Guide 19 : Full Local Control: Expose Home Assistant Devices to Google Home via Matter

Welcome to the future of smart homes — where your lights, switches, sensors, thermostats, and scenes can all be controlled through Google Home, without relying on any cloud. Thanks to the Home Assistant Matter Bridge, you can now expose your devices to Google as native Matter accessories, fully local and lightning fast.

No more lag. No more cloud dependencies. Just real-time control and voice commands that actually respond instantly.

🌟 Why This Is a Game Changer

⚡ Fully local communication (no roundtrip to the cloud)
🗣️ Google Assistant voice control for any Home Assistant entity
📱 Google Home app integration just like any native device
🧠 Expose only what you choose via labels
🎯 Works with sensors, lights, switches, thermostats, and scenes
🌐 Remains available even when your internet is down

All you need is a compatible Google Nest device (like a Nest Hub 2nd gen or Nest Hub Max), and you’re ready to build a rock-solid hybrid setup.

🧩 Requirements

Home Assistant (Core or OS, version 2024.5 or higher recommended)
One Google device that acts as a Matter controller:
- ✅ Nest Hub (2nd Gen) or Nest Hub Max
- ❌ Nest Mini or regular Google speakers are not Matter-capable
The Home Assistant Matter Bridge Add-on
The Google Home App on Android or iOS

🔧 Step-by-Step Setup

1. Add the Matter Bridge Repository

In Home Assistant, go to:

Settings → Add-ons → Add-on Store → Three-dot menu (top right) → Repositories

Paste the following URL and click Add:

https://github.com/t0bst4r/home-assistant-addons

Then search for Matter Server (Bridge) and install it.

2. Start the Add-on and Get the QR Code

Start the add-on
Open the web UI
The first time you need to click on ‘Create New Bridge” and give your new hub a name, like ‘Matter Hub’
This is also a good time to select which entities you want to expose. It is recommend to select the devices you want to expose through labels. In the Include section, click add and :
- select ‘label’ for type
- enter the label you want to use to select your devices, eg this could be “google_expose_matter’.
- Hit the save button

3. Choose Which Devices to Expose (with Labels)

You’re in full control. Use labels in Home Assistant to define which devices should be visible to Google Home:

Go to Settings → Devices & Services → Entities
Select the entities you want to expose (lights, sensors, switches…)
Click Edit → Manage Labels
Add a label like: google_expose_matter

Note that an entity can have multiple labels, the label we assign here is just to tell the matter hub which entities to expose to google home.

That’s it! The Matter Bridge will automatically pick up all entities with this label.

4. Add the Bridge to Google Home

Now it’s time to link the bridge to Google Home:

Open the Google Home app
Tap + → Set up device → New device
Choose “Works with Matter” (scroll to the bottom)
Select “Set up without manufacturer”
Go to the Matter Hub UI and click on the small QR logo
This will reveal the big QR code, as well as all entities that have been exposed through the matter protocol
Scan the QR code from the Matter Bridge UI in Home Assistant

Google Home will now detect your devices and pull them in as native Matter accessories!

5. Organize Devices in Google Home

Once added, you can:

Assign them to rooms
Rename them for voice recognition (e.g., “Kitchen Light” instead of “light.kitchen_ceiling”)
Start controlling them instantly — fully local, no cloud in sight!

🗣️ What You Can Do With Voice Commands

Once integrated, you can ask Google:

“Hey Google, turn on the living room light”
“What’s the temperature in the bedroom?”
“Is the door sensor open?”
“Activate the Movie scene”

And the response is instant, because it’s all local!

⚠️ Important: You Need a Local Matter Hub

Only specific Google devices support Matter:

Device	Matter Support
✅ Nest Hub (2nd Gen)	✔️ Yes
✅ Nest Hub Max	✔️ Yes
❌ Nest Mini / Speakers	❌ No
❌ Nest Hub (1st Gen)	❌ No

Make sure you have at least one supported device linked to your Google Home account.

💡 Pro Tips

Rename entities in Home Assistant to something voice-friendly
Expose groups or scenes for easy room-wide control
Use labels to dynamically manage what’s visible to Google

✅ Final Thoughts

This integration is a major leap forward for DIY smart homes:

It’s simple to set up
It’s fast and fully local
It works with everything you already built in Home Assistant

You get the power and flexibility of Home Assistant, combined with the ease and voice power of Google Home.

Voice control. Automation. Monitoring. All local. All yours.