🏠 Home Assistant Helper

A cross-platform desktop assistant that connects GitHub Copilot to your Home Assistant instance, letting you manage your smart home through natural language conversation.

Built with Avalonia UI for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Features

• AI-powered chat — Ask Copilot to query devices, trigger automations, or generate YAML configs
• Home Assistant integration — Connects via MCP (Model Context Protocol) server tools
• System tray — Lives in your tray with a quick-access flyout and full chat window
• Session management — Multiple chat sessions with persistent history
• Markdown rendering — Rich formatting for code blocks, YAML, and more
• Settings — Configure your MCP server URL and preferred Copilot model

Prerequisites

• .NET 10 SDK
• GitHub Copilot subscription
• A Home Assistant instance with an MCP server (e.g. HA-MCP)

Getting Started

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/home-assistant-helper.git
cd home-assistant-helper

# Build and run
dotnet run --project HomeAssistantHelper

On first launch the app starts in the system tray. Click the tray icon to open the flyout, or right-click for the full menu.

Configuration

Right-click the tray icon → Settings to configure:

Setting	Description
MCP Server URL	Your Home Assistant MCP endpoint (e.g. http://ha-mcp.local:8123)
Copilot Model	AI model to use (e.g. gpt-4.1, claude-sonnet-4.5)

Architecture

HomeAssistantHelper/
├── Models/          # Data models (ChatSession, ChatMessage, AppSettings)
├── Data/            # EF Core DbContext (SQLite)
├── Services/        # Business logic
│   ├── CopilotService.cs       # GitHub Copilot SDK wrapper
│   ├── SessionRepository.cs    # Chat session persistence
│   └── SettingsService.cs      # Settings persistence
├── ViewModels/      # MVVM ViewModels (CommunityToolkit.Mvvm)
│   ├── ChatViewModel.cs        # Chat + session management
│   └── SettingsViewModel.cs    # Settings dialog
├── Views/           # Avalonia AXAML views
│   ├── ChatPanel.axaml         # Reusable chat UI control
│   ├── MainChatWindow.axaml    # Full chat window
│   ├── FlyoutWindow.axaml      # Tray popup window
│   └── SettingsWindow.axaml    # Settings dialog
├── Converters/      # AXAML value converters
├── App.axaml        # Application entry + tray icon
└── Program.cs       # Avalonia bootstrap

Tech Stack

Component	Library
UI Framework	Avalonia UI 11.3
MVVM	CommunityToolkit.Mvvm
AI	GitHub Copilot SDK
Markdown	Markdown.Avalonia
Database	EF Core + SQLite
DI	Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection

License

MIT