# ha-mcp review

> ha-mcp is an unofficial Model Context Protocol server that lets AI assistants control and manage Home Assistant using natural language.

Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026. Canonical page: https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/homeassistant-ai-ha-mcp/

## TL;DR

ha-mcp is an MCP server that lets AI assistants control devices, query states, run services and manage automations in Home Assistant. It is for Home Assistant users who want Claude, ChatGPT or other MCP clients to work with their smart home. The recommended setup runs the full server inside Home Assistant as a custom component installed through HACS.

## ha-mcp at a glance

- **Category:** [MCP and agent tools](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/categories/mcp-servers/)
- **Maintained by:** The Unofficial Home Assistant AI Toolkit (organization, [@homeassistant-ai](https://github.com/homeassistant-ai) on GitHub)
- **License:** MIT
- **Language:** Python, Astro, JavaScript
- **Repository:** [github.com/homeassistant-ai/ha-mcp](https://github.com/homeassistant-ai/ha-mcp)
- **Website:** [homeassistant-ai.github.io/ha-mcp](https://homeassistant-ai.github.io/ha-mcp/)
- **PyPI package:** [ha-mcp](https://pypi.org/project/ha-mcp/) 8.7.0
- **Latest release:** [v8.7.0](https://github.com/homeassistant-ai/ha-mcp/releases/tag/v8.7.0) on GitHub, Oct 14, 2026
- **First published:** Sep 14, 2025

## What ha-mcp does

- ha-mcp searches entities with fuzzy matching, searches configuration deeply, and gives a system overview.
- ha-mcp calls any Home Assistant service, controls devices in bulk, and reads real-time states.
- ha-mcp manages automations, scripts, helpers, dashboards, areas, zones, groups, calendars and blueprints.
- ha-mcp reads history, statistics, camera snapshots, automation traces and ZHA devices.
- ha-mcp can debug a failing automation by analyzing execution traces and suggesting fixes.
- ha-mcp updates Lovelace dashboards, for example adding a weather card on request.
- ha-mcp offers opt-in file and YAML editing tools behind feature flags that are off by default.

### How it works

ha-mcp is usually installed as the HA-MCP Custom Component through HACS, which runs the server in-process inside Home Assistant. You copy a connect URL into your AI client. Clients connect over the local network or remotely through a Home Assistant webhook via Nabu Casa or a reverse proxy. Alternatives are a Home Assistant app (add-on), Docker, or the PyPI package as an HTTP server.

## How to install ha-mcp

**Demo server on macOS**

```
curl -LsSf https://raw.githubusercontent.com/homeassistant-ai/ha-mcp/master/scripts/install-macos.sh | sh
```

**Demo server on Windows**

```
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/homeassistant-ai/ha-mcp/master/scripts/install-windows.ps1 | iex
```

**Run with uvx**

```
uvx ha-mcp@latest
```

### Requirements

- A Home Assistant installation (OS, Supervised, Container or Core).
- An administrator long-lived access token or administrator account for the custom component.
- An MCP client such as Claude Desktop, Claude.ai or ChatGPT.

### First steps

1. Install the HA-MCP Custom Component from HACS, then restart Home Assistant.
2. Create an administrator access token, or a dedicated local-only administrator account for HA-MCP.
3. Go to Settings → Devices & Services → Add Integration, choose HA-MCP Server, enter credentials and pick how clients connect.
4. Copy the connect URL from the Configure screen into your AI client and ask: "Can you see my Home Assistant?"

## Who ha-mcp is for

- Home Assistant users who want to create and edit automations, scripts and dashboards by talking to an AI assistant.
- Users debugging Home Assistant automations through execution traces.
- Developers using Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Cursor, VSCode or Open WebUI with Home Assistant.

### Limitations

- ha-mcp is unofficial and is not a Home Assistant project.
- The stdio transport has known connection problems and is recommended only for demos and testing.
- Running more than one install method, or two entries for the same server in one client, can cause connection hangs.
- Docker and PyPI setups with non-admin tokens work only with limitations.

