The HA-MCP project provides a standalone Model Context Protocol server that gives AI agents comprehensive control over Home Assistant, extending far beyond the built-in MCP integration's Assist-pipeline-limited scope. The recommended deployment is the HA-MCP custom component (v9.0.0+), installed via HACS or the native Marketplace (Home Assistant 2026.11+), which runs the full server in-process across all installation types (OS, Supervised, Container, Core) with feature parity. Setup requires an administrator long-lived access token or a dedicated service account, then configuring client connectivity via Remote access (webhook URL through Nabu Casa or reverse proxy at https://<domain>/api/webhook/<id>) and/or Local network direct access (http://<ip>:9584/private_<random>). The server exposes 87 tools across categories including automation/script/scene/dashboard management, entity/device/area registry control, backup/restore, HACS, file/YAML editing (beta, behind ENABLE_BETA_FEATURES), Z-Wave/Matter radio management, and safety features like Read Only Mode, per-tool enable/disable, and automatic edit backups. Template helper backups capture persisted options and stable config-entry identities; restores verify options and refuse collisions. For models lacking deferred tool loading (Claude Haiku, Gemini, local LLMs, GitHub Copilot CLI), ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH=true replaces the full catalog with a BM25 search interface (ha_search_tools, ha_call_read_tool, ha_call_write_tool, ha_call_delete_tool) plus pinned tools, reducing idle context. Alternative installs include the Home Assistant App (add-on) for OS/Supervised, Docker (ghcr.io/homeassistant-ai/ha-mcp), uvx/PyPI HTTP server, and stdio (discouraged due to transport issues #1713). Remote access options cover Nabu Casa webhook proxy, OpenAI Tunnel for ChatGPT/Codex behind firewalls, and OIDC authentication. The project also bundles Home Assistant Agent Skills via skill:// resources and ha_get_skill_guide for domain best practices.