Home Assistant 101: How to Integrate MQTT Devices

In this step-by-step guide, you'll learn how to manually add MQTT devices to Home Assistant when a native integration for that device is not available. It will cover the basic processes of adding MQTT sensors, switches and lights, and with this knowledge adding other types of MQTT devices should be much easier as you will hopefully have a better understanding of the official Home Assistant MQTT documentation.

The examples shown in the video, along with the sample YAML code and more can be found in the written version of the how-to guide:

Chapter Links:
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00:00 Intro and Prerequisites
02:46 Where to Add MQTT Entities
07:42 Determine Topics and Payloads
09:02 Creating an MQTT Sensor
12:25 Handling JSON Payloads
16:39 Using MQTT Explorer
17:58 Creating an MQTT Switch
23:30 Creating an MQTT Light
27:55 Upcoming Information and Wrap Up

Links and Additional Information:
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If you'd like to help support this channel, or just say thanks, you can consider buying me a cup of coffee:

#homeassistant #mqtt

[datatribute]

Thank you for all the MQTT videos, super helpful channel overall! Keep it up!!

[lawrencemanning]

Looking forward to learning about auto discovery as it’s the one big thing missing from my current project (HUB75 display driven off a Pico W etc). MQTT is awesome. Thanks for the video!

[MAXimator]

This Video is pure gold! Thank you so much! 🙏

[JoseBerruezo]

Thank you for providing such a nice explanation.

[alexuspro]

Finally the one who clearly explained how to read and control mqtt devices. Thanks a lot!

[MallocArray]

Highly valuable in getting me going with MQTT. Thank you

[plazmax]

Hello, it was a very nice and explanatory video, as always, thank you very much.

[bgable]

Haha, HA "101", NOT even close, more like 301, templates 201. This video is so over do by anyone! You really knocked it out of the park. I'll be using this as a reference for a LONG time. I'm glad you DID do this in YAML. Your explanation of the relationship of the indented items/options helps make the documentation easier to understand! Nice add showing how different devices have different option names that do the same thing. Showing the case with the template argument, brought that one home too!! YAML made no since to me in the beginning coming from the world were everything was a "record", ie, pre-objects. And widgets were something used in a business class project or X11. Thanks for the clear and thought out explanation!

[Unleashed]

Nice that you explain what MQTT is used for, just for those who are still learning.
I still forget that not everyone knows what every each part is and what it does or even what the acronym stands for.

[chasnature]

this is definitely a reference point for me - it has put mqtt into prospective for me....and into action and practical....

[MyHeap]

Great video. This one and the next one about mqtt discovery sure would have been helpful to me when I was trying to set my esp32 test device up using mqtt discovery. I managed to work my way through it but did get bit by the aduinojson limit of 256 byte payload. I had to change it in the library header to a larger size to get my payload to send to the broker. Thanks for the videos, I have learned heaps from you. Thank you sir.

Joe

[OGKenG]

This is extremely helpful to a noob like myself.

[robdriessen]

Thank you very much, most helpful in getting on my way to implement HA / MQTT for a heating system. Have hardware created, loaded the system with sensors, created software (micropython) and now facing the integration step. Being an absolute beginner in HA, I am afraid you lost me when - around 11:30 - you state that you did a mqtt reload and had the newly defined sensors appear on your dashboard. I have reloaded yaml, mqtt even restarted HA but to no avail. May I ask what (action) I seem to be missing here ? Thx a lot !

[ertertertttttt]

Looking for the auto discovery video as well… While not necessarily an auto discovery function, but is one able to publish all devices/entities out of Home Assistant into MQTT devices?

[rodneysmith]

Ahhh, now I see some differences between my perception and reality. MQTT is still off in my future, but I now have a much more firm understanding and I am sure I'll return to this video when my turn in the barrel comes up. If it does not offend you I will take this opportunity to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

[Ron_Rhodes]

I was just thinking that XML had some kind of schema that you could embed and look up and that YAML and Jason and MQTT should also and then you mentioned Auto Discovery, so I'm looking forward to that video. It would be nice if an editor for Home Assistant could lookup these formats schemas and offer a little help like the ESPHome YAML editor. I want to spend my time adding my own logic, not figuring out someone else's logic.

[thomasoutdooradventure]

Thanks grate Video. How to get multiple sensors (entities) into one HA device ? I would like to group them together.

[almikaba]

Thank you for your explane the mqtt, my quistion where to add the mqtt broker?

[SuperAlexGaming]

Hello, great video. I have a question about the configuration file. In my configuration.yaml file for HA, I have default_config enabled by default. Do I need to comment out the default_config and build my own configuration.yaml with the integrations I need? Thanks in advance.

[squalazzo]

what about devices like the tm1638 if integrated in tasmota? do they expose all their buttons, leds, etc, to HA?