Problem statement
As mentioned in Home Assistant release 2026.4 Infrared never left the table.
Since this release native infrared support was added to Home Assistant, which is great because it enables us to controlling a massive range of devices previously out of reach. Think about all those TVs, air conditioners, fans, sound bars, and other appliances sitting in your home that still rely on their little infrared remote. With this update, Home Assistant can now talk to them, making infrared become a first-class citizen. And staying in-line with on of our core values of sustainability.
This work relies on the newly introduced Infrared integration, which means that Home Assistant now supports infrared proxies as well: small ESPHome-powered devices with an IR transmitter that can send infrared commands on behalf of Home Assistant. Thus, Home Assistant can now control any device that responds to an infrared remote, as long as there’s an integration that knows how to speak that device’s protocol.
While the sending side is already built into HA and ESPHome respectively (see Home Assistant release 2026.4) the last open item on the agenda is the receiving part. There's an active architecture discussion on whether to split send/receive in HA the way ESPHome does.
So, this opportunity is mainly targeting to close any ongoing activities for the initial release of the IR functionality introduced with Home Assistant release 2026.4 and to have an aligned solution around the receiving part of IR.
Community signals
Scope & Boundaries
In scope
Sending of IR signalsHaving at least 1 reference integration for IR available for sending-- Receiving of IR signals
- Having at least 1 reference integration for IR available for receiving commands
- Ideally, to reach a broader user audience we aim to have a reference integration for some of the most widely used appliance categories such as TV, AC, AV receiver / amplifier, etc.
- This not only provides our our community a good baseline to further expand upon but also eases the further usage of IR as such within Home Assistant by reviving some of the legacy devices out in user's homes - perfectly in-line with our goal of sustainability
Not in scope
- RF which is handled in a separate opportunity
Foreseen solution
Risks & open questions
Sending side is essentially already built in HA and ESPHome.
The last open item is the receiving architecture. For that, there's an active discussion on whether to split send/receive in HA the way ESPHome does:
Appetite
Medium - 1-2 cycles
Execution issues
No response
Decision log
Problem statement
As mentioned in Home Assistant release 2026.4 Infrared never left the table.
Since this release native infrared support was added to Home Assistant, which is great because it enables us to controlling a massive range of devices previously out of reach. Think about all those TVs, air conditioners, fans, sound bars, and other appliances sitting in your home that still rely on their little infrared remote. With this update, Home Assistant can now talk to them, making infrared become a first-class citizen. And staying in-line with on of our core values of sustainability.
This work relies on the newly introduced Infrared integration, which means that Home Assistant now supports infrared proxies as well: small ESPHome-powered devices with an IR transmitter that can send infrared commands on behalf of Home Assistant. Thus, Home Assistant can now control any device that responds to an infrared remote, as long as there’s an integration that knows how to speak that device’s protocol.
While the sending side is already built into HA and ESPHome respectively (see Home Assistant release 2026.4) the last open item on the agenda is the receiving part. There's an active architecture discussion on whether to split send/receive in HA the way ESPHome does.
So, this opportunity is mainly targeting to close any ongoing activities for the initial release of the IR functionality introduced with Home Assistant release 2026.4 and to have an aligned solution around the receiving part of IR.
Community signals
Scope & Boundaries
In scope
Sending of IR signalsHaving at least 1 reference integration for IR available for sending-Not in scope
Foreseen solution
Risks & open questions
Sending side is essentially already built in HA and ESPHome.
The last open item is the receiving architecture. For that, there's an active discussion on whether to split send/receive in HA the way ESPHome does:
Appetite
Medium - 1-2 cycles
Execution issues
No response
Decision log