SmartThings finally announces dates for the sunset of the Classic App, and more

[csteele]

@ilovecoffee

but I hear Node-Red is a hassle

I'd say that's a False.

Setting up Node-Red is dominantly a NodeJS task. If you already have NodeJS running for another reason, it's easy to add another JS task.

But it's even easier than that if you want it to be. There are more than a few recipies for installing in one go, Node-Red on a Raspberry Pi.

I have a favorite example, because I created it.. but it was based on other's work, so I know it's pretty simple, after all. Here's a SD Card Image that will boot to a working copy of BOTH Node-Red and Homebridge. Use one, use both, it doesn't care.

Raspberry PI Image for Homebridge + Node-Red

I've created an image that starts with Homebridge-Raspian-Image then layers on, a Node-Red installation including a dozen Hubitat common Palettes. In other words, it's a very good place to start if you're new to Hubitat, Node-Red or Homebridge. [Note: I happened to choose Homebridge-Raspian-Image over HOOBS because I personally have had better luck with that image. It's just a personal preference.] Upon boot, as with Homebridge-Raspian-Image or HOOBS, there's a wifi-direct SSID that you join …

There's also a video that helps get you started:

A Node-Red Introduction for Hubitat Owners

[Screen Shot 2020-07-02 at 6.00.09 PM] A Node-Red Introduction for Hubitat Owners I created a 9 minute "Introduction..." video to help first time Node-Red experimenters get their feet under themselves. It's a brief tour of the Node-Red workspace and adding a Node to the Palette. Then there's a quick add of a flow for a Global Variable, then a second to use that variable to create a flow using Motion.

Assuming 2 things: You have a Raspberry Pi and an SD card you can image, and about an hour, you could be running Node-Red.

I do not use a rPi for myself BUT it is the way I experimented to determine that I needed a permanent instance of Node-Red. These days, it's just one of many NodeJS packages running on my always on Mac Mini (media server).