Hi Community,
So now that I’m rocking with mosquito, I’m somewhat confused how to “convert” my existing sensors/etc to be stored in MQTT? I recently installed Node-Red (very cool btw) and would like to store my data from HA into MQTT and then pull it into Node-Red.
Is doable? I’ve been crawling help pages and it’s not obvious to me. I know I can have switches/etc but how would I go about converting my existing sensors/etc to be stored in MQTT?
For what purpose? You don’t ‘store’ any data in MQTT.
Why not use node-red-contrib-home-assistant (node) - Node-RED?
Sure, but it seems like a lot of work for not a lot of reward. What do you want to convert and why?
MQTT is not a database, you don’t store anything. It is just a message queue. Nothing more.
Thanks for responding. yes, I’m aware of what MQTT does but I figured I’d read the data into Node-Red via MQTT subscriptions. I am using that palette (is that the right term?) in Node-Red but I’m really liking MQTT and figured I’d dump data into it and then read from Node-Red. I also use Zanzito so it’d be nice to read that data remotely as well.
I love MQTT, but what you essentially want to do is recreate everything you already have in MQTT for just the simple reason of using it?
Just use a combination of Home Assistant nodes and MQTT where it makes sense. You don’t need to be one way or the other. I use both heavily.
Any ‘software switch’ I want to make, instead of an input_boolean, I make an MQTT switch, but I want my lights to be left alone.
You can take every state change in Home Assistant nodes and publish them on MQTT, but again, it’s a lot of work for no real reward. You already have the data coming from Home Assistant.
Thanks - overthinking the scenario is what I am apparently doing. Appreciate the steering on this. Just seemed like the “right thing” to do at the time 
If there is a particular thing you want to convert over for use elsewhere, you could always do this:
Honestly, don’t try to shoehorn all your Home Assistant into MQTT, just use it where feasible. The home assistant nodes are REALLY good at what they do.
BTW, if there is anything you need help with, I would be glad to lend a hand where I can.
You may regret that offer Seriously though, really appreciate the clarity.
