HAP-python

HomeKit Accessory Protocol implementation in python 3. With this project, you can integrate your own smart devices (called accessories) and add them to your iOS Home app. Since Siri is integrated with the Home app, you can start voice-control your accessories right away - e.g. "What is the temperature in my bedroom".

The project was developed for a Raspberry Pi, but it should work on other platforms. You can even integrate with HAP-python remotely using HTTP (see below). To kick-start things, you can open main.py, where you can find out how to launch a mock temperature sensor. Just run python3 main.py and you should see it in the Home app (be sure to be in the same network). Stop it by hitting Ctrl+C.

There are example accessories in the accessories folder.

Table of Contents

1. API
2. Installation
3. Integrating non-compatible devices
4. Run at boot (and a Switch to shutdown your device)
5. Notice

Installation

As of version 2.0.0, HAP-python no longer supports python older than 3.5, because we are moving to asyncio. If your platform does not have a compatible python out of the box, you can install it manually or just use an older version of HAP-python.

As a prerequisite, you will need Avahi/Bonjour installed (due to zeroconf package). On a Raspberry Pi, you can get it with:

$ sudo apt-get install libavahi-compat-libdnssd-dev

avahi-utils may also fit the bill. Then, you can install with pip3 (you will need sudo or --user for the install):

$ pip3 install HAP-python[QRCode]

This will install HAP-python in your python packages, so that you can import it as pyhap. To uninstall, just do:

$ pip3 uninstall HAP-python

API

A typical flow for using HAP-python starts with implementing an Accessory. This is done by subclassing Accessory and putting in place a few details (see below). After that, you give your accessory to an AccessoryDriver to manage. This will take care of advertising it on the local network, setting a HAP server and running the Accessory. Take a look at main.py for a quick start on that.

from pyhap.accessory import Accessory, Category
import pyhap.loader as loader

class TemperatureSensor(Accessory):
    """Implementation of a mock temperature sensor accessory."""

    category = Category.SENSOR  # This is for the icon in the iOS Home app.

    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        """Here, we just store a reference to the current temperature characteristic and
        add a method that will be executed every time its value changes.
        """
        # If overriding this method, be sure to call the super's implementation first.
        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)

        # Add the services that this Accessory will support with add_preload_service here
        temp_service = self.add_preload_service('TemperatureSensor')
        self.temp_char = temp_service.get_characteristic('CurrentTemperature')

        # Having a callback is optional, but you can use it to add functionality.
        self.temp_char.setter_callback = self.temperature_changed

    def temperature_changed(self, value):
        """This will be called every time the value of the CurrentTemperature
        is changed. Use setter_callbacks to react to user actions, e.g. setting the
        lights On could fire some GPIO code to turn on a LED (see pyhap/accessories/LightBulb.py).
        """
        print('Temperature changed to: ', value)

    @Acessory.run_at_interval(3)  # Run this method every 3 seconds
    # The `run` method can be `async` as well
    def run(self):
        """We override this method to implement what the accessory will do when it is
        started.

        We set the current temperature to a random number. The decorator runs this method
        every 3 seconds.
        """
        self.temp_char.set_value(random.randint(18, 26))

    # The `stop` method can be `async` as well
    def stop(self):
        """We override this method to clean up any resources or perform final actions, as
        this is called by the AccessoryDriver when the Accessory is being stopped.
        """
        print('Stopping accessory.')

Integrating non-compatible devices

HAP-python may not be available for many IoT devices. For them, HAP-python allows devices to be bridged by means of communicating with an HTTP server - the HttpBridge. You can add as many remote accessories as you like.

For example, the bellow snippet creates an Http Accessory that listens on port 51800 for updates on the TemperatureSensor service:

import pyhap.loader as loader
from pyhap.accessories.Http import HttpBridge
from pyhap.accessory import Accessory
from pyhap.accessory_driver import AccessoryDriver

# get loaders
service_loader = loader.get_serv_loader()
char_loader = loader.get_char_loader()

# Create an accessory with the temperature sensor service.
# Also, add an optional characteristic StatusLowBattery to that service.
remote_accessory = Accessory("foo", aid=2)
tservice = service_loader.get("TemperatureSensor")
tservice.add_opt_characteristic(
    char_loader.get("StatusLowBattery"))
remote_accessory.add_service(tservice)

# Create the HTTP Bridge and add the accessory to it.
address = ("", 51111)
http_bridge = HttpBridge(address=address,
                         display_name="HTTP Bridge",
                         pincode=b"203-23-999")
http_bridge.add_accessory(remote_accessory)

# Add to driver and run.
driver = AccessoryDriver(http_bridge, 51826)
driver.start()

Now, remote accessories can do an HTTP POST to the address of the device where the accessory is running (port 51111) with the following content:

{
    "aid": 2,
    "services": {
        "TemperatureSensor": {
            "CurrentTemperature" : 20,
            "StatusLowBattery": true,
        }
    }
}

This will update the value of the characteristic "CurrentTemperature" to 20 degrees C and "StatusLowBattery" to true. Needless to say the communication to the Http Bridge poses a security risk, so keep that in mind.

Run at boot

This is a quick way to get HAP-python to run at boot on a Raspberry Pi. It is recommended to turn on "Wait for network" in raspi-config. If this turns to be unreliable, see this.

Copy the below in /etc/systemd/system/HAP-python.service (needs sudo).

[Unit]
Description = HAP-python daemon
Wants = pigpiod.service  # Remove this if you don't depend on pigpiod
After = local-fs.target network-online.target pigpiod.service

[Service]
User = lesserdaemon  # It's a good idea to use some unprivileged system user
# Script starting HAP-python, e.g. main.py
# Be careful to set any paths you use, e.g. for persisting the state.
ExecStart = /usr/bin/python3 /home/lesserdaemon/.hap-python/hap-python.py

[Install]
WantedBy = multi-user.target

Test that everything is fine by doing:

> sudo systemctl start HAP-python
> systemctl status HAP-python
> sudo journalctl -u HAP-python  # to see the output of the start up script.
> sudo systemctl stop HAP-python

To enable or disable at boot, do:

> sudo systemctl enable HAP-python
> sudo systemctl disable HAP-python

Shutdown switch

If you are running HAP-python on a Raspberry Pi, you may want to add a Shutdown Switch to your Home. This is a Switch Accessory, which, when triggered, executes sudo shutdown -h now, i.e. it shutdowns and halts the Pi. This allows you to safely unplug it.

For the above to work, you need to enable passwordless /sbin/shutdown to whichever user is running HAP-python. For example, do:

$ sudo visudo # and add the line: "<hap-user> ALL=NOPASSWD: /sbin/shutdown".

Notice

Some HAP know-how was taken from HAP-NodeJS by KhaosT.

I am not aware of any bugs, but I am more than confident that such exist. If you find any, please report and I will try to fix them.

Suggestions are always welcome.

Have fun!