Home Assistant Integration

Home Assistant can publish directly to Crit Alarm to ring alarms when smoke detectors, freeze sensors, water leak monitors, or security systems trip.

Method 1: Notify Service (Recommended)

Add a REST notification platform to your Home Assistant configuration.yaml file:

notify:
  - name: critalarm
    platform: rest
    resource: https://alerts.example.com/prod
    method: POST_JSON
    headers:
      Authorization: "Bearer tk_xxxxxxxxxxxx"
    data:
      topic: "prod"
      priority: 5
      title: "{{ title }}"
      message: "{{ message }}"

Restart Home Assistant or reload YAML configurations under Developer Tools -> YAML -> REST Entities and Notify Services.

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Method 2: REST Command

If you prefer using rest_command to customize headers dynamically:

Add the following to configuration.yaml:

rest_command:
  critalarm_alert:
    url: "https://alerts.example.com/prod"
    method: POST
    headers:
      Authorization: "Bearer tk_xxxxxxxxxxxx"
      X-Priority: "{{ priority | default('5') }}"
      X-Title: "{{ title | default('Home Assistant Alert') }}"
    payload: "{{ message | default('Critical sensor triggered') }}"
    content_type: "text/plain"

Restart Home Assistant to load the new REST command.

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Creating an Automation in the Home Assistant UI

Navigate to Settings -> Automations & Scenes and click Create Automation.

Configure the automation using the exact UI fields:

Trigger Section

• When: Choose State or Device
• Entity: Select your sensor (e.g. binary_sensor.water_leak_kitchen)
• From: off
• To: on

Actions Section

• Click Add Action
• Choose Perform action (or Call service)
• Action: Select notify.critalarm (or rest_command.critalarm_alert)
• In the action parameters:
  • Message: Water leak detected under kitchen sink!
  • Title: Water Leak Alarm

Click Save in the bottom right corner of the automation editor.

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Testing the Action in Developer Tools

Test the service directly without triggering a physical sensor:

1. In Home Assistant, open Developer Tools from the sidebar.
2. Select the Actions tab (named Services in older Home Assistant releases).
3. In the Action (or Service) dropdown, select notify.critalarm.
4. Enter the test fields:
   • Message: Test emergency alert from Home Assistant
   • Title: Test Alarm
5. Click the Perform action button.
6. Check your phone: Crit Alarm should sound the alarm.