Node-Red ?

[CBY0]

Hi,

Looks pretty damn cool.

I've never needed Node-Red for my automations and I have some heavy ones but would love to have a visual.

Do I (absolutely) need node-red ? That part is not clear.

Thanks

CBY

[bartbutenaers]

Hi @CBY0,

Node-RED is an automation tool with its own visual flow editor user interface. It is a third-party application with its own community and ecosystem (= nodes which you can download), and is mostly used standalone (without HA). Therefore Node-RED can be installed as an addon in HA, i.e. a separate Docker container that runs beside the HA core Docker container. So it is a complete separate application, but HA and Node-RED can pass data to each other.

The CAFE flow editor on the other hand is an integration, i.e. it runs completely inside the HA core Docker container. It is a flow editor that allows you to create HA (yaml based) automations and maintain them. So it is just another editor for your HA automations, that runs beside the standard HA automation editor.

So you don't need to have Node-RED for CAFE. It are 2 completely different pieces of software. Of course in Node-RED you can install thousands of nodes from developers, so it is very powerful. CAFE on the other hand is limited to the functionality which HA automations offer (although I assume it can add new functionality e.g. using J2 expressions...), but it is completely integrated into HA core.

Hopefully this is a bit clear...
Anybody is welcome to add corrections to my explanation!!

Bart

[CBY0]

Yeah, thanks Bart,

I know what Node-Red is.
I'll give CAFE a shot.

Looks great.