Nest Cameras + Home Assistant

1. Supported Cameras

All current-generation Google Nest cameras and doorbells work through the SDM (Smart Device Management) API:

Indoor Cameras

• Nest Cam (indoor, wired): Motion and person detection events, live stream, battery N/A
• Nest Cam (indoor, battery): Same as wired plus battery level sensor

Outdoor Cameras

• Nest Cam (outdoor, wired): Motion, person, and vehicle detection events, live stream
• Nest Cam (outdoor, battery): Same as wired plus battery level sensor. Note: battery cameras only stream for limited periods to preserve battery.
• Nest Cam with Floodlight: Camera events plus floodlight entity (on/off)

Doorbells

• Nest Doorbell (wired, 2nd gen): Motion, person, and doorbell press events, live stream
• Nest Doorbell (battery): Same events plus battery sensor. Limited streaming duration.

2. Prerequisites

The Nest camera setup is the most complex of any Home Assistant integration. You'll need:

• Google account linked to your Nest devices in the Google Home app
• Google Cloud account (free tier is sufficient)
• $5 one-time fee for Google Device Access Console registration
• Home Assistant accessible via HTTPS (required for OAuth callback)

3. Integration Setup

This setup involves three platforms: Google Cloud Console, Google Device Access Console, and Home Assistant. Allow 20-30 minutes for the full process.

Step 1: Create a Google Cloud Project

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project (name it something like "Home Assistant")
3. Enable the Smart Device Management API
4. Enable the Cloud Pub/Sub API

Step 2: Configure OAuth Consent Screen

1. Go to APIs & Services → OAuth consent screen
2. Select External user type
3. Fill in the required fields (app name, support email)
4. Add the scope: https://www.googleapis.com/auth/sdm.service
5. Add your Google account as a test user

Step 3: Create OAuth Credentials

1. Go to APIs & Services → Credentials
2. Create an OAuth 2.0 Client ID (Web application)
3. Add authorized redirect URI: https://my.home-assistant.io/redirect/oauth
4. Note down the Client ID and Client Secret

Step 4: Register with Device Access Console

1. Go to Device Access Console
2. Pay the one-time $5 registration fee
3. Create a new project
4. Enter your OAuth Client ID from Step 3
5. Enable events (Pub/Sub) and note the Project ID

Step 5: Set Up Pub/Sub

Pub/Sub delivers real-time events (motion, person, doorbell press) to Home Assistant:

1. In Google Cloud Console, go to Pub/Sub → Subscriptions
2. The Device Access Console should have created a topic automatically
3. Create a pull subscription linked to that topic
4. Note the subscription ID

Step 6: Add to Home Assistant

1. Go to Settings → Devices & Services
2. Click + Add Integration → Nest
3. Enter your Device Access Project ID
4. Follow the OAuth flow to authorize with your Google account
5. Select which Nest devices to include

4. Available Entities

After successful setup, each camera creates the following entities:

Camera Entities

• Live stream: 720p video feed viewable in HA dashboards
• Event image: Snapshot from the most recent event (motion, person, etc.)

Event Entities

• Motion: Fires when any motion is detected in the camera's field of view
• Person: Fires when a person is specifically identified (uses Google's on-device ML)
• Sound: Fires on significant sound events (indoor cameras)
• Doorbell press: Fires when someone presses the doorbell button (doorbell models only)

Sensor Entities

• Battery level: Current charge percentage (battery models only)

What You Won't Get

• Full-resolution streams (capped at 720p)
• Two-way audio (not supported through SDM API)
• Continuous recording to local storage
• Familiar face identification (Nest Aware feature, not exposed via API)
• Activity zones (configured in Google Home app, but events in HA are not zone-filtered)

5. Limitations

Resolution Cap

Google's SDM API caps camera streams at 720p. Your Nest camera may record at 1080p or higher to Google's cloud, but Home Assistant only receives the downscaled stream. This is a deliberate API limitation, not a bug.

