OpenClaw Smart Home Integration: Control Your Devices with AI

OpenClaw smart home integration connects your AI agent to your home automation system, enabling natural language control of your devices through Telegram, Discord, or any connected channel. Instead of navigating apps, you simply tell your agent what you want. Here's how to set it up with Home Assistant.

Prerequisites

• Home Assistant running on your network (Home Assistant OS on Raspberry Pi 4 is the standard setup)
• OpenClaw instance (nacre.sh or self-hosted)
• Home Assistant Long-Lived Access Token

Installing the Home Assistant Skill

python -m openclaw skill install home-assistant

Configure with your Home Assistant URL and access token:

{
  "skills": {
    "home-assistant": {
      "url": "http://your-ha-instance:8123",
      "token": "${HA_TOKEN}"
    }
  }
}

What You Can Control

Once connected, your OpenClaw agent can control any device Home Assistant manages:

Lights: "Turn off all lights" / "Set the living room to 30% warm white" / "Turn on the bedside lamp"

Thermostat: "Set the temperature to 68°F" / "I'm leaving — set eco mode"

Locks: "Lock the front door" / "Is the back door locked?"

Scenes: "Activate movie scene" / "Set bedtime mode"

Covers: "Open the blinds in the office"

Building Context-Aware Automations

The power of AI over traditional automation is context understanding:

"I have guests coming at 7 PM. 30 minutes before, turn on the outdoor lights, set the living room to a warm scene, and turn on the kitchen lights."

Your agent creates a one-time automation or runs the scene directly.

Location-Aware Commands

Combine with a location skill:

"When I leave home, turn off all lights, set eco thermostat mode, and send me a confirmation."

Voice Control via Telegram Voice Messages

On Telegram mobile, you can send voice messages. Configure your agent to accept voice messages (transcribed to text) and process them as commands — giving you Alexa-style voice control that's much more capable for complex requests.

Security Notes

Your Home Assistant instance should never be directly exposed to the internet. If you're running OpenClaw on nacre.sh, configure a VPN or use Home Assistant's cloud (Nabu Casa) for remote access, with OpenClaw connecting through your local network or the Nabu Casa API.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this work with devices not in Home Assistant?

Home Assistant integrates with thousands of devices. If your device is in Home Assistant, your agent can control it. If not, add it to Home Assistant first.

Can my agent run complex multi-room scenes?

Yes. "Movie night setup: dim living room to 10%, turn off kitchen, close all blinds, turn on HDTV." Your agent understands multi-step commands and executes each action via the Home Assistant skill.

What's the latency for smart home commands?

Via Telegram to nacre.sh to Home Assistant: typically 1–3 seconds from message to device action. Slightly higher than native automations but acceptable for voice-command style interactions.