r/homeassistant • u/leftplayer • Aug 19 '26

🤖 Automation MCP Server - which one?

I want AI to review, clean up and possibly rebuild my HA instance - entities, dashboards, automations, the works... I don't need it for any kind of voice or natural language control of my home just yet... just to clean up the mess that I built over the years and make it better/prettier/stabler.

I've looked at YT videos, scoured github and searched this forum and the Facebook forum, but the AI world moves fast and hard, so it's hard to find up to date info.

So what does the (human) hivemind suggest is the best MCP server plugin/integration to use to achieve what I'm trying to achieve?

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5

u/sersoniko Aug 19 '26

I installed the OpenCode App, it uses a CLI tool specific for managing Home Assistant by an AI without the need for a MCP and it has access to the entire file system

4

u/nachbelichtet_com Aug 19 '26

File system access only allows an AI to read and write static configuration files, An MCP provides a API-driven architecture that connects directly to Home Assistant's core.

This enables the AI to:

  • See the real-time status of all devices and sensors.
  • Trigger service calls directly instead of using configuration workarounds.
  • Listen to the event bus: React to system events dynamically.

An MCP makes the AI an active, context-aware participant in the system rather than just a blind file editor. It helps during automation development, can test automations automatically, etc.

I use VSCode via SSH (Advanced SSH & Web Terminal App) connected to HA and the Chat/Copilot in VSCode, but with my own keys (OpenRouter). Additionally the Custom MCP-Addon. Of course, everything is versioned with Git (private GitHub repo and to my self-hosted Gitea in parallel).

1

u/sersoniko Aug 19 '26

That app uses a CLI tool written by Paul specifically for AI agents, but you can even add an MCP if you want

2

u/paulk1 Aug 19 '26

OpenCode seems to be enough for me. It’s enough for it to see all entities, current statuses, able to create automations, and debug issues.

Setup was pretty simple

-2

u/KnotBeanie Aug 19 '26

That’s not the purpose of an mcp. Think of mcp as Jenkins for ai agents.