OpenHAB MCP Server

The OpenHAB MCP Server bridges the gap between AI assistants and a real smart‑home environment by exposing the full breadth of an OpenHAB instance through the Model Context Protocol. Developers can therefore treat their home automation stack as a first‑class data source, enabling Claude or Cline to read, write, and orchestrate devices using natural language. This eliminates the need for custom integrations or manual API calls when building conversational home‑automation workflows.

At its core, the server talks to OpenHAB via its REST API. It translates every MCP request into an appropriate HTTP call, handling authentication and payload formatting automatically. The result is a clean, unified interface that lets AI agents list items, read and set their states, manage things (devices), create or update rules, and run scripts on demand. Because every operation is exposed as a distinct MCP resource, the assistant can query or modify system state with a single prompt—“turn on the living‑room lights” becomes a straightforward under the hood.

Key capabilities include:

• Item management: full CRUD plus state updates, allowing agents to introspect and control individual switches, sensors, or virtual items.
• Thing administration: discover all connected devices, adjust configurations, enable/disable them, and retrieve firmware details or update status.
• Rule handling: create, edit, delete, and trigger rules programmatically, giving AI agents the power to set up complex automation logic on the fly.
• Script operations: manage scripts that can run arbitrary code within OpenHAB, enabling advanced custom behaviors.

Real‑world scenarios are plentiful. A homeowner can ask an AI assistant to “set the thermostat to 22 °C if it’s after 6 PM” and have the assistant create a rule that accomplishes this. An IoT developer can prototype device discovery workflows by having the assistant list all things and automatically generate configuration snippets. In a smart‑office setting, an agent could monitor sensor data, trigger alerts, or schedule maintenance tasks without writing any code.

Integration into existing AI workflows is seamless. Once the MCP server is running, developers add its endpoint to Claude Desktop or the Cline VSCode extension. The assistant then treats OpenHAB as a normal data source, allowing prompts to blend conversational context with system commands. The server’s design emphasizes low latency and robust error handling, ensuring that even complex automation tasks execute reliably. Its unique advantage lies in providing a single, consistent API surface for all OpenHAB components, empowering AI assistants to orchestrate smart‑home logic with the same ease they manage other data sources.