Step 1: Install the plugin

In this step you add Home Connect Local to Homebridge. A plugin is an add-on that teaches Homebridge to talk to one kind of device. You do everything in the Homebridge UI, the web page you use to manage Homebridge.

Open the Homebridge UI

1. On a computer or phone that is on your home network, open a web browser.
2. Go to http://<homebridge-address>:8581. Replace <homebridge-address> with the address of the machine that runs Homebridge, for example http://192.0.2.10:8581. 8581 is the port the Homebridge UI uses unless someone changed it.
3. Log in with your Homebridge UI username and password.

You see the Status page, with a side menu on the left.

Install Home Connect Local

1. In the side menu, click Plugins.
2. Click the search box. It says “Search for plugins to install…”. If you do not see a search box, click the magnifying glass at the top of the page first.
3. Type homebridge-homeconnect-local.
4. Find the result called Home Connect Local.
5. Click the download icon on that result. When you hover over it, it says Install.
6. A window opens that says “Select the version to install”. It lists versions by tag. Click the blue download button on the row tagged latest.

A window shows the install as it runs. When it finishes, the window closes by itself and the plugin’s settings page opens. Its title is Home Connect Local.

Save the settings once

Homebridge only runs a plugin that has saved settings. The plugin needs nothing from you yet, so you save the settings as they are.

1. On the settings page, leave Name as Home Connect Local.
2. Ignore the area that says “Drop profile zips here, or click to choose them.” You use it in Step 3.
3. Click Save.

Turn on the child bridge

A child bridge runs this plugin on its own, kept apart from your other Homebridge plugins. Homebridge says this makes it more responsive and more reliable. A child bridge also has its own QR code, which you scan in Step 4. The plugin does not turn it on by itself, so you turn it on now, before you add any appliance.

After you click Save, one of two windows opens.

If a window about child bridges opens, with a switch called “Use Child Bridge”:

1. Leave the switch on.
2. Click Save.

If a window says “Restart Homebridge to apply the changes.”:

1. Click Close.
2. On the Home Connect Local card, click the bridge icon (its tooltip says Set Up Child Bridge). If there is no icon, click the three dots, then Set Up Child Bridge. If you see neither, reload the page in your browser and look again.
3. A window opens that explains child bridges. Turn on the switch called Use Child Bridge.
4. Click Save.

Restart Homebridge

A window says “Restart Homebridge to apply the changes.” Click Restart.

Homebridge restarts. The page says “Restarting Homebridge” and comes back after a short wait.

If you closed that window by mistake, restart Homebridge yourself:

1. In the side menu, click Power Options.
2. Click Restart Homebridge.

How you know it worked

1. In the side menu, click Plugins. The Home Connect Local card shows a tick and a version number, not a download icon.

2. On that card, click the three dots. The menu has Child Bridge Config, which means the child bridge is on. Click anywhere else to close the menu.

3. In the side menu, click Logs. Near the end you see these two lines. The version number on the first line may differ.

   Loaded plugin: homebridge-homeconnect-local@0.1.0
   [Home Connect Local] Initializing HomeConnectLocal platform...

4. Open the plugin’s settings page again: on the Home Connect Local card, click the three dots, then click Plugin Config. Under “Imported appliances” it says “No appliances imported yet.” That is correct for now. The plugin writes nothing else to the log until you import an appliance.

If you do not see these, see Troubleshooting.

Next: Step 2: Download your appliance profiles.