HomeKit Device integration - not able to add Nanoleaf Essentials A19 bulb using Thread

Hi! This is my first post, so please bear with :smile:

I am trying to add my Nanoleaf Essentials A19 smart bulb to my Home Assistant Container installation.

  • Home Assistant version 2023.8.1
  • Raspberry Pi 400, 4GB RAM, 500GB SSD
  • Docker 20.10.5 running on Raspberry Pi OS Bullseye

I’ve tried, as per the docs: to add it to HomeKit, ensure it is using Thread in the Eve app, remove it from the Home app without resetting the device, and then adding it to Home Assistant using the HomeKit Device integration.

It appears in discovery, but when I try to add it I get the following error message:

An unhandled error occurred while attempting to pair with this device. This may be a temporary failure or your device may not be supported currently:

If I factory reset the bulb, I can pair it successfully. However, this means it no longer connects to my Thread border router (HomePod mini) and instead falls back to Bluetooth which I find too slow.
I do not have a Home Assistant Skyconnect or other border router to use.

Can anybody please help?
Thanks, Niko.

Hello @nikoloiz ! Can you please capture the HA logs during a failed Thread pairing? Settings → System → Logs → Load Full Logs, then capture the traceback. Let’s try that route first.

Hello,
I have tried pairing again using the same steps as last time, but I get a new error.

An unhandled error occurred while attempting to pair with this device. This may be a temporary failure or your device may not be supported currently: Nanoleaf A19 7R17 (C7:3B:6F:55:8E:D0) - C7:3B:6F:55:8E:D0: Failed to connect after 9 attempt(s): No backend with an available connection slot that can reach address C7:3B:6F:55:8E:D0 was found: The proxy/adapter is out of connection slots or the device is no longer reachable; Add additional proxies (ESPHome Bluetooth Proxy) near this device

I find this strange as I do not have any ESPhome bluetooth proxies configured, or any ESPhome devices at all. I do have 3 ESP32s running ESpresence connected to home assistant using the MQTT and mqtt_room integrations that I have added since I first posted this issue. Perhaps they could be causing this? It seems that nothing relevant appeared in the HA logs.

Thanks again, Niko

It sounds like that traceback was from a Bluetooth connection attempt…? Please double-check that the bulb is on Thread.

As a second option, we could try to capture the HomePod mini’s Thread credentials and then provision them to the bulb while it is connected to HA over BLE. I would have to publish a few script to my github, first.

Sorry to bump an old post, but any chance you found a resolution for this? I’m having the same problem with several Nanoleaf Essentials A19 bulbs, all showing as on Thread in the Nanoleaf app before attempting to remove from the Home app.

I have the same problem:
See also Can't connect my Nanoleaf A19(Thread) to Home Assistant using Homepod 2