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Setup Home Assistant

Installing AppDaemon

The backend application for HomeAssistant is written in a python for AppDaemon. This means it requires a working and running installation of AppDaemon.

The easiest way to install it is through Home Assistant's Supervisor Add-on Store, it will be automaticly connected to your Home Assistant Instance.

hass-add-on-store

Instructions for users of HomeAssistant Core installed through docker containers. In case you have a homeassistant setup using docker cotainers and the Add-on Store is not available to you, you can follow this guide for setting up AppDaemon. https://appdaemon.readthedocs.io/en/latest/DOCKER_TUTORIAL.html Please also pay attention to the correct volume mount for the conf folder of appdaemon, that has to point to the appdaemon folder within your homeassistant config folder. Here is an example docker compose file for homeassistant and appdaemon: 
version: "3.5"
services:
  homeassistant:
    image: ghcr.io/home-assistant/home-assistant:stable
    container_name: homeassistant
    network_mode: host
    volumes:
      - ./docker-data/homeassistant/:/config
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
    environment:
      - TZ=Europe/Berlin
    privileged: true
    restart: unless-stopped

  appdaemon:
    container_name: appdaemon
    image: acockburn/appdaemon:4.2.3
    environment:
      - HA_URL=http://your-homeassistant-url:8123
      - TOKEN="xxxxxx"
    volumes:
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
      - ./docker-data/homeassistant/appdaemon:/conf
    depends_on:
      - homeassistant
    restart: unless-stopped

Add babel package to AppDaemon Container (Optional)

For localisation (date in your local language) you need to add the python package babel to your AppDaemon Installation.

appdaemon-babel

Installing Studio Code Server

You will need a way to edit the apps.yaml config file in the Appdaemon folder. Install Studio Code Server from Home Assistant's Supervisor Add-on Store to easily edit configuration Files on your HomeAssistant Instance.

Installing HomeAssistant Community Store

HACS is the Home Assistant Community Store and allows for community integrations and automations to be updated easily from the Home Assistant web user interface. You will be notified of updates, and they can be installed by a click on a button.

Installing Lovelace AppDaemon Backend Application

To install Lovelace UI Backend App with HACS, you will need to make sure that you enabled AppDaemon automations in HACS, as these are not enabled by default:

  1. Click on Configuration on the left menu bar in Home Assistant Web UI
  2. Select Devices & Services
  3. Select Integrations
  4. Find HACS and click on Configure
  5. In the window that opens, make sure that Enable AppDaemon apps discovery & tracking is checked, or check it and click Submit
  6. If you just enabled this (or just installed HACS), you might have to wait a few minutes as all repositories are being fetched; you might hit a GitHub rate limit, which might then require you to wait a few hours for HACS to be fully configured. In this case, you won't be able to proceed to the next steps until HACS is ready.

Now, to install NSPanel Lovelace UI Backend with HACS, follow these steps:

  1. Click on HACS on the left menu bar in Home Assistant Web UI
  2. Click on Automations in the right panel
  3. Click on Explore & download repositories in the bottom right corner
  4. Search for NSPanel, and click on NSPanel Lovelace UI Backend in the list that appears
  5. In the bottom right corner of the panel that appears, click on Download this repository with HACS
  6. A confirmation panel will appear, click on Download, and wait for HACS to proceed with the download
  7. The Backend Application is now installed, and HACS will inform you when updates are available

Workaround for HomeAssistant 2024.04

AppDaemon is using the old REST API that until AppDaemon moved on the the websocket API this woraround is needed to get weather forecast data from homeassistant. (https://github.com/AppDaemon/appdaemon/issues/1837)

To get the forecast data in appdaemon, there is a script needed in homeassistant's configuration.yaml:

template:
  - trigger:
      - platform: time_pattern
        hours: /1
      - platform: homeassistant
        event: start
    action:
      - service: weather.get_forecasts
        data:
          type: daily
        target:
          entity_id: weather.home # change to your weather entity
        response_variable: daily
    sensor:
      - name: Weather Forecast Daily
        unique_id: weather_forecast_daily
        state: "{{ states('weather.home') }}" # # change to your weather entity in this line
        attributes:
          temperature: "{{ state_attr('weather.home', 'temperature') }}" # change to your weather entity
          temperature_unit: "{{ state_attr('weather.home', 'temperature_unit') }}" # change to your weather entity
          forecast: "{{ daily['weather.home'].forecast }}" # change to your weather entity
image

Adjust the entities in your apps.yaml that are accessing the forecast to the newly created trigger template:

image