Bear Stone Smart Home Documentation

Be sure to :star: my configuration repo so you can keep up to date on any daily progress!

Live, personal Home Assistant configuration shared for browsing and inspiration. This is not a turnkey clone-and-run setup; borrow ideas, adapt entity IDs/secrets, and test in your own environment.

Latest video: Use your TV as a Home Assistant Dashboard

See how a Samsung TV became a Home Assistant dashboard using Haven, with camera snapshots, household status, and a Roku screensaver handoff.

Quick navigation

• You are here: / (root repo guide)
• Blog | Gear and buying notes | Issues | Diagram | YouTube
• Config readmes: Config index | Packages | Automations | Scripts | Scenes | Sounds | Package triggers
• Codex skills (optional): Home Assistant Codex Skills

What this repo is (and isn't)

• A live record of how my smart home runs, with real-world automations, scripts, and scenes.
• A place to reverse-engineer patterns, not a deployment guide. If you reuse snippets, adjust entities, secrets, and services to fit your setup.
• Issues double as a changelog and design history; browse them for rationale behind changes.

Repo layout and files you won't see

• Reusable config lives under config/ (see the quick navigation paths above).
• Runtime artifacts, local development tools and tests, and detailed internal topology notes stay out of the public tree. GitHub Actions keeps the public YAML examples and dashboards validated. This is a browsing guide, not a turnkey deployment; adapt host-specific helpers, URLs, entities, and secrets before reuse.

Platform

• Runs on Docker/compose today; this README is a browsing guide, not a how-to-install. Current HA version is tracked in config/.HA_VERSION (see the badge above).
• Camera and network examples reflect one home installation; replace local endpoints and service names when adapting them.

Featured examples to start with

• Cloudflare website alerts with authenticated webhook delivery and persistent Repairs:
• Colored iOS notification icons for packages, driveway alerts, and vacuum help: , ,
• Windows Codex usage and reset alerts: , ,
• WAN reachability, quality, Ookla capacity, and freshness monitoring: , , , ,
• Read-only BGW gateway health, link, uptime, and traffic telemetry: , , , ,
• Mobile quick-access dashboard with large two-column controls: , ,
• Alarm and perimeter monitoring:
• Garage routines and entry lighting: , ,
• Tesla tire-pressure alerts with shared briefing snoozes: , ,
• Frigate driveway parked-car alert: , , · Icon styling:
• Local Frigate package reminders (setup and validation notes): . Original LLM Vision experiment: · Icon styling:
• Garage garbage and recycling verification: , setup notes.
• Docker update reporting and exception review: , config/dashboards/infrastructure, ,
• Entity registry and Docker telemetry cleanup: , , recorder, logbook, ,
• TeslaMate road-trip reports and milestone alerts: , issue #1845, ,
• Air-quality speech alerts with separate CAQI and US AQI thresholds: , issue #1834, ,
• Water leak response loop: ,
• Water softener salt maintenance: , , , , , issue #1816
• Sprinkler status and last-run dashboard: , , , ,
• Upcycled Gen 2 Nest photo and notification display:
• Bedroom camera kiosk tablet: , config/dashboards/kiosk,
• Holiday/front-of-house color scenes: , ; local calendar source:
• Dash-button triggers for quick actions:
• PC lock/unlock-driven lighting plus workday wake-up via HASS.Agent + Wake on LAN:
• Seasonal cuckoo clock with patriotic, October, and Christmas sound packs:
• Garage arrival and entry helpers:
• Vacation Mode and house-sitter checks:
• HVAC runtime maintenance loop: , ,
• Snoozeable maintenance notifications: , , ,
• Battery and solar awareness: , ,
• Weather-aware lighting:

Docker add-ons & utilities

Container	Repo/Docs	Purpose
Duplicati	duplicati/duplicati	Off-box, versioned backups for HA config, media, and infrastructure compose/config trees.
Cloudflared	cloudflare/cloudflared	Secure tunnel/edge access to Home Assistant without opening inbound ports. Cloudflare certificate, tunnel, and origin alert example:
WordPress	wordpress	Hosts vCloudInfo.com for docs, how-tos, videos, and long-form writeups that accompany this config.

Gear tied to real automations (affiliate links)

Hardware linked to the automations below. Older hardware and projects under evaluation are labeled; check the gear catalog for buying notes and walkthroughs.

Affiliate disclosure: Amazon purchase links in this table are paid links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Device	What it drives (friendly name -> file)	Buy
Amazon Fire tablet wall kiosk (older Fire 7)	Bedroom camera screen with Fully Kiosk recovery, bedtime dimming, and a lightweight dashboard - , kiosk dashboard,
Garadget garage door controller	Garage doors: open/close, arrival helpers, and nighttime reminders - , ,
August smart lock	Front-door lock control + status -
Phyn Plus water shutoff	Leak detection + auto shutoff - , , ,
Rachio sprinkler controller	Rain-skips, active-zone status, trigger-derived last-run history, and dashboard controls - , , , ,
Tesla Powerwall 2	Grid-outage alerts, charging watchdog, and load-shed automations - , ,	Powerwall at Tesla (manufacturer; examples use Powerwall 2)
Google Nest thermostat	HVAC schedules plus runtime-based filter reminders and condenser-line cleanout tracking - , ,
Retired Gen 2 Nest display	Round family-photo gallery, two-minute household alerts, bedtime/away screen policy and guest Wi-Fi QR rotation -	Reuses an existing thermostat and USB power adapter.
Raspberry Pi 3 + Aeon Z-Wave stick (historical)	Older hardware reference; current garage-entry examples use wired NodeMCU contacts. Check current host and radio support before buying.
Samsung 65-inch TV	Living-room TV used in the Home Assistant dashboard video. The linked 65-inch Samsung model is newer than the Q70 shown; check compatibility.
Roku streaming device	TV presence -> scenes/lighting -
NFC tags	Phone taps record per-unit HVAC filter changes and trigger quick actions. - ,
Amazon Echo Show	Front door camera pop-up when the August lock unlocks -
Amazon Echo Glow (under evaluation)	Unvalidated bridge experiment for Home Assistant status cues; follow the issue before buying -
Dreame L10s Ultra vacuum	Away-only room queues, sweep/mop phases, family-return cancellation, a four-day cycle-start guard, Alexa room cleans, and rescue notifications - , , Rescue icon styling:
Flux/LED strip controller	Monthly color scenes for exterior -
Etekcity/433MHz outlet	Accent lighting relays -

The Dash Button automation remains as a historical example; the discontinued button is no longer a shopping recommendation. The older Fire tablet and Pi / Z-Wave links document earlier hardware, rather than a current starter kit.

Gear and affiliate links

• Browsing or purchasing through the affiliate links above helps support this project; thanks!
• Browse gear by project, category and setup status, with my walkthroughs and compatibility notes.

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Affiliate Disclosure