Assistant Automations

Resource Allocation

Memory Budget (61GB)

Best Practices

Troubleshooting

Related Skills

References