Feature Request: Support for Custom Wake Words on Home Assistant Voice PE (ESP32-S3)
Category: Voice Control / ESPHome
Status: Open for Discussion
Priority: High (Community Request)
Summary
Currently, Home Assistant Voice PE only supports MicroWakeWord, limiting users to predefined wake words without an option to use custom wake words. However, other ESP32-S3-based projects (like the ESP32-S3 Box) already allow this feature via ESPHome, providing users with the ability to choose between:
- MicroWakeWord (fully local, predefined words).
- Custom Wake Words (processed externally on a more powerful device, like a NUC or HA instance).
This artificial limitation contradicts the open-source and flexible philosophy of Home Assistant. Users should have the choice to decide between local-only recognition or decentralized, custom wake word processing.
Proposed Solution
- Add an option in ESPHome for Home Assistant Voice PE to support custom wake words by allowing external processing (e.g., on a Home Assistant instance or a Wyoming server).
- Keep MicroWakeWord for users who prefer an out-of-the-box solution but allow advanced users to offload wake word processing to a more powerful device.
- Implement a simple configuration toggle in ESPHome to choose:
- Local Wake Word (MicroWakeWord, current behavior).
- Custom Wake Word (processed on a connected HA instance or Wyoming).
Why This Matters
- Home Assistant is about flexibility and customization – restricting users to a fixed set of wake words is a step backwards.
- Many users have powerful hardware (NUC, Beelink, dedicated servers) and could easily handle wake word processing externally without impacting the performance of the Voice PE device.
- This feature is already possible in other ESPHome-based projects – why not in Voice PE?
Call to Action
If you agree that users deserve more control over their wake word options, please upvote this request and comment below.