{"slug": "home-assistant-os", "name": "Home Assistant OS", "category": "productivity", "category_name": "Productivity", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 3.358, "rising": -1.31, "first": "2025-11-22", "latest": "2026-03-16", "why": "install HAOS, running it any other way is a step towards madness", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 1, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "install HAOS, running it any other way is a step towards madness", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/home-assistant/operating-system", "official_url": "https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Home Assistant OS"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 758492497, "item_id": 47405781, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47405781", "by": "jabroni_salad", "date": "2026-03-16", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Don't make the containers, make the HAOS VM specifically", "excerpt": "1.get a cheap used miniPC from ebay 2. Buy a relevant dongle/antenna for the protocol you want to use. I recommend the ones from Sonoff or from the Home Assistant foundation (I started with the sonoff for zigbee, but added the ZBT-2 for matter/thread. they are both good) 3. install proxmox to the metal. 4. use tteck's install script to make the HAOS vm. Don't make the containers, make the HAOS VM specifically: https:", "context": "has had a Home Assistant setup running about 2 years", "use_case": "home automation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Home Assistant waters my plants"}, {"id": 758488192, "item_id": 47405512, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47405512", "by": "KaiserPro", "date": "2026-03-16", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "install HAOS, running it any other way is a step towards madness", "excerpt": "If you want to do this yourself 1) install HAOS, running it any other way is a step towards madness 2) get a decent zigbee controller 3) https://sonoff.tech/en-uk/products/sonoff-zigbee-smart-water-valve Job done, the rest is all up to taste using either sensors or public data to infer water state.", "context": "", "use_case": "Smart home hub", "switched_from": "", "story": "Home Assistant waters my plants"}, {"id": 742451536, "item_id": 46403221, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46403221", "by": "Youden", "date": "2025-12-27", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Zero customization was needed, it just works with mainline everything.", "excerpt": "This has often been the case in the past but the situation is much improved now. For example I have an Orange Pi 5 Plus running the totally generic aarch64 image of Home Assistant OS [0]. Zero customization was needed, it just works with mainline everything. There's even UEFI [1]. Granted this isn't the case for all boards but Rockchip at least seems to have great upstream support. [0]: https://github.com/home-assist", "context": "", "use_case": "home automation OS on SBC", "switched_from": "", "story": "OrangePi 6 Plus Review: The New Frontier for ARM64 SBC Performance"}, {"id": 736241872, "item_id": 46015117, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46015117", "by": "microtonal", "date": "2025-11-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Easiest way is to put HAOS (Home Assistant OS) on a Raspberry Pi", "excerpt": "Easiest way is to put HAOS (Home Assistant OS) on a Raspberry Pi, Home Assistant Green, or some NUC: https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/ Then get a coordinator recommended for zigbee2mqtt: https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/adapters/ Then install and start the following add-ons in Home Assistant: - Mosquitto - zigbee2mqtt: https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/installation/03_ha_addon.html - MQTT And that's pretty m", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Connectivity Standards Alliance Announces Zigbee 4.0 and Suzi"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "jabroni_salad", "context": "has had a Home Assistant setup running about 2 years", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47405781", "date": "2026-03-16"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["home automation", "smart home hub", "home automation os on sbc"], "compared": [{"slug": "zigbee2mqtt", "name": "zigbee2mqtt", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47348652", "title": "Home Assistant waters my plants", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46401499", "title": "OrangePi 6 Plus Review: The New Frontier for ARM64 SBC Performance", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45969398", "title": "The Connectivity Standards Alliance Announces Zigbee 4.0 and Suzi", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 758492497, "item_id": 47405781, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47405781", "by": "jabroni_salad", "date": "2026-03-16", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Don't make the containers, make the HAOS VM specifically", "excerpt": "1.get a cheap used miniPC from ebay 2. Buy a relevant dongle/antenna for the protocol you want to use. I recommend the ones from Sonoff or from the Home Assistant foundation (I started with the sonoff for zigbee, but added the ZBT-2 for matter/thread. they are both good) 3. install proxmox to the metal. 4. use tteck's install script to make the HAOS vm. Don't make the containers, make the HAOS VM specifically: https:", "context": "has had a Home Assistant setup running about 2 years", "use_case": "home automation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Home Assistant waters my plants"}, {"id": 758488192, "item_id": 47405512, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47405512", "by": "KaiserPro", "date": "2026-03-16", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "install HAOS, running it any other way is a step towards madness", "excerpt": "If you want to do this yourself 1) install HAOS, running it any other way is a step towards madness 2) get a decent zigbee controller 3) https://sonoff.tech/en-uk/products/sonoff-zigbee-smart-water-valve Job done, the rest is all up to taste using either sensors or public data to infer water state.", "context": "", "use_case": "Smart home hub", "switched_from": "", "story": "Home Assistant waters my plants"}, {"id": 742451536, "item_id": 46403221, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46403221", "by": "Youden", "date": "2025-12-27", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Zero customization was needed, it just works with mainline everything.", "excerpt": "This has often been the case in the past but the situation is much improved now. For example I have an Orange Pi 5 Plus running the totally generic aarch64 image of Home Assistant OS [0]. Zero customization was needed, it just works with mainline everything. There's even UEFI [1]. Granted this isn't the case for all boards but Rockchip at least seems to have great upstream support. [0]: https://github.com/home-assist", "context": "", "use_case": "home automation OS on SBC", "switched_from": "", "story": "OrangePi 6 Plus Review: The New Frontier for ARM64 SBC Performance"}, {"id": 736241872, "item_id": 46015117, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46015117", "by": "microtonal", "date": "2025-11-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Easiest way is to put HAOS (Home Assistant OS) on a Raspberry Pi", "excerpt": "Easiest way is to put HAOS (Home Assistant OS) on a Raspberry Pi, Home Assistant Green, or some NUC: https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/ Then get a coordinator recommended for zigbee2mqtt: https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/adapters/ Then install and start the following add-ons in Home Assistant: - Mosquitto - zigbee2mqtt: https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/installation/03_ha_addon.html - MQTT And that's pretty m", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Connectivity Standards Alliance Announces Zigbee 4.0 and Suzi"}]}