homebridge-nest-accfactory

Nest Accfactory

Formally known as Nest_accfactory, this is a Homebridge plugin I have developed to allow Nest devices to be used with HomeKit including having support for HomeKit Secure Video on doorbells and camera devices

Building and maintaining this project takes time, effort, and resources. If you find it valuable, please consider sponsoring to support its development and future improvements. Your support makes a difference—thank you!

Supported Devices

The following Nest devices are known to be supported by this Homebridge plugin:

• Nest Thermostats
• Nest Protects
• Nest Temperature Sensors
• Nest Cameras
• Nest Doorbells
• Nest Heat Links
• Nest × Yale Locks

Note: Google has discontinued support for 1st and 2nd generation Nest Thermostats as of October 25, 2025.
Based on this, these models are expected to stop functioning with this Homebridge plugin.

The accessory supports connections using a Nest account AND/OR a Google (migrated Nest account) account.

Configuration

Obtaining an access token for Nest Accounts

If you have a Nest Account, you’ll need to obtain an access token from the Nest web app.

1. Go to home.nest.com and click Sign in with Nest.
2. After logging in, open home.nest.com/session.
3. You’ll see a JSON string similar to:

   {"2fa_state":"enrolled","access_token":"XXX", ...}

4. Copy the value of access_token near the start (a long string beginning with b) and paste it into your Homebridge configuration.
   • Ignore any other access_token entries further down the string.

Note: Do not log out of home.nest.com, as this will invalidate your credentials.

Obtaining an issueToken and cookie token for Google Accounts (Safari method)

Google Accounts require an "issueToken" and "cookie", which are unique to your account. You only need to do this once as long as you stay logged into your Google Account.

1. Open Safari in a Private Window
2. Enable the Develop Menu (Safari ▸ Settings ▸ Advanced ▸ check Show features for web developers)
3. Open Develop ▸ Show Web Inspector, then select the Network tab
4. Ensure Preserve Log is checked
5. In the filter box, type issueToken
6. Go to home.nest.com and click Sign in with Google
7. After login, click the iframerpc network request
8. In Headers, copy:
   • Summary ▸ URL this is your issueToken
   • Request ▸ Cookie: this is your cookie, which must include a key starting with SIDCC= (if SIDCC is missing, the cookie is incomplete and authentication will fail)
9. Enter both into your Homebridge configuration

Important: Tokens must be obtained using Safari. Other browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, etc.) do not reliably generate valid or non-expiring issueToken and cookie values and will often result in authentication failures or token expiry.
If you did not use Safari, re-capture the tokens using Safari.

Note: Do not log out of home.nest.com, as this will invalidate your credentials.

Account Configuration

The plugin now supports multiple Nest and Google accounts.

Accounts are configured using the "accounts" array in config.json.
Each entry defines the account name, account type, and authentication tokens.

Supported account types:

• Nest — requires an access_token
• Google — requires both issueToken and cookie

Each account entry may also optionally enable fieldTest for testing Nest API endpoints.

config.json configuration

When using the plugin configuration with homebridge-config-ui-x, the config.json will be updated/generated with the configuration options available via the web-form. Additional options can be specified in the config.json directly.

Sample config.json entries below

{
    "accounts": [
        {
            "name": "Nest",
            "type": "nest",
            "access_token": "<nest access token>",
            "fieldTest": false
        },
        {
            "name": "Google",
            "type": "google",
            "issueToken": "<google issue token>",
            "cookie": "<google cookie>",
            "fieldTest": false
        }
    ],
    "options": {
        "eveHistory": true,
        "debug": false
    },
    "homes": [
        {
            "name": "Main Home",
            "elevation": 321,
            "weather": true
        }
    ],
    "devices": [
        {
            "serialNumber": "XXXXXXXX",
            "name", "XXXXX Device",
            "exclude": false
        },
        {
            "serialNumber": "YYYYYYYY",
            "name", "YYYYY Device",
            "humiditySensor": true
        }
    ],
    "platform": "NestAccfactory"
}

options

The following options are available in the config.json "options" object. These apply to all discovered devices and homes.

Name	Description	Default
debug	Enable plugin verbose logging (independent of Homebridge debug setting)	false
elevation	Height above sea level for weather station(s)	0
eveHistory	Provide history in EveHome application where applicable	true
exclude	Exclude all device(s)	false
ffmpegDebug	Enable additional debugging output when ffmpeg is invoked	false
ffmpegHWaccel	Enable video hardware acceleration for camera(s) and doorbell(s) where supported	false
ffmpegPath	Path to the ffmpeg binary, directory containing ffmpeg, or command name available in system PATH	ffmpeg
ffmpegTranscode	Enable video transcoding for camera(s) and doorbell(s) (higher CPU usage)	false
logMotionEvents	Enable logging of motion events for camera(s), doorbell(s) and Nest Protect device(s)	true
maxStreams	Maximum simultaneous live view streams per camera	2
supportDump	Enable Support Dump logging of raw Nest and Google API data	false

devices

Device-specific configuration can be applied using the "devices" array. Each entry represents per-device settings that are applied when a device with the matching "serialNumber" is discovered.

