Home Assistant

Home Assistant is an open-source home automation platform.

Colota integrates with Home Assistant via the built-in OwnTracks integration, which accepts location updates over HTTP.

Setup

1. Add the OwnTracks integration in Home Assistant:

   • Go to Settings > Devices & Services > Add Integration
   • Search for OwnTracks and add it
   • Note the webhook URL shown after setup (e.g. https://your-ha-instance/api/webhook/abc123)

2. Configure Colota:

   • Go to Settings > API Settings

   • Select the OwnTracks template

   • Set the endpoint to your Home Assistant webhook URL:

     https://your-ha-instance/api/webhook/abc123

   • No authentication is needed - the webhook ID acts as the secret

   • Add the following custom headers - these are required for Home Assistant to create the device_tracker entity:

     Header	Value	Description
     X-Limit-U	e.g. john	Your username - used as part of the entity ID
     X-Limit-D	e.g. phone	Your device ID - used as part of the entity ID

   Without these headers, Home Assistant will accept the webhook but will not create a device tracker entity. The entity will appear as device_tracker.<username>_<device>.

Your device will appear as a device_tracker entity in Home Assistant that you can use for automations, zones, and the map.

Payload Format

The OwnTracks template auto-configures the following payload:

{
  "_type": "location",
  "tid": "AA",
  "lat": 51.495065,
  "lon": -0.043945,
  "acc": 12,
  "alt": 519,
  "vel": 0,
  "batt": 85,
  "bs": 2,
  "tst": 1704067200,
  "cog": 180.5
}

Notes

• You can customize the tracker ID (tid) in the custom fields settings to distinguish multiple devices
• If you use Nabu Casa, use the cloudhook_url or remote_ui_url provided during setup for external access
• Home Assistant does not require a Bearer token or Basic Auth for webhook endpoints