core

Intuitive

Based on Open Source

Technology. Best in Class.

We thrive on the cutting edge.


It takes time to stay up-to-speed and involved in order to make informed decisions on adoption. We put ongoing significant time into R&D so you don’t have to. The result is that efficient code makes us faster, and being modular makes us nimble.

  • SPEED. All of our adopted and developed technologies have been designed with low-latency as a high priority goal.

  • MODULAR. Our system is not only containerized using Podman. There is further componentization within each of the services so that we can make updates to pieces of CORE without affecting the whole.

  • LIGHTWEIGHT. Our system is built deliberately, cleanly and efficiently. Heck, we even have code that writes and optimizes code. We call this “The Markus Effect”.

  • COMPATIBILITY. Collective CORE is able to communicate with devices, hubs and controllers to flawlessly integrate with them. We help to create one cohesive CORE environment.



Community

Community plays a huge part in CORE. Some of the best ideas for home automation begin in the community. Any member in the community can bring or develop any open source project and run it on CORE. No complaints, no contracts, no arbitrary restrictions.

ESPHome

ESPHome is a system to control ESP8266/ESP32 control boards. It is a powerfully simple firmware that is supported within CORE. This is an open source project that we will actively support.

FeathersJS

Feathers is a lightweight web-framework for creating real-time applications and REST APIs using JavaScript or TypeScript. Feathers can interact with any backend technology, supports over a dozen databases and works with any frontend technology like React, VueJS, Angular, React Native, Android or iOS.

Home Assistant

We’ve included Home Assistant as a dashboard solution. Because we can. And it will run. Nicely. You have choices.

Homebridge

For those that need it we’ve provided a way to run it.

InfluxDB + Grafana

We’ve integrated InfluxDB with Grafana providing you with a visual representation of what your smart home has been up to. You may also create your own panels and save them giving you quick access to the metrics that are most important to you. There are some preconfigured examples to help you get started.

MQTT

Enabled for integration with doodads such as Tasmota based WiFi devices, and anything else that uses this service. It might surprise you how many there are! This two-way street also makes it possible for you to expose CORE devices to other systems. A great tool for integrators.

*MQTT is built-in, but you can also use an external broker if you prefer.

Node-RED

Node-RED is a browser-based flow development tool for visual programming and automation. This is an optional feature which is installed natively on CORE.

*Node-RED is built-in, but you can also use an external instance if you prefer.

Podman

Software that is part of making our system modular and secure. This enables us to update one piece of the puzzle without affecting the other pieces. It also allows us to coordinate dependencies from other environments without affecting the core services, creating a strong reliable foundation.

*No daemon, no root privileges needed.

Single Sign-On

Single Sign-On gives you access to CORE and all services running including third party integrations. With just a single login.

SMTP2MQTT

Simply translated - email to mqtt. This service can be used to receive notifications from devices that can send email. For example: NVR systems send an email that can be translated to an MQTT message which can be used directly in Node-RED for automations. This is all processed locally and is lightening fast.

TypeScript

TypeScript is a strict syntactical superset of JavaScript and adds optional static typing to the language.  What does this mean? It means it natively detects mistakes and makes you fix them before moving forward.  It means ultra-clean code, always.

While the preferred language is TypeScript, it is also possible to develop in most other languages that are supported on Linux based systems. Please visit our Community for further information.

Uptime Kuma

Uptime Kuma monitors your services and network devices. It can notify you if that pesky device that you’ve been keeping around is off line again. Very informative tool and a great addition to CORE.

Zigbee Herdsman

An outstanding Zigbee gateway solution, providing support for an ever-growing database of devices. We share the same Zigbee controller chipset with those supported in this project, allowing us to not only benefit from a partnership with the community, but also to contribute our own development back to a central location where all can benefit.

Z-Wave JS

A thing of beauty. In our opinion, this is the gold-standard of spec compliant Z-Wave libraries. It’s lightweight, brilliantly developed and we are thrilled to be a part of this movement. Z-Wave JS makes automatically injecting system generated drivers near-flawless.

What Is CORE

CORE is a community-driven home automation hardware platform, designed and built on the foundation that PRIVACY is...

Device Support

Through the combination of Oh-La LABS development and the adoption of leading-edge open-source projects, at last glance...

A Humble Beginning

For some of us it started with an RGB bulb, some with a Tasmotized LED strip, some a smart outlet. No matter what the...

Privacy

No hidden data collection tactics.Your CORE will only access the outside world when you want it to. Not only do we...

Specifications

Small form factor, big performance. We've set our standards for hardware high. It needs to be reasonably priced and over...

Technology

It takes time to stay up-to-speed and involved in order to make informed decisions on adoption. We put ongoing...