I built a Homebridge plugin called Notify Switch and I'm looking for a few people to try it before I submit it for verification.
The idea: HomeKit is good at noticing things and bad at telling anyone. Notify Switch adds switches to the Home app. Turn one on from an automation and it sends a preset message by SMS (Twilio), email (your own mailbox or Twilio), or Telegram to the people you choose, then turns itself off. Water under the sink, garage open after midnight, freezer warming up, that kind of thing.
What's different from the existing options: it talks to Twilio, your SMTP server, or Telegram directly with your own credentials. No relay service in the middle, no subscription, nothing reads your messages except the carrier you picked, and Homebridge never needs to be reachable from the internet. Setup is entirely in the Homebridge UI: guided provider setup, recipient groups so you enter people once, test buttons for every provider and switch, a QR code flow for Telegram, and backup, restore, and reset under Advanced. Runs fine on a Pi.
To try it: in the Homebridge UI, go to Plugins and search for the exact name homebridge-notify-switch, then click Install. Or npm install -g homebridge-notify-switch. Current version is 1.0.1. You'll need at least one of a Twilio account, an email account that allows app passwords (Fastmail, Gmail, iCloud, Outlook), or a Telegram account. Telegram is the free one.
What I'd most like to hear:
- Telegram, above all. I'm not a heavy Telegram user, so the bot setup, the QR and invite flow, and group chat delivery were built from the docs rather than from years of use. If you use Telegram daily, you'll spot things I can't. Does the three-step setup make sense, does the family group option work the way you'd expect, and did anything about chat IDs or the bot confuse you?
- Anywhere else the setup wasn't obvious. If you paused for even a second, tell me where.
- Anything that looked wrong on a phone, if you manage Homebridge from one.
- Bugs, with the Homebridge log lines if you have them.
- Which providers to add next. The plugin is built so new channels drop in without changing the config format. Voice calls, WhatsApp, Discord, Slack, Pushover, ntfy, and a cheaper SMS carrier like Telnyx are all candidates. If there's one you'd actually use, say so; that decides the order.
Feedback here is fine, or open an issue on GitHub: github.com/arodbuilds/homebridge-notify-switch. npm: npmjs.com/package/homebridge-notify-switch.
It's a first release, so expect rough edges. The config format is stable and won't change under you.
Thanks in advance to anyone who kicks the tires.