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Home Assistant and other platforms can provide control over an array of smart devices, including plugs, lights, sensors, and more. However, automating these tasks with various triggers and actions can be quite cumbersome, even within Home Assistant itself. This is why I needed to automate the entire home lab with a self-hosted workflow engine, to help make my life considerably easier while allowing me to create some truly awesome results. YAML can get complicated fast, especially when filling files with lines of code.

It also makes it difficult for those who weren’t privy to your original plans as to how everything is laid out to troubleshoot. Some find it troublesome to work with password managers, let alone look at code for automation. That’s where something like ActivePieces, n8n, and Node-RED come into play. I opted to go with the latter, which my esteemed colleague Ayush Pande deployed for his own smart home. It was painless, straightforward, and powerful enough for everything I needed to automate.

What is Node-RED?

Originally developed by IBM for roping together devices, APIs, and online services as part of the Internet of Things (IoT) push in the early 2010s, it’s now used as a web-based flow editor, which can create JavaScript functions without having to deal with countless lines of code. The entire point of using a workflow engine such as Node-RED is for creating nodes and flows with visual representation, making it simple to spot how things work and what will happen should triggers ... well, trigger.

The best part of Node-RED is its integration with Home Assistant. I use HAOS to effectively run my entire smart home, and Node-RED can be bolted on to directly fetch data and stats from devices and push through messages. Even if you have countless smart devices, IoT gadgets, and even home lab equipment running, you’ll likely be able to interact with them through Node-RED. I opted to launch Node-RED through Home Assistant instead of running it directly as a separate container.

There’s no right or wrong way to do this, but I wished to keep everything automation-related within Home Assistant. But there’s much more we can do with Node-RED, including automating MQTT communications and even integrating any external APIs and webhooks, but I have a goal to keep as much of my smart home self-hosted and local as possible, and Node-RED can be configured as such.

Enhancing Home Assistant

Farewell, YAML

Node-RED was slightly daunting at first, but that’s because it’s a stark change from how I previously configured automation. Once set up and ready to go, Node-RED can represent every device as a node that can interact with one another and be organized accordingly. Even with more smart home devices than I care to recall, adding them all to the single canvas was a breeze and allowed me to crack on with a little reading — compared to Home Assistant, where I’d have to switch between Entities, Scripts, Events, and Helpers.

I planned on creating some rather complicated automation, which is where re-using Node-RED’s function nodes as many times as I want became invaluable. YAML isn’t complex, at least nowhere near as some other programming languages, but it can prove a slight pain to design complicated workflows. Home Assistant does attempt to remedy this with Developer Tools, but it’s not beginner-friendly, and Node-RED has a minimal coding approach. All you need is a node-based workflow with visual representations.

It’s not all good news for Node-RED, as Home Assistant could be viewed as an easier option for whipping up some simple automation. It’s only when you try and get a little creative to think outside the box will Node-RED or some other workflow engine will make more sense. But then again, we do have access to some seriously versatile and capable large language models (LLMs) that can even write YAML files for you. But what Node-RED can offer on top of this is the ability to quickly detect errors.

We’ve all been there when an accidental enter keystroke can completely kill your YAML file, and locating the problem can take a little while, depending on what tools you have at hand.

Node-RED changed everything

Node-RED has completely transformed how I approach automation within my smart home and home lab environment. By replacing lengthy and error-prone YAML configurations with an intuitive, visual workflow system, I’ve gained both flexibility and clarity in managing complex automations. Its seamless integration with Home Assistant makes it possible to unify every device, API, and service under a single, user-friendly interface. What once required hours of troubleshooting and scripting can now be achieved through simple drag-and-drop nodes, making experimentation not only possible but enjoyable.

While YAML still has its place for those who prefer a more hands-on coding experience, Node-RED democratizes automation by offering a more accessible and visual alternative. For anyone aiming to streamline their smart home or lab setup, Node-RED proves that powerful automation doesn’t have to be complicated — it just needs the right workflow engine behind it.