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HACS

1. What is HACS?

HACS stands for Home Assistant Community Store.

Think of it as:

🏪 An app store for Home Assistant

With HACS, you can easily install:

  • Custom integrations (e.g. Xiaomi, iCloud, Govee, Tuya extras)
  • Custom Lovelace cards (better dashboards)
  • Themes (dark mode, minimal UI, iOS-style look)
  • Plugins made by the community

Without HACS, installing these usually means:

  • Manually copying files
  • Editing folders
  • Restarting HA multiple times

With HACS → one click install & update.

2. Do you really need HACS?

Short answer: Yes, if you want to level up Home Assistant.

You’ll want HACS if you:

  • Use community integrations not in official HA
  • Want better dashboards (Mushroom, Mini Graph Card, etc.)
  • Like clean, modern UI themes
  • Hate manual updates

If you only use official integrations → HACS is optional

But most HA power users cannot live without it 😉

3. Prerequisites (Before Installing)

Make sure you have:

✅ Home Assistant OS / Supervised / Container

❌ HACS does NOT work on Core (venv only)

Check:

Settings → About → Installation type

You also need:

  • Internet access
  • A Home Assistant user account (admin)

4. Install HACS (Step by Step)

Step 1: Enable Advanced Mode

  1. Go to Settings → User Profile
  2. Enable Advanced Mode

This unlocks custom integrations.

Step 2: Download HACS

Open Terminal / SSH in Home Assistant and run:

wget -O - https://get.hacs.xyz | bash -

This will:

  • Create /config/custom_components/hacs
  • Download HACS files automatically

Step 3: Restart Home Assistant

Go to:

Settings → System → Restart

Wait until HA is fully back online.

Step 4: Add HACS Integration

  1. Go to Settings → Devices & Services
  2. Click Add Integration
  3. Search for HACS
  4. Follow the onboarding steps

You will be asked to:

  • Accept terms
  • Choose categories (Integrations, Frontend, Themes)

Step 5: GitHub Authorization (Important)

HACS uses GitHub API.

You will:

  1. Be shown a GitHub verification code
  2. Open a link
  3. Login to GitHub
  4. Paste the code

👉 No repo access needed

👉 Public GitHub account is enough

5. Where to Find HACS After Installation?

After success, you’ll see:

Sidebar → HACS

Inside HACS you’ll find sections like:

  • Integrations
  • Frontend
  • Themes
  • Automations (optional)

6. Install Your First Thing with HACS

Example: Install a Custom Integration

  1. Open HACS
  2. Go to Integrations
  3. Click Explore & Download Repositories
  4. Search an integration (e.g. Govee, Xiaomi, iCloud)
  5. Click Download
  6. Restart Home Assistant
  7. Add it via Settings → Devices & Services

Example: Install a Lovelace Card

  1. HACS → Frontend
  2. Search: Mushroom
  3. Download
  4. Restart HA
  5. Add card in Dashboard UI

✨ Much nicer UI instantly

7. Updating with HACS

This is where HACS shines.

  • Updates appear automatically in HACS
  • One click → update
  • No manual file handling

You’ll often see:

🔔 HACS → Updates available

8. HACS vs Official Integrations

Feature Official HA HACS
Stability ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐
New features Slow Very fast
Community plugins ❌ ✅
One-click updates ✅ ✅

💡 Best practice:

  • Prefer official when possible
  • Use HACS when official doesn’t exist

9. Common Beginner Mistakes

❌ Forgetting to restart after install

❌ Installing but not adding integration

❌ Using Core install (HACS unsupported)

❌ Missing GitHub auth step

10. Is HACS Safe?

Yes, if you are careful:

  • HACS itself is widely trusted
  • Integrations are community-made
  • Always check:
    • Stars
    • Last update
    • README

If something breaks → disable it and restart.

🔥 Integrations

  • Xiaomi Miot
  • iCloud3
  • Govee
  • LocalTuya

🎨 Frontend / Cards

  • Mushroom
  • Mini Graph Card
  • Button Card

🎭 Themes

  • Mushroom Theme
  • iOS Theme
  • Minimalist

12. Final Thoughts

If Home Assistant is the operating system of your smart home, then HACS is the app store that makes it powerful and fun.

Once you install HACS:

You’ll never want to manage custom integrations manually again 😄