MIDI-HA Bridge — trigger Home Assistant from any MIDI cue (macOS, free, all features)

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Edited & Updated 7/10/2026

It’s macOS only today (a Windows version is right around the corner), and it’s a proprietary, closed-source app.

Hi all :waving_hand:

I built a small macOS menu-bar app that turns MIDI cues into Home Assistant actions — drawing on 25+ years as an AV integrator and installer. My day-to-day is designing systems that balance cost, quality, and what actually fits a given project; this app came straight out of that work, so I’d really value feedback from this community.

The idea: a MIDI note comes in → the app calls a Home Assistant service → a scene fires, a
script runs, lights dim, a projector turns on. Anything HA can do. On real jobs I kept wanting a dead-simple way to let a presentation cue drive the room — without standing up Node-RED or a
MQTT pipeline at every site.

It started for church AV: the operator advances a slide in Proclaim presentation software by Logos, Proclaim sends a MIDI note, and the room responds automatically — no separate lighting person, the same cue every week. But it works with any MIDI source (tested with ProPresenter, EasyWorship, Ableton Live, Logic Pro).

How it works

MIDI source → MIDI-HA Bridge (built-in virtual MIDI port) → Home Assistant (REST API)

  • The app creates its own virtual MIDI port — nothing to set up in macOS (IAC/hardware ports are optional).

  • It talks to HA over the REST API with a Long-Lived Access Token — point it at your HA URL, paste a token.

  • You map each MIDI note to any HA service call (scene, script, light, switch, automation… whatever).

Why it might interest HA folks

  • No Node-RED, no MQTT broker, no YAML — one settings window: connect HA, pick the MIDI port, map notes. Set up in about a minute.

  • Lives in the menu bar — no Dock icon, no terminal.

  • Outage email alerts — it emails you the moment MIDI or HA stops responding, and when it recovers. No mail setup needed (alerts go to your registered address for you), or plug in your own SMTP to self-host it.

  • Daily health check — it pings HA on a schedule, so an outage is caught even on a setup that only runs once a week. (HA can’t report its own outage — this watches from outside.)

Screenshots / demo

Demo Video

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Get it

It’s free — personal, church, and commercial use, on every computer you run it on. No trial, no account.

Happy to answer questions, and I’m genuinely after feedback — what would make this more useful for your setup? Other MIDI sources you’d want documented? Thanks for taking a look! :folded_hands:

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Why did you not place this notice at the TOP of your write-up. I wasted a lot of time and was almost going to try it. Then I found the text quoted below.

But still, thanks for posting this. Using MIDI is a good idea. Google finds other ways to connect midi to HA.

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You're absolutely right, and I'm sorry for the wasted time — that's on me. The platform and the "proprietary / closed-source" line should have been at the very top, not near the bottom. I am trying to edit the post to put it up front so the next person knows in two seconds, but i keep getting an error for editing.
I will put it up as soon as it allows

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(post deleted by author)

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Update (7/10/2026): I’ve edited the original post. It’s now simply free — personal, church, or commercial, on any number of machines.

And as mentioned, the Windows version is right around the corner.