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Getting started

This guide walks you through setting up your development environment for building NetDaemon apps.

Prerequisites​

  • Dotnet 9 SDK
  • Development environment
  • A Home Assistant long lived authorization token
  • Git (optional)
  • Docker (optional)

NetDaemon development workflow​

The following workflow is the recommended approach for developing and deploying NetDaemon:

  1. Install the NetDaemon CLI tools to access the project template.
  2. Develop, build, compile, and test your NetDaemon apps locally using your preferred development environment.
  3. Publish your project.
  4. Deploy your project using one of the following options:
    • NetDaemon Home Assistant add-on
    • NetDaemon pre-built Docker container
    • Your own Docker container

Install the NetDaemon .NET CLI tool and creating a project​

First, install the NetDaemon .NET CLI tool:

dotnet new --install NetDaemon.Templates.Project

Once installed, create a new project using the template:

mkdir NetDaemonApps // Your project folder name
cd NetDaemonApps
dotnet new nd-project

There is an deployment option where you use the source code to deploy NetDaemon apps, we do not recommend using it but see souce deployment docs for details

We assume you are familiar with your development environment, but for additional guidance and tips, see the development tools tips & tricks page.

Configuring NetDaemon appsettings.json​

NetDaemon development environment needs to be configured to connect to Home Assistant.

Edit the values in the appsettings.json. The following settings are mandatory:

  • Host: the IP address or hostname of your Home Assistant instance
  • Port: Defaults to 8123
  • Token: Your long-lived access token

Example appsettings.json file:

{
    "Logging": {
        "LogLevel": {
            "Default": "Debug",
            "Microsoft": "Warning"
        },
        "ConsoleThemeType": "Ansi"
    },
    "HomeAssistant": {
        "Host": "home_assistant_host",
        "Port": 8123,
        "Ssl": false,
        "Token": "my_very_secret_token_from_homeassistant"
    },
    "NetDaemon": {
        "ApplicationConfigurationFolder": "./apps"
    },
    "CodeGeneration": {
        "Namespace": "HomeAssistantGenerated",
        "OutputFile": "HomeAssistantGenerated.cs",
        "UseAttributeBaseClasses" : "false"
    }
}
info

We recommend creating a development-specific configuration file named appsettings.development.json, which is automatically excluded from Git. This prevents accidentally exposing your secret token if you use an external git repository like GitHub. Remember to remove sensitive data from appsettings.json before push to remote repository!

Development and debugging NetDaemon apps​

Once configured, you can begin developing your NetDaemon applications. The project template includes example apps to help you get started with development and testing.

Run and debug your applications while monitoring log output for errors.

For a more powerful and convenient way to interact with Home Assistant entities and services, we recommend using the code generator code generator to generate C# classes.

Deploy NetDaemon apps​

Use dotnet publish -c Release -o [your output directory] Then, copy all contents from [your_output_directory] to the appropriate location on your Home Assistant host:

  • If using the NetDaemon add-on: /config/netdaemon5
  • If using another hosting option: Copy to your chosen destination folder

For more details on different deployment options, see the Installation Documentaiton

Keep your dependencies and tools up-to-date​

The template project includes a PowerShell script to update NetDaemon and all dependent packages to their latest versions:

update_all_dependencies.ps1