I recently came across a hardware switch that allows sending POST/GET requests, and I thought it would be a great addition to my Home Assistant setup. My goal was to use this switch to toggle a light, but I ran into a bit of a hurdle with authentication. Let me share my journey and how I overcame it!
Initially, I tried using the Home Assistant API endpoint /api/services/light/turn_on directly. However, I realized I needed a Bearer Token for authentication, which my switch couldn’t handle. I then explored setting up trusted_networks in Home Assistant, but that didn’t resolve the issue either—it kept returning a 401: Unauthorized error.
After some research, I discovered that using a long-lived access token instead of the default bearer token might be the solution. I generated a long-lived token in Home Assistant, configured my switch to use this token, and voilà! The integration worked seamlessly. I could toggle my lights with the hardware switch without any issues.
This experience taught me the importance of exploring different authentication methods when integrating third-party devices. If you’re facing similar challenges, I highly recommend checking out the Home Assistant documentation on API authentication—it’s a treasure trove of information!
If anyone has questions or needs help with similar integrations, feel free to reach out. I’d be happy to assist!