SmartRent MCP
An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that lets Claude control your SmartRent smart home devices — locks, thermostat, light switches, and sensors — through natural conversation.
You: "Turn off the kitchen lights and lock the front door"
Claude: "Kitchen turned off. Front Door - Lock is now locked."
Table of Contents
Requirements
- A SmartRent account with devices already set up in the SmartRent app (this only works if your building/home uses SmartRent hardware — front door locks, thermostats, switches, or sensors)
- Python 3.10+
- Either
uv or pip — you likely already have one of these
Installation
Option A — using uv (recommended, no separate install step)
If you don't have uv yet, install it once:
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"
That's it — uvx will download and run the package automatically the first time Claude needs it. No manual install command required.
Option B — using plain pip
pip install smartrent-mcp
Setup — Claude Desktop
1. Open your Claude Desktop config file
- Mac:
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
- Windows:
%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
2. Add the server entry
If you installed via uv (Option A):
{
"mcpServers": {
"smartrent-mcp": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["smartrent-mcp"],
"env": {
"SMARTRENT_EMAIL": "your_smartrent_email",
"SMARTRENT_PASSWORD": "your_smartrent_password"
}
}
}
}
If you installed via pip (Option B):
{
"mcpServers": {
"smartrent-mcp": {
"command": "smartrent-mcp",
"env": {
"SMARTRENT_EMAIL": "your_smartrent_email",
"SMARTRENT_PASSWORD": "your_smartrent_password"
}
}
}
}
If you already have other servers under "mcpServers", just add "smartrent-mcp" as another entry — don't replace the existing ones.
3. Restart Claude Desktop
Fully quit the app (Cmd+Q on Mac, or right-click the tray icon and Quit on Windows) and reopen it. Closing the window alone is not enough.
4. Try it
Ask Claude:
- "What's the status of my home?"
- "Turn on the kitchen lights"
- "Lock the front door"
- "Set temperature to 72 cool mode"
Setup — Claude Web
Claude Web only connects to remote MCP servers over a URL — it cannot run local commands like uvx. To use this server with Claude Web, you need to self-host a remote instance. See Self-Hosting below, then add your deployed URL in Claude Web → Settings → MCP Servers.
| Tool | Description | Parameters |
|---|
ping | Test that the server is alive | none |
get_device_status | Read the status of all devices — locks, thermostat, switches, sensors | none |
switch_control | Turn a light switch on or off | name (e.g. "kitchen"), action ("on" / "off") |
lock_door | Lock or unlock the front door | action ("lock" / "unlock") |
set_temperature | Set thermostat temperature, mode, and unit | temperature (int), mode ("cool" / "heat" / "auto" / "off", default "cool"), unit ("F" / "C", default "F") |
Device matching is partial and case-insensitive — "dining" will match a switch named "Dining Room".
Self-Hosting (Remote / SSE mode)
By default this package runs in stdio mode for local use with Claude Desktop. To run it as a remote, always-on server (for Claude Web or shared use), set the TRANSPORT environment variable:
TRANSPORT=sse SMARTRENT_EMAIL=you@example.com SMARTRENT_PASSWORD=yourpassword smartrent-mcp
This starts an HTTP/SSE server (default port 8000, override with PORT). Deploy it anywhere that runs Python — Railway, Render, Fly.io, etc. — with these environment variables set:
| Variable | Required | Description |
|---|
SMARTRENT_EMAIL | Yes | Your SmartRent account email |
SMARTRENT_PASSWORD | Yes | Your SmartRent account password |
TRANSPORT | No | stdio (default) or sse |
PORT | No | Port to listen on in sse mode (default 8000) |
Once deployed, connect to it at https://your-deployment-url/sse.
Troubleshooting
"Invalid Host header" or connection refused on a remote deployment
The server disables DNS rebinding protection by default to support remote access. If you've changed this, make sure TransportSecuritySettings(enable_dns_rebinding_protection=False) is set in server.py.
Claude Desktop doesn't show any tools
Make sure you fully quit and restarted the app (not just closed the window). Check the MCP logs:
- Mac:
~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp-server-smartrent-mcp.log
- Windows:
%APPDATA%\Claude\logs\mcp-server-smartrent-mcp.log
"Username or password was wrong"
Verify your SmartRent credentials work by logging into the SmartRent mobile app with the same email/password.
"No switch/lock/thermostat found on this account"
Your SmartRent account needs the corresponding device type already set up in the SmartRent app.
Security
Your SmartRent credentials are passed as environment variables directly to the server process and are never sent anywhere except SmartRent's own login API. They are not logged or stored by this package.
If you're self-hosting in sse mode, anyone with your server's URL can control your home — there is currently no authentication layer on remote mode. Keep your deployment URL private, or restrict network access to it.
Built With
License
MIT