Home Assistant Connection

The boneIO Black controller communicates with Home Assistant via the MQTT protocol. You have two configuration options:

Option 1: MQTT Broker on boneIO Black (default)

This is the easiest way - the controller has a built-in Mosquitto MQTT broker that is already configured and running.

Default configuration

By default, the controller is connected to the local MQTT broker:

• Host: 127.0.0.1 (localhost)
• Port: 1883
• Username: boneio
• Password: boneio
• Topic Prefix: boneio

Connecting Home Assistant to the broker on boneIO

1. Install Mosquitto Broker in Home Assistant (if you don't have it yet):

   • Go to Settings → Add-ons → Add-on Store
   • Search for Mosquitto broker
   • Click Install and Start

2. Add MQTT integration in Home Assistant:

   • Go to Settings → Devices & Services
   • Click Add Integration → search for MQTT
   • Enter the details:
     • Broker: boneIO controller IP (e.g., 192.168.1.100)
     • Port: 1883
     • Username: homeassistant (or boneio)
     • Password: password changed in the System tab
   • Click Submit

3. Automatic discovery:

   • The boneIO controller will automatically register all devices with Home Assistant
   • Devices will appear in Settings → Devices & Services → MQTT

Option 2: MQTT Broker on Home Assistant

You can connect the controller to an MQTT broker located on Home Assistant or another device.

Configuring the broker in Home Assistant

1. Install Mosquitto Broker (if you don't have it yet):

   • Go to Settings → Add-ons → Add-on Store
   • Search for Mosquitto broker
   • Click Install and Start

2. Create an MQTT user:

   • Go to Settings → People → Users
   • Click Add User
   • Fill in the details:
     • Name: boneio
     • Username: boneio
     • Password: choose a secure password
   • Click Create

3. Add MQTT integration (if you don't have it yet):

   • Go to Settings → Devices & Services
   • MQTT should be automatically detected
   • If not, click Add Integration → MQTT

Configuring MQTT in boneIO controller

1. Go to Settings → MQTT
2. Enter the broker details:
   • Host: Home Assistant IP (e.g., 192.168.1.50)
   • Port: 1883
   • Username: boneio
   • Password: password of the created user
   • Topic Prefix: boneio (or any)
3. Click Save
4. Devices will automatically appear in Home Assistant

Communication between boneIO controllers

Example configuration for multiple controllers:

1. Choose one MQTT broker (e.g., on Home Assistant or on one of the controllers)
2. Connect all controllers to the same broker
3. Each controller should have a unique Topic Prefix (e.g., boneio1, boneio2, boneio3)
4. In actions, you can use Remote Output and Remote Cover to control devices on other controllers

Connection verification

After proper configuration:

1. In Home Assistant, go to Settings → Devices & Services → MQTT
2. You should see the boneIO Black device with all configured outputs, covers, inputs, and sensors
3. All entities will be automatically available in Home Assistant