What to use cheap RFID tags on?

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I found a pack of 5 keychain RFID tags at Microcenter for ~2$ and a reader that (I think) is billed as Arduino compatible for ~5$. Sounds cool, but I didn’t buy it because I wasn’t sure what to do with it.

It seems most people use it to unlock doors, but I’m a little weary of giving my doors more points of failure than they already have. On the other hand, the convenience is real.

Others use them to arm and disarm alarm systems, which sounds useful.

Other than that, I don’t know what could be done with them. Unlocking a password store? I guess they are generally for granting access…

Any ideas?

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Anti-theft? Hide the tags on valuable things, and put the reader near a door.

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Yes that’s right. That is what im looking for. Have you done that before?

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I’ve experimented with the Arduino card reader and the keychain tags. Easy to set up, works fine except that the card or key tag have to touch the sensor pad.

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Can you share the sketch and ha configuration?
i have a MFRC522 but i didnt manage to connect it with a nodemcu.
Thanks

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I don’t have the sketch I used- it was strictly a curiosity to hook it up and play with RFID. So, I never interfaced it with Home Assistant. Which would be above my pay grade anyway- I wouldn’t know where to begin.

Just google “MFRC522 and arduino” and pick a project from there.