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A practical guide to building, installing, operating and understanding Zigbee Border Gateway Env. This is a local-first home automation project built around an Espressif ESP32-S3/ESP32-H2 Zigbee gateway and a Linux single-board computer such as a Raspberry Pi.
Documentation status: This wiki reflects the repository and hardware evidence reviewed on 20 October 2026. The product is under active development, so capabilities and instructions can change. See Keeping this wiki current before relying on older notes.
- Product capabilities — architecture, dashboard, supported functions and data flow.
- Build and hardware — required parts, firmware components and build overview.
- Installation and setup — prepare the Linux host, flash the gateway and start the dashboard.
- Operating the system — pairing, device setup, dashboard use, readings and recovery.
- Device compatibility and limitations — supported SONOFF models, evidence and features not implemented.
- Data, security and privacy — tokens, local access, persistence, backups and retention.
- Keeping this wiki current — where to check for authoritative updates and how to maintain these pages.
The ESP32-S3 runs the Zigbee coordinator firmware and a token-authenticated local REST API. The ESP32-H2 runs the radio co-processor firmware. A Linux host communicates with the gateway over the local network, stores device and measurement history in SQLite, and serves the web dashboard and API. The host is also suitable as the workstation used to build and flash the ESP firmware.
Although the board is marketed as an ESP Thread Border Router / Zigbee Gateway, this project currently uses it as a Zigbee coordinator; it does not form or route a Thread network. The H2 firmware is based on Espressif's ot_rcp source as the radio co-processor foundation.
The project targets a small home installation of roughly 20–50 devices, but that network size has not been load-tested. It is a development-stage home automation system, not a universal Zigbee compatibility layer or a Zigbee2MQTT replacement.