## Usage data (the week of Oct 25–31, 2026)

- Board rank: #53 overall, #2 in MCP and agent tools, momentum score 75
- Downloads that week: 118.1k (+68% vs 4-week average)
- New GitHub stars per week (last 12 weeks): Aug 9: 81; Aug 16: 85; Aug 23: 82; Aug 30: 78; Sep 6: 79; Sep 13: 81; Sep 20: 77; Sep 27: 88; Oct 4: 77; Oct 11: 105; Oct 18: 103; Oct 25: 174

## ha-mcp alternatives

| Rank | Tool | Stars | Downloads/wk |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | [REA](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/morluto-rea/) | 415.5k | 760.6k |
| #3 | [Treg](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/superdesigndev-treg/) | 6.9k | 6.7k |
| #4 | [Chrome DevTools MCP](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/chrome-devtools-mcp/) | 54.6k | 2.7M |
| #5 | [codebase-memory-mcp](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/deusdata-codebase-memory-mcp/) | 47.9k | – |
| #6 | [open-computer-use](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/ifuryst-open-computer-use/) | 2.8k | – |
| #7 | [Unity MCP](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/unity-mcp/) | 15.6k | – |

## ha-mcp FAQ

### Is ha-mcp free and open source?

Yes. ha-mcp's source code is on GitHub (homeassistant-ai/ha-mcp) under the MIT license, so you can use it for free.

### How do I install ha-mcp?

Run `curl -LsSf https://raw.githubusercontent.com/homeassistant-ai/ha-mcp/master/scripts/install-macos.sh | sh`. The ha-mcp package needs Python 3.13 or newer, below 3.15. The install section above has the other options from the project's README.

### Is ha-mcp still maintained?

Yes. The homeassistant-ai/ha-mcp repository was last updated on Oct 21, 2026, and the latest release, v8.7.0 on GitHub, came out on Oct 14, 2026.

### How popular is ha-mcp?

ha-mcp has 5.4k GitHub stars as of Nov 1, 2026. It gained 174 new stars in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, against a 12-week average of 93 a week. Its main package had 118.1k downloads that week, +68% against its own 4-week average. That made it #2 among MCP servers and agent tools on the Devtoolwatch Board.

### What are the best alternatives to ha-mcp?

Other MCP servers and agent tools on the Devtoolwatch Board in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, by momentum: REA (#1), Treg (#3), Chrome DevTools MCP (#4), codebase-memory-mcp (#5), open-computer-use (#6). The alternatives table above has their numbers.

### Which Home Assistant installation types does ha-mcp support?

ha-mcp supports every installation type through the custom component: Home Assistant OS, Supervised, Container and Core, with full feature parity. The app (add-on) works only on OS and Supervised installs.

### Which AI clients work with ha-mcp?

ha-mcp works with Claude Desktop, Claude.ai, ChatGPT and any other MCP client. The Setup Wizard covers 15+ clients, including Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Open WebUI, VSCode and Cursor.

### Can I use ha-mcp remotely?

ha-mcp's custom component has a built-in webhook for remote access through Nabu Casa or a reverse proxy. For ChatGPT when Home Assistant is not publicly reachable, a community OpenAI Tunnel integration uses an outbound-only connection.

### Can I keep ha-mcp local only?

ha-mcp can run local only. Leave remote access disabled at setup, and no webhook is registered. The direct port and sidebar panel keep working.

### Can I try ha-mcp without my own Home Assistant?

ha-mcp offers one-command scripts for macOS, Linux and Windows that connect to a hosted demo environment over stdio. No paid subscription is required.

### How does ha-mcp authenticate clients?

ha-mcp uses a secret URL as the credential by default. You can set Authentication mode to ha_auth to require a Home Assistant sign-in, or use OIDC with an external identity provider.

## Sources

1. [homeassistant-ai/ha-mcp on GitHub](https://github.com/homeassistant-ai/ha-mcp)
2. [ha-mcp README](https://github.com/homeassistant-ai/ha-mcp/blob/master/README.md)
3. [ha-mcp on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/ha-mcp/)
4. [ha-mcp website](https://homeassistant-ai.github.io/ha-mcp/)
5. [Release v9.0.0.dev3129 (Oct 21, 2026)](https://github.com/homeassistant-ai/ha-mcp/releases/tag/v9.0.0.dev3129)
6. [Release v9.0.0.dev3125 (Oct 21, 2026)](https://github.com/homeassistant-ai/ha-mcp/releases/tag/v9.0.0.dev3125)
7. [Release v9.0.0.dev3124 (Oct 21, 2026)](https://github.com/homeassistant-ai/ha-mcp/releases/tag/v9.0.0.dev3124)
8. [Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/)