Homebridge-wled-ws NPM

homebridge-wled-ws

GitHub build

Homebridge WLED plugin

This is a Homebridge dynamic platform plugin for controlling LED strips using Websockets. It is based on the fantastic wled-client library, which provides access to WLED's JSON API using websockets.

!NOTE Websockets are enabled by default since WLED version 0.10.2

The plugin adds a Lightbulb to Homekit for every configured WLED controller. The Lightbulb can be switched on and off and it's dimmable. Depending on the LED configuration additional services will be made available (e.g. color selection).

Configuration

The plugin supports schema based configuration. All settings can be entered using the plugin's configuration dialog. There is a basic input data validation included, however this needs to be improved in future versions.

Using Homebridge's integrated JSON Editor requires the following configuration entries:

{
    "name": "Homebridge-Wled-WS",
    "platform": "wled-ws",
    "controllers": [
        {
            "name": "My WLED Controller",
            "address": "192.168.1.100"
        }
    ],
    "logging": false
}

Settings

Setting	Value	Comment
name	Name of the WLED controller	This name is used for the acessory in Homekit and for the Homebridge logs
address	IP address or host name	Enter the address of the controller - make sure it is the same which is shown as Client IP in the WLED Wifi settings
logging	True or False	If enabled (=True) WLED's JSON data will be logged. Leave it disabled if everything works as expected. If want to file an issue on Github turn it for later analysis

Why using websockets instead of MQTT or HTTP?

Before starting the implementation of this plugin I intended to use WLED's MQTT feature to control my LED strips. While sending data in JSON format to the WLED controller is straightforward, it was difficult for me to parse the answer, which is in XML format. I am not aware of an existing MQTT Homebridge plugin to handle such a device. The HTTP interface is more consistent in that sense, but requires polling to get state updates when the WLED state is modified outside Homekit/Homebridge (e.g. by mobile apps or other smart home automation systems). The websocket approach allows real-time state updates for all connected clients.