[HOW-TO][Pro] Using ESPhome devices - no additional hardware

How to use your ESPHome devices @ Homey → without having to use additional hardware 24/7 (so, no Rpi / mini-pc or anything needed besides your wifi gear)

→ Initial version; feel free to point out the glitches, to suggest improvements, to add info I forgot ←


I’m not into buying mmWave sensors of €85,- and was interested to use my budget mmWave sensors directly with Homey, instead of using HomeAssistant as in-between


This can be achieved by using this Homey ESPhome app, by Baldhor:

First install and run ESPhome itself on your laptop/pc:

Here’s my local ESPhome page:

When it’s up and running:

  • On Homey, to add or edit a ESPhome device, always start with the “add new device” and select ‘ESPhome’ to start the wizard
  • Pick what you’d like to do:
    • Configure a new physical device
    • Update an existing physical device

Now go check it out the new manual / wiki made by @Baldhor !

App background and explanations:



- EDIT -

The following info is not of any use now, the wizard is completely rebuilt (as of Oct. 3 2023)

Configure a new physical device

  • To start with a new device, you’ll have to get the IP address and the API encryption key from the your_esphome_device.yaml

  • now you’d see (all) the entities of the ESPhome device (It’s a normal HTML page in a "phone size screen, so we have to scroll quite a bit)



  • scroll down to “List of unbind native capabilities”
    (meaning, like, List of ESPhome device entities which are not yet added to the new or existing Homey virtual device)

  • in the rows you see, look for the entity you’d like to add first

  • for the FIRST entity you want to add:
    select “Select a virtual device” and
    select “Create a virtual device”
    → Optional: you can edit the name afterwards, while it becomes the virtual device name

  • for the NEXT entities you want to add: scroll to the right, and
    select “Select a virtual device” and
    select your virtual device from the list (which is the name of the 1st entity you added - you can always rename your device after creation);
    this way you’ll build one Homey virtual device with several capabilities

  • scroll up to the list of virtual devices

  • In the entity’s row, you’ll have to select a matching Homey capability; i.e. for Occupancy, I chose “alarm_motion”
    Screenshot from 2023-09-25 18-58-26

  • to ‘confirm’ settings, click inside an other field or on a tick box

  • now, go to the next entity you’d like to add, start again from point: “for the next entities you want to add…

  • when all’s set, scroll down and hit “Confirm”

  • now your ESPhome device gets created


Update an existing physical device

  • add a ‘new’ ESPhome device to enter the wizard
  • select “Update an existing physical device”
  • select the IP address of the existing device
  • hit “Select”
  • find yourself in the same screen as when you were adding this device. You can add entities, edit or delete capabilities
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Thanks for sharing, jsut a remark, I’m working on an improved user interface for the ESPhome app on Homey. It will fit phone screen (no more scrolling nightmare!) and will allow even more.

You are welcome to help write a user guide when time come :slight_smile:

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Hi Baldhor,

YW. It was my pleasure to document my findings and creating a howto
I’m aware it’s all an ongoing process, no worries. I’d like to help to rewrite it when you’re done redesigning the UI.
And thanks for the nice app!

Changed the app howto and it’s pointing now to your magnificent wiki. Hat’s off!

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