Zha

Zigbee Home Automation (ZHA) is a Home Assistant integration that provides control of Zigbee devices through a Zigbee coordinator. It is designed to offer a vendor-agnostic interface for pairing, controlling, and automating Zigbee devices within the Home Assistant ecosystem.

ZHA relies on the zigpy library to implement the Zigbee protocol and manage network operations such as joining devices, forming and maintaining the Zigbee network, and handling security features like link keys and network keys. It runs as part of Home Assistant and requires a compatible Zigbee radio connected to the host system, typically via USB, to serve as the Zigbee coordinator.

Hardware support for ZHA is provided through multiple radio backends, allowing a variety of Zigbee radios to be used with the same integration. Users generally connect a USB Zigbee coordinator to their Home Assistant hardware, and the chosen radio backend determines compatibility and performance. This design aims to enable broad device support across manufacturers and products that implement the Zigbee standard.

Features of ZHA include device discovery and pairing, device configuration and grouping, and control through Home Assistant automations, scripts, and dashboards. The integration supports common Zigbee features such as clusters and scenes, with the capability to manage devices, monitor status, and perform coordinated actions. Some advanced capabilities, such as over-the-air updates, depend on device support and radio hardware.

Getting started involves enabling the ZHA integration in Home Assistant, connecting a Zigbee radio, and following the pairing process to add devices. As a community-driven project, device compatibility and reliability can vary with hardware revisions and firmware updates.