NoLongerEvil Home Assistant Add-on

A Home Assistant Add-on that provides self-hosted Nest thermostat control via the NoLongerEvil API. Control your Nest thermostats locally without relying on external cloud services.

Installation

Quick Install

1. Click the button below to add this repository to your Home Assistant instance:

   

2. Find NoLongerEvil HomeAssistant in the Add-on store and click Install

3. Configure the Add-on (see Configuration below)

4. Start the Add-on

5. Select "Watchdog" to restart the server if it crashes

6. (Optional) Select "Add to sidebar" for ease of use during thermostat configuration

Manual Installation

1. Navigate to Settings > Add-ons > Add-on Store

2. Click the menu icon (three dots) in the top right and select Repositories

3. Add this repository URL:

   https://github.com/codykociemba/NoLongerEvil-HomeAssistant
   

4. Click Add and close the dialog

5. Find NoLongerEvil HomeAssistant in the store and click Install

Requirements

• Home Assistant OS (not Home Assistant Container) - Learn more
• Mosquitto broker add-on - Required for MQTT integration

Configuration

After installing the add-on, configure it on the "Configuration" tab via the Home Assistant UI:

Option	Required	Default	Description
api_origin	Yes	http://192.168.1.x:9543	Full URL where Nest devices reach this add-on (protocol + host + port). Always use an IP address — do not use homeassistant.local as mDNS can fail for Nest devices
entry_key_ttl_seconds	No	3600	How long entry keys remain valid (seconds)
debug_logging	No	false	Enable verbose logging for troubleshooting
mqtt_host	No	(auto-detected)	MQTT broker hostname (leave empty to use Mosquitto add-on)
mqtt_port	No	1883	MQTT broker port
mqtt_user	No	(empty*)	MQTT username for authentication
mqtt_password	No	(empty*)	MQTT password for authentication

• Fields can be empty under HAOS. Enter your credentials if you're using an external MQTT broker.

Example Configuration

api_origin: "http://192.168.1.100:9543"
entry_key_ttl_seconds: 3600
debug_logging: false

Network Ports

Port	Purpose	Access
9543 (host) → 8000 (container)	Nest device communication	External (configurable)
8082	Control API + Web UI	Ingress only (default)

By default the dashboard is only accessible via the HA sidebar through Ingress. If you want direct access at http://<HA-IP>:<port> (e.g. for development or external tools), go to Settings → Add-ons → NoLongerEvil → Configuration → Network and assign a host port to container port 8082, then restart the add-on.

Thermostat Setup

Automated Setup (Recommended)

The No Longer Evil firmware installer handles thermostat configuration automatically:

1. Flash your Nest thermostat using the No Longer Evil firmware installer
2. During flashing, select Self-Hosted when asked how you want to connect
3. The installer will scan your LAN for a running No Longer Evil add-on and configure the thermostat automatically using the add-on's /info endpoint
4. Once flashing completes, open the add-on Web UI and the thermostat will appear in the device list

Manual Setup (Fallback)

Use this if the firmware installer could not auto-configure your thermostat.

SSH credentials: The default username is root and default password is nolongerevil. However, if the firmware installer prompted you to set a password during the flashing process, use that password instead. The default nolongerevil password applies to older devices or installs that skipped the password step.

1. SSH to your thermostat:

   ssh root@<nest_ip>
   

2. Enter your password (default: nolongerevil — see note above)

3. Edit the config file:

   vi /etc/nestlabs/client.config
   

4. Press i to enter edit mode

5. Find <a key="cloudregisterurl" .../> and update it to:

   <a key="cloudregisterurl" value="http://<homeassistant_IP>:9543/entry"/>
   

   Tip: Not sure of your IP? Query http://<homeassistant_IP>:9543/info from any browser on your network — the cloudregisterurl field in the response is the exact value to use here.

   Do not omit /entry from the URL.

6. Press Escape, then type :wq to save and quit

7. Reboot the thermostat:

   reboot
   

8. Once rebooted, on the thermostat go to Settings (gear icon) → Nest App → Get Entry Key to generate a pairing code

Pairing in Home Assistant

Note: Pairing is only required if require_device_pairing is enabled in the add-on configuration (disabled by default). If it's disabled, your thermostat will connect and appear automatically without needing a pairing code.

If pairing is enabled:

1. Open the add-on Web UI via the Open Web UI button
2. Enter the 7-character pairing code from your thermostat and click Register
3. The thermostat will appear in Home Assistant via MQTT discovery

Community

• HackHouse Discord - Join #nle-home-assistant channel
• GitHub Issues - Bug reports and feature requests

Video Tutorial

Need help getting set up? Watch the walkthrough:

Related Projects

• NoLongerEvil SelfHosted - Python server powering this add-on
• Home Assistant Nest Integration - Alternative integration

Hardware Alternative: If you're interested in the hardware side of things, check out sett.homes for a drop-in PCB replacement option.

Resources

• Nest Thermostat Protocol Reference - Deep dive into the Nest communication protocol and how the device, transport, and subscription layers work together (credit: @cjserio)

About

NoLongerEvil is created and maintained by Hack House and our open source contributors. Contributors are recognized in the #nle-home-assistant channel on Discord with the NLE Contributor role.

Contributing

See the CONTRIBUTING guide for development setup instructions.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.