homebridge-somfy-remote

Homebridge plugin that exposes a Raspberry Pi-attached Somfy Telis 4 remote (driven by somfy) as HomeKit WindowCovering accessories so Siri, the iOS Home app, and HomePod can control the blinds.

Talks to the existing somfy serve HTTP API — no changes to the Rust side. Each accessory maps a HomeKit position to POST /command:

• Target ≥ 50 → {"command": "up", "led": "<LED>"}
• Target < 50 → {"command": "down", "led": "<LED>"}

Current position snaps to the target immediately (no progress simulation, since the hardware gives no position feedback).

Install

Run the bootstrap script with --with-homekit to add the Homebridge apt repo, install Homebridge, and install this plugin via hb-service add:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/melkir/remote-gpio/main/install.sh | sudo bash -s -- --with-homekit

Safe to re-run on a box that already has somfy installed; somfy install is idempotent. Updates flow through the Homebridge UI at http://<pi>:8581 → Plugins, which polls the npm registry where CI publishes each tagged release.

For local development, mise run homebridge-pack writes a tarball to target/homebridge/ so you can sudo hb-service add /path/to/homebridge-somfy-remote.tgz into a dev Homebridge.

Config

Add to Homebridge's config.json under platforms:

{
  "platform": "SomfyRemote",
  "name": "Somfy Remote",
  "baseUrl": "http://localhost:5002"
}

Defaults provision one accessory per LED (L1–L4) plus an "All Blinds" entry that targets the remote's ALL mode. Override with a blinds array if you want custom names:

{
  "platform": "SomfyRemote",
  "baseUrl": "http://localhost:5002",
  "blinds": [
    { "name": "Living Room", "led": "L1" },
    { "name": "Kitchen", "led": "L2" },
    { "name": "All", "led": "ALL" }
  ]
}

Pair

Scan the Homebridge setup code from the Home app → Add Accessory → More Options.

Behavior

Position mapping. HomeKit models blinds on a 0–100 slider. This plugin snaps any write to either end: target ≥ 50 fires up, target < 50 fires down, and the current position updates immediately to match. There's no travel animation because the Somfy remote gives no position feedback — the Pi only knows which LED is lit.

No MY / STOP. HomeKit's WindowCovering service has no "stop" verb that a user-facing control can trigger, so the plugin only emits up / down. If you need to stop a blind mid-travel or use the Somfy MY position, use the Preact PWA, a Siri Shortcut that POSTs {"command": "stop"} to /command, or the remote itself. HoldPosition via Home automations is not wired up.

Errors. A failed or timed-out POST /command (default timeout 5s, override with requestTimeoutMs) logs an error line and throws SERVICE_COMMUNICATION_FAILURE back to HomeKit, which surfaces in the Home app as "No Response" for that accessory. The plugin does not retry — HomeKit re-issues the write if the user taps again. Non-numeric TargetPosition writes are rejected with INVALID_VALUE_IN_REQUEST rather than defaulting to down.

Troubleshooting

• "No Response" in Home. Check ssh pi somfy doctor (GPIO + service state) and ssh pi curl -s localhost:5002/led (backend reachable). Tail journalctl -u homebridge -f for the plugin's own error lines.
• Pairing fails. Make sure Homebridge and somfy are on the same LAN as the iPhone and that multicast (mDNS) isn't blocked by the router. The Homebridge UI at http://<pi>:8581 is the source of truth for the current setup code.
• Remote doesn't react. The plugin always fires a SELECT chain for the configured LED before up / down. Verify the physical remote cycles through L1–L4 → ALL as expected by watching the LEDs in the PWA while triggering the accessory.