Some options (such as exclude, eveHistory and logMotionEvents) override the global defaults defined in the "options" section. Other settings are device-specific and enable or control features available for that particular device type.

The Device Settings section in the Homebridge GUI provides basic management of these entries. However, not all device options are exposed in the GUI, and some advanced options may need to be configured directly in config.json.

Devices are identified using their serial number, which must match the value reported by the Nest or Google API. This value is case-sensitive and must be in uppercase.

The "name" field is optional and is only used to help identify the entry in the configuration. It does not rename the device in HomeKit.

Name	Description	Default
chimeSwitch	Enable a switch to control the indoor doorbell chime	false
doorbellCooldown	Time between doorbell press events	60s
eveHistory	Provide history in the EveHome application where applicable for this device	true
exclude	Exclude this device	false
fanDuration	Fan runtime duration
ffmpegDebug	Enable additional debugging output when ffmpeg is invoked	false
ffmpegHWaccel	Enable video hardware acceleration for camera(s) and doorbell(s) where supported	false
ffmpegTranscode	Enable video transcoding for camera(s) and doorbell(s) (higher CPU usage)	false
hotwaterBoostTime	Duration for hot water boost heating (30, 60, 120 mins)	30mins
hotwaterMaxTemp	Maximum supported temperature for hot water heating	70c
hotwaterMinTemp	Minimum supported temperature for hot water heating	30c
humiditySensor	Enable a separate humidity sensor for thermostat(s) where supported	false
logMotionEvents	Enable logging of motion events for camera(s), doorbell(s) and Nest Protect device(s)	true
motionCooldown	Time between detected motion events	60s
name	Optional label to help identify this device entry
serialNumber	Device serial number this configuration applies to

homes

Home settings are configured using the "homes" array in config.json or via the GUI Home Settings section.

Each entry in the "homes" array applies settings to a specific Nest or Google Home.

Homes are identified using the "name" field, which must match the Home name shown in the Nest or Google Home app. This match is case-sensitive.

Name	Description	Default
elevation	Height above sea level for the weather station	0
name	Name of home (from Nest/Google App) to which these settings belong to
weather	Virtual weather station for this Home	false

ffmpeg

To support camera live streaming, HomeKit Secure Video (HKSV), and two-way audio, an ffmpeg binary must be installed and accessible to the plugin.

Minimum requirements:

• FFmpeg version 6.1 or later
• Compiled with support for:
  • libx264
  • libfdk_aac
  • libspeex
  • libopus

The plugin automatically searches common ffmpeg install locations on supported platforms and will also fall back to ffmpeg available in the system PATH.

The ffmpegPath configuration option may be used to specify:

• A full path to the ffmpeg binary
• A directory containing the ffmpeg binary
• A command name available in the system PATH

Examples:

"ffmpegPath": "/usr/local/bin/ffmpeg"

"ffmpegPath": "/opt/homebrew/bin"

"ffmpegPath": "ffmpeg"

A precompiled ffmpeg binary that meets these requirements is available from the ffmpeg-for-homebridge project and may be used as an alternative to building ffmpeg yourself.

HomeKit Secure Video (HKSV)

From version 0.4.0, HomeKit Secure Video (HKSV) is always enabled for supported Nest cameras and doorbells.

This plugin streams video directly to HomeKit and allows recordings to be stored in iCloud using Apple’s HKSV infrastructure.

Important Notes

• HKSV being enabled does not mean cameras record continuously by default.
• Recording behaviour is controlled entirely within the Apple Home app.
• By default, cameras are typically configured as Stream Only until recording is enabled in HomeKit.

Motion Events and Recording

Nest / Google cameras expose general motion events to this plugin for recording triggers.

Because of this, the plugin can only trigger HKSV recordings using general motion detection from the Nest / Google API.

HomeKit Secure Video may still analyse recorded footage using its own processing, but the plugin does not act on person, vehicle, animal, or package-specific trigger events from the Nest / Google API.

This means recording is triggered by general motion events only, rather than by individual event types exposed directly by the camera API..

Camera Streaming

Camera live streaming and HKSV recording require a compatible ffmpeg binary with the features described in the section above.

Support Policy

This plugin is developed and tested specifically for Homebridge.

Supported environments include Homebridge installations running on common platforms such as Linux or macOS, as well as official container or image distributions such as docker-homebridge, homebridge-vm-image, and homebridge-raspbian-image.

Platforms that bundle, modify, or wrap Homebridge — such as HOOBS, Home Assistant, or similar derivatives are not officially supported and may behave differently. Issues reported from these environments may be closed without investigation.

If you encounter a problem, please raise an issue on the project's GitHub repository.

When reporting an issue, providing relevant diagnostic information (logs, configuration snippets, device details, etc.) and being available to assist with follow-up testing is greatly appreciated. Issues reported without sufficient detail may be difficult to investigate.

Feature requests and enhancements are welcome, but please keep in mind that this is a personal open-source project maintained in spare time.

Disclaimer

This is a personal hobby project provided "as-is", with no warranty whatsoever, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Building and running this project is done entirely at your own risk.

I am not affiliated with any companies such as Google, Apple, or other related entities. The author of this project shall not be held liable for any damages or issues arising from its use.

If you find this project useful, sponsorship to support ongoing development is always appreciated.