tonylofgren/aurora-smart-home/api-catalog

API Catalog for Home Assistant

Reference skill for connecting external APIs and services to Home Assistant.

Overview

This skill covers authentication patterns and working code examples for connecting popular APIs to Home Assistant via three methods:

• Node-RED - HTTP request node flows (fastest to get running)
• HA YAML - rest sensor and rest_command (good for simple polling)
• Custom integration - Full HACS-publishable Python component (use ha-integration skill)

The Iron Law

CREDENTIALS IN SECRETS - NEVER HARDCODED IN FLOWS OR YAML

API keys belong in Node-RED credentials, ESPHome secrets.yaml, or HA secrets.yaml. Never paste real tokens into chat, flows that get exported, or YAML committed to git.

How to Use This Skill

1. User mentions an API or service by name
2. Read the relevant reference file for auth setup and endpoints
3. Generate working code for the user's chosen method (Node-RED / YAML / integration)
4. Include credential setup instructions

Reference Files

Authentication Patterns at a Glance

Output Methods

For each API, generate code for the method the user needs:

Node-RED: http request node + function node to parse + api-call-service to push to HA HA YAML: rest sensor platform or rest_command under configuration.yaml Full integration: Use ha-integration skill with the polling-integration template

Common Patterns

Node-RED: API key in header

{
  "type": "http request",
  "method": "GET",
  "url": "https://api.example.com/data",
  "headers": {"Authorization": "Bearer {{env.API_KEY}}"},
  "ret": "obj"
}

Node-RED: GraphQL (Tibber-style)

{
  "type": "http request",
  "method": "POST",
  "url": "https://api.tibber.com/v1-beta/gql",
  "headers": {
    "Authorization": "Bearer {{env.TIBBER_TOKEN}}",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
  },
  "payload": "{\"query\": \"{ viewer { homes { currentSubscription { priceInfo { current { total } } } } } }\"}",
  "ret": "obj"
}

HA YAML: REST sensor

rest:
  - scan_interval: 300
    resource: https://api.example.com/current
    headers:
      Authorization: !secret example_api_key
    sensor:
      - name: "Example Value"
        value_template: "{{ value_json.data.value }}"
        unit_of_measurement: "°C"

Pre-Output Checklist

• [ ] Credentials use !secret (YAML), Node-RED credentials, or env vars - never hardcoded
• [ ] Rate limits respected (include scan_interval or flow timer accordingly)
• [ ] Error handling included (Node-RED catch node or YAML timeout)
• [ ] For OAuth2: refresh token flow explained
• [ ] Attribution: which API endpoint, what data it returns

Integration

Pairs with:

• node-red skill - for flow JSON implementation
• ha-yaml skill - for YAML sensor and automation using the fetched data
• ha-integration skill - for building a full HACS-publishable Python integration