I just did a fresh install of Home Assistant. Then after up and running I needed to manually create the custom_components folder and then copied over the hacs folder via ssh.
After a reboot, the log tells me I am running the custom component (only message there), but I do not get a HACS side bar menu. I did notice that a hacs folder was not created within .storage folder, and I did create that one, but also no luck.
After several reboots and browser cache clears, etc, am not seeing the menu item.
Did I miss something?
Thanks,
PT
EDIT.
Found the problem, and was typo in my API key.