Matter Smart Bulbs in Home Assistant: Beginner Setup
Matter pairing is designed to make smart-home devices easier to add. In this beginner walkthrough we add Matter-over-Wi-Fi bulbs to Home Assistant, organise them and create a group so two bulbs behave as one light.
1. Start from the Home Assistant app
Go to Settings → Devices & services → Add integration and choose to add a Matter device. For a new bulb, tell Home Assistant that the device is new.
2. Scan the Matter QR code
Find the Matter QR code supplied with the bulb and scan it with the phone running the Home Assistant app. Keep the code somewhere safe after setup; do not assume the cardboard box will survive forever.
3. Power the device
Fit the bulb and switch it on. The phone may need Bluetooth during commissioning, and for Matter over Wi-Fi it must also be able to connect the device to the appropriate Wi-Fi network.
4. Name it and assign an area
Once commissioning completes, give the bulb a human-friendly name and put it in the correct Home Assistant area.
5. Repeat for the other bulbs
Commission each bulb separately. Test individual control before building automations or groups.
6. Create a light group
Go to Settings → Devices & services → Helpers → Create helper, choose a Group helper and then a Light group. Add the bulbs to the group. Home Assistant can now expose one logical light while still retaining the individual entities.
Matter over Wi-Fi versus Matter over Thread
Matter is the application standard; Wi-Fi and Thread are different ways of carrying the traffic. Matter-over-Wi-Fi uses your existing Wi-Fi network. Matter-over-Thread uses a Thread mesh and requires the appropriate Thread infrastructure such as a border router.