Simplifying Home Assistant Dashboard Casting to Google Nest Hubs#
Back in 2022, I shared how I used Cast All The Things (CATT) to display Home Assistant Lovelace dashboards on my Google Nest Hub 2nd gen. At the time, the setup was admittedly complex relying on Node-RED to SSH into a virtual machine and trigger bash scripts.
That approach served me well for a few years, but I’ve since streamlined the process significantly. With the help of two excellent tools, ha-catt-fix and the ryanbarrett/catt-chromecast container I have eliminated the need for Node-RED and the custom scripts entirely.
ha-catt-fix: Solving the Recast Problem#
One of the main challenges with casting dashboards to Nest Hubs is the need to recast every 10 minutes, which I previously handled via Node-RED automations. Now, thanks to ha-catt-fix, that issue is resolved. Once installed and configured, it automatically takes care of keeping the cast alive with no extra logic required.
Casting with ryanbarrett/catt-chromecast#
Casting with the ryanbarrett/catt-chromecast container is straightforward. The only customization needed is the command that runs on container start up.
I use the following:
'sh' '-c' 'catt -d [Google Nest IP] cast_site [Lovelace URL]'
I run one container per Nest Hub, which allows me to target different dashboards for each device depending on its location or use case.
The rest of my Home Assistant setup remains unchanged. If you need a refresher, check out the Preparing Home Assistant section from the original post.