Event Clips Only

Home Assistant receives 5-minute event clips triggered by motion, person, or sound detection. There is no way to access continuous video recording through the SDM API. For 24/7 recording, you must use Nest Aware through the Google Home app.

Cloud Dependency

Every aspect of the integration depends on Google's cloud infrastructure:

• OAuth tokens must be refreshed periodically
• Camera streams are proxied through Google's servers
• Events arrive via Google Pub/Sub
• If Google's services are down, you lose all camera access through HA

Battery Camera Limitations

Battery-powered Nest cameras and doorbells have additional restrictions. Live streams are limited to a few minutes at a time to preserve battery. Frequent streaming through HA dashboards will significantly reduce battery life. The camera may take 10-30 seconds to "wake up" for a live stream request.

6. Automation Ideas

Person Detected at Front Door

automation:
  - alias: "Front door person alert"
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: event.front_door_camera_person
    action:
      - service: notify.mobile_app
        data:
          title: "Front Door"
          message: "Person detected at the front door"
          data:
            image: /api/camera_proxy/camera.front_door_event_image

Doorbell Press Notification with Snapshot

automation:
  - alias: "Doorbell notification"
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: event.front_doorbell_chime
    action:
      - service: notify.mobile_app
        data:
          title: "Doorbell"
          message: "Someone is at the front door"
          data:
            image: /api/camera_proxy/camera.front_doorbell_event_image
      - service: light.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: light.porch_lights

Turn on Lights When Outdoor Motion Detected at Night

automation:
  - alias: "Outdoor camera motion lights"
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: event.backyard_camera_motion
    condition:
      - condition: sun
        after: sunset
        before: sunrise
    action:
      - service: light.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: light.backyard_flood
        data:
          brightness_pct: 100
      - delay: "00:05:00"
      - service: light.turn_off
        target:
          entity_id: light.backyard_flood

Battery Low Alert

automation:
  - alias: "Nest camera low battery"
    trigger:
      - platform: numeric_state
        entity_id: sensor.outdoor_camera_battery
        below: 20
    action:
      - service: notify.mobile_app
        data:
          title: "Camera Battery"
          message: "Outdoor Nest camera battery at {{ states('sensor.outdoor_camera_battery') }} %"

7. Better Alternatives

For Home Assistant users, locally-controlled cameras provide a dramatically better experience:

If you already own Nest cameras and want them in Home Assistant, this guide gets you there. But for new purchases, the effort-to-reward ratio heavily favors local camera systems. See our Local vs Cloud Cameras comparison for a detailed breakdown.

8. Troubleshooting

OAuth Authorization Failed

• Verify the redirect URI in Google Cloud Console matches exactly: https://my.home-assistant.io/redirect/oauth
• Ensure your Google account is added as a test user in the OAuth consent screen (app is in testing mode)
• Check that the SDM API is enabled in your Google Cloud project

Camera Events Not Arriving

• Verify Pub/Sub subscription is active in Google Cloud Console
• Check that the Pub/Sub topic matches your Device Access project
• If events stopped after January 2025, recreate the Pub/Sub subscription per the updated API requirements
• Check Home Assistant logs for Pub/Sub connection errors

Live Stream Not Loading

• Camera streams expire after a timeout period. Refresh the dashboard to generate a new stream URL.
• Battery cameras may need to "wake up" (10-30 seconds)
• Check that your Home Assistant instance has outbound internet access to Google's media servers

Devices Not Appearing After Setup

• Make sure your Nest devices are linked to the same Google account you authorized
• Devices must be set up in the Google Home app (not the legacy Nest app)
• Try removing and re-adding the integration

9. Sources

This guide was compiled from official documentation:

• Home Assistant Nest Integration (official docs)
• Google Device Access API

Last verified: 2026-03-20 against Home Assistant 2026.1. If you find outdated information, let us know.