Franck Nijhof

Templating has felt like homework for too long in @homeassistant@fosstodon.org. 😅 So these past weeks I reworked the docs with one goal: make them more approachable. 😃

Every template function now has its own page with real examples. There are learning pages, two step-by-step tutorials.

Live now, first pass, feedback welcome 🙏

https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/templating/

#HomeAssistant #SmartHome #OpenSource

I’ve been quietly working on a new, extremely focused open-source project.

The sensible part of me says: finish the tests and documentation first.

The impatient part has already hovered over the publish button more than once.

Soon™ 😀

#OpenSource

Open source won. That is why LGTM stopped being enough.

In projects like Home Assistant, a pull request is not just a diff. It can affect real homes, data, and trust.

Review got heavier because the stakes changed.

I wrote about what “looks good to me” needs to mean now.

#OpenSource #LGTM
https://frenck.dev/open-source-won-lgtm-stopped-being-enough/

Sometimes you wake up with one of those random brain waves and you just have to validate it immediately.

That was my Saturday morning. 😄

I ended up opening a tiny Home Assistant PR that removes wasted work in one of the hottest paths we have: template rendering.

In my benchmark, this makes that path about 51% faster. 🚀

Not a shiny feature. Not a new integration.

Nice way to start the weekend. 🍻
https://github.com/home-assistant/core/pull/173664

Some people still think Home Assistant automations mean YAML and a quiet evening to question your life choices. 😅

Nope!

The new triggers and conditions let you start with what you want your home to react to, not which technical trigger type fits.

More power, less complexity!

https://frenck.dev/more-power-less-complexity/

#HomeAssistant #OpenSource

A smart home will not save the planet.

Not by itself. Not with magic. Not because a dashboard turns green.

But Home Assistant can help with the useful, boring part: measuring waste, automating small improvements, keeping energy data local, and avoiding cloud-driven e-waste.

#HomeAssistant

I wrote about that here:
https://frenck.dev/a-smart-home-will-not-save-the-planet/

I’ve been working on something new!

Presenting YAMLRocks 🪨

A fast, correct YAML library for Python, written in Rust.

It fills a gap I kept running into: YAML 1.2 (and 1.1) correctness, safe defaults, includes, source locations, and round-trip editing that keeps comments and formatting intact. It is about 5 to 10x faster than PyYAML’s C loader! 🚀

Still early, pre-1.0 software, but already pretty useful.

#OpenSource
https://yaml.rocks/

Home Assistant automation modes: why the default isn’t your friend.

The default mode is “single”. It is safe, conservative, and backwards-compatible.

It also drops new triggers while the automation is still running.

So if you never picked a mode, you may have been relying on the wrong behavior all along.

Learn how to pick the mode you actually need: Single, restart, queued, or parallel. 🙂
https://frenck.dev/automation-modes-in-home-assistant-why-the-default-isnt-your-friend/

OK I'm done with the complex network setup...

#FromScratch #Matter

You know the rule: if it has a screen and a processor, someone will make DOOM run on it.

Home Assistant just joined the club.

I built a custom integration that runs the real DOOM (1993) inside a dashboard card using js-dos. Binary sensor, session tracking, daily trivia, and a hidden iddqd easter egg. If DOOM runs in Home Assistant, it should behave like one.

Open source, installable via HACS: https://github.com/frenck/home-assistant-doom
Blog: https://frenck.dev/home-assistant-can-run-doom/

#HomeAssistant #OpenSource #DOOM

An amazing Home Assistant cake at @homeassistant@fosstodon.org Community Meetup in Cologne yesterday! 🤩🍰😋

Isn’t the our community the best? 🫶

#HomeAssistant #HomeBakeAutomation #SmartHome

Home Assistant just added the Reolink Elite Floodlight WiFi and Trackmix WiFi to Works with Home Assistant. Reolink now has 10 certified cameras.

That matches my setup: I use Reolink throughout my new home. Local control, reliable integration, no extra cloud-only app island.

Certified products: https://works-with.home-assistant.io/certified-products/?brand=reolink

My first personal newsletter shipped. The next one is already slowly forming from links, notes, and things I did not want to lose in a browser tab forever.

If you want one from the next batch, subscribe here:
https://frenck.dev/newsletter/

My second newsletter is out! 🚀

This one has RSS, YAML, Thread plumbing, old-web nostalgia, and the slightly uncomfortable confession that my Home Assistant setup has 294 devices and zero automations.

Curious what people think when they open it from their inbox.

I am ready for it! State of the Open Home 2026!

Are you?!

#HomeAssistant

On my way to the Home Assistant Community Meetup in Cologne! 🚗

Excited to meet everyone! 🤗

#HomeAssistant #Community

What my day looks like nowadays with CodeRabbit....

First newsletter went out Friday. Subscribers got it first, but I made this one public too, so you can see what kind of thing it is.

It is mostly notes, links, thoughts, and a drawer being slightly less full.

Read it here:
https://frenck.dev/email/e333f2c3-b6d3-4159-96ab-89c679c558aa/

If you want the next one in your inbox:
https://frenck.dev/newsletter/

I said for years I probably wouldn’t go for smart locks. Yet here we are 😅

About to install my first smart locks. NUKI Smart Lock Ultra and Keypad 2.
Will integrate with Home Assistant (of course 😉)

Interested in practical real world tips. What automations have proven useful?
What became annoying over time or just really golden?

#HomeAssistant #SmartHome #HomeAutomation

On my way to Utrecht to prepare for the State of the Open Home 2026!

The Dutch railroad 🚂 in the mean time be like: safe travels and enjoy the view… 🧽🧼 🙈

#ns #trains #roflpimplmao