SwitchBot Bot in Home Assistant without a cloud hub

Some appliances don’t need a smarter brain. They just need a finger. SwitchBot Bot sticks beside a physical button and presses it for you—handy for a coffee machine, a PC power button or an older AC remote that never got the smart-home memo.

For Home Assistant, start with the original SwitchBot Bot and local Bluetooth. You don’t need a SwitchBot cloud hub. If Bluetooth doesn’t reach, add an ESPHome Bluetooth proxy near the Bot; the M5Stack Atom Lite is the straightforward USB-flashed option from our proxy guide. Keep the adhesive accessories as optional spares, not a required extra purchase.

Features and setup come from SwitchBot, Home Assistant and ESPHome documentation; this is a research-based guide.

Pick your route: Bluetooth first, hub only when you want it

Route	What you need	How Home Assistant reaches the Bot	Choose it for
Direct local Bluetooth	Bot and working Bluetooth on the HA host	SwitchBot Bluetooth integration	A Bot within the host radio’s reach
Local Bluetooth through a proxy	Bot, ESPHome proxy and a network connection back to HA	The same SwitchBot Bluetooth integration through the proxy	Moving the radio nearer the button
SwitchBot Cloud	Bot, compatible SwitchBot hub, account and API credentials	SwitchBot Cloud integration	An existing SwitchBot cloud setup
Matter bridge	Bot, Hub Mini Matter Enabled, SwitchBot setup app and HA’s Matter controller	Matter integration to the bridge	Sharing supported bridged controls with Matter ecosystems

The SwitchBot Bluetooth integration explicitly supports Bot (WoHand) and requires no SwitchBot hub. It is classified as Local Push: devices send updates locally, and Home Assistant also fetches status after a command. That is different from the separate cloud integration.

The original Hub Mini and Hub Mini Matter Enabled are different products. SwitchBot’s Matter-enabled hub page lists Bot among the devices it can bridge. Buy a hub for the ecosystem features you actually want; skip it for the local Bluetooth setup below.

First, give the little arm a fair fight

Hold the Bot beside the intended button before peeling the adhesive. Its arm needs room to reach, press and retract, and you still want to operate the control yourself. A crowded, curved panel can turn a clever retrofit into a very determined robot pressing the wrong spot.

Choose the mode to match the control:

• Press mode: a momentary push for a coffee-machine button, PC power button or a remote-control button.
• Switch mode: push and pull a compatible rocker using the add-on. The maker’s Bot guide says the rocker add-on is included.

Set the mode in the SwitchBot app, line up the arm and follow the mounting instructions for your surface. Use a clean, dry, stable mounting spot, and allow the adhesive its instructed settling time before asking it to fight the switch repeatedly. The official user-manual page is the starting point for the Bot instructions.

The Accessory Add-on 3M Sticker Mate is for replacement mounting accessories. It makes sense when you move a Bot or need spares; you don’t need to add it just to try the included rocker attachment (official accessory).

Add the Bot to Home Assistant locally

1. Set up the Bot’s mode in the SwitchBot app. Give it a name you can recognize, then close the app while testing HA’s connection.
2. Make sure Home Assistant has working Bluetooth. If the host radio reaches the button, start there. Otherwise follow our ESPHome Bluetooth proxy guide to flash and add an Atom Lite or an Ethernet proxy.
3. In Settings → Devices & services, open Bluetooth and check the adapter’s discovery mode. Home Assistant’s SwitchBot docs say devices are normally discovered in Active mode; Passive mode requires synchronization through a SwitchBot account.
4. Add the discovered SwitchBot Bluetooth device. If it isn’t offered, use Add integration, search for SwitchBot Bluetooth, and follow the setup flow.
5. If you enabled a Bot device password, enter that password when prompted. This is separate from the encryption keys used by some other SwitchBot devices, such as locks. You don’t need to go hunting for a lock key to add a Bot.
6. Name the HA device clearly and make a deliberate test press with the controlled appliance ready. Names from the SwitchBot app aren’t automatically transferred into HA.

For encrypted models elsewhere in the range, HA can import keys from a SwitchBot account or accept them manually. That’s useful context if you already own a lock; it doesn’t add a hub requirement to this Bot setup (Bluetooth setup and security).

A proxy needs active connections, not just listening

The Atom Lite runs ESPHome and relays Bluetooth traffic over your network. It is not a SwitchBot cloud hub. Put it near the Bot and give it reliable power; Home Assistant can stay where it is.

