Smart Home Projects, Development Insights, and Stoic Reflections

Learn how to integrate the UniFi G4 Doorbell Pro with Home Assistant using Doorbell MQTT UniFi. Automate animations, sounds, and profiles with MQTT and Docker.

Doorbell MQTT UniFi is a lightweight C-based service that integrates the UniFi G4 Doorbell Pro with Home Assistant via MQTT. Automate custom animations and sounds locally using profile-based control, asset downloads, and Docker deployment.

Moving the rest of the homelab into its own VLAN and firewall zone, deleting years of accumulated cruft, and turning a loose collection of services into an intentional, maintainable system.

Migrating core homelab infrastructure into a dedicated VLAN, defining trust boundaries, and documenting the decisions that make the system understandable and resilient.

How I integrated my gas fireplace with Home Assistant using a Shelly 1 Gen 4 relay, a Shelly PM Gen 3 for power monitoring, dual thermostats, and safety automations to keep the basement warm during North Dakota winters.

In the second part of my UniFi Doorbell MQTT series, I dive into parsing JSON with cJSON, handling MQTT messages safely, and what I learned about threading in C.

Learn how to use SSH and SCP to upload custom animations and visitor tones to the UniFi G4 Doorbell Pro, including file setup, MD5 checksums, and persistence tips.

Automate UniFi Protect alarms with Home Assistant using webhooks for doorbell, motion, and line-crossing events. Learn how to trigger notifications, actions, and even send commands back to Protect.

Turn your pet fountain smart using an Aqara leak sensor and Home Assistant for low-water alerts.

Building a C service that connects Home Assistant and UniFi Protect using MQTT and SFTP to control doorbell sounds and animations.