There are two different settings worth knowing. Active scanning helps discover devices; active GATT connections let the proxy exchange commands and data with them. Hearing advertisements is only half the job when you want to move an arm. ESPHome documents these settings separately and enables active connections by default on ESP32 proxies (Bluetooth proxy documentation).

Ethernet-based ESP32 proxies offload Wi-Fi work from the radio and are ESPHome’s preferred performance route. Atom Lite remains a handy ready-to-flash Wi-Fi option. Use our proxy guide to choose the board and installer rather than loading a firmware target for a different ESP32.

The same Bluetooth planning helps with SwitchBot blinds and curtains. Place the radio for the devices, not for the tidiest empty USB socket.

Make one deliberate press, not a mystery toggle

Home Assistant exposes the Bot as a switch entity, even when the physical job is a momentary press. For the recipes below, use Turn on switch (switch.turn_on) targeting a Bot configured in Press mode. Label the resulting control Press coffee button or Press PC power, rather than presenting it as a reliable appliance on/off indicator.

A simple script gives you a reusable control:

1. Open Settings → Automations & scenes → Scripts, create a new script, and add an action.
2. Under Sequence → Add action, select the Bot under By target, then Turn on switch. Select Save, enter a descriptive name, and select Save again.
3. Run it once while watching the button. Then add a dashboard button whose tap action runs that script, rather than using the default toggle behavior.

Home Assistant documents scripts, the turn-on switch action, and dashboard Perform action controls.

The Bot knows about its own command, not the coffee, PC or AC behind the button. Its last_run_success attribute helps diagnose Bluetooth command failures; it doesn’t measure the appliance’s physical state. For real feedback, use an existing status sensor or the power readings described in our smart-plug guide.

Three useful things to build

1. Coffee, with a real button on your dashboard

Create a Press coffee button script using the action above. Prepare the machine with water, coffee and a cup, then tap the dashboard button when you’re ready to brew. Choose a machine whose own operating instructions allow this use and keep its normal safeguards working.

This is a physical-button upgrade: it presses the selected control; it doesn’t fill the reservoir or verify the cup. Test the exact brewing sequence once so the dashboard label matches what that button actually does. A deliberate tap is a much nicer first automation than a surprise scheduled brew.

2. Wake a PC whose button is awkward to reach

Set the Bot for a short momentary press and create Press PC power. With the PC off and mains power available, run the script and watch it start. Keep the Bot’s arm clear of neighboring reset or other controls.

Use that button deliberately when the machine is off. Pressing a running PC’s power button can invoke a different OS action, and a long hold can force it off. For a regular network wake, try the firmware and NIC settings in our headless boot and Wake-on-LAN guide first; the Bot is useful when the physical button is the route you need.

3. A hot-room nudge for an older AC

Put the Bot beside a suitable AC control or on the power button of its remote, with the remote aimed at the unit. Create Press AC button and test the press. Keep the mounted Bot away from hot exhaust and leave the original control usable.

For a friendly reminder, use an existing room-temperature sensor from our temperature-sensor guide. In a new automation, add Temperature crossed threshold and select that sensor. As an example, set Threshold type → Above, enter 27, choose Unit → °C, and set For at least → 5 minutes, then add a phone-notification action. Adjust those example settings for your room.

Use the alert to decide whether to press the AC button. A power-toggle button can turn an already-running unit off too, so this recipe sends a nudge instead of blindly toggling it. Home Assistant’s temperature trigger guide explains threshold crossings; the Companion docs cover phone notifications.

Save the automation. Use Run actions to test notification delivery, then test the trigger with a controlled reading that moves from below to above your threshold and stays there for the selected duration. A sensor already above the threshold won’t create a new crossing just because you saved the automation.

When a Hub Mini does make sense

Choose the SwitchBot Cloud integration if you want HA to use an existing compatible SwitchBot hub and cloud account. That route needs an API token and secret from the app; HA classifies it as Cloud Polling. Keep those credentials private.

Choose Hub Mini Matter Enabled if you want its supported Bluetooth devices bridged into Matter. You set up the bridge through SwitchBot, then commission it into HA’s Matter integration. Matter control is local after commissioning, while vendor app/account setup may still be part of provisioning. The plain original Hub Mini doesn’t gain Matter just because its name looks similar.

For this project, the shorter shopping list wins: Bot, working local Bluetooth, and a proxy only when you need the range. Add genuine mounting spares when there’s a reason. Your old button gets a new trick, and you keep the automation in Home Assistant. Find the next project on the Home Assistant hub.

If the appliance already has an IR remote or a compatible RF remote, our Broadlink RM4 Mini vs Pro guide offers learned commands for an AC, TV or fan without fitting a button pusher.