PurpleAir
purpleair
PurpleAir makes sensors that measure hyper-local air quality data and share it with the public.
In Apple Home through HomeKit Bridge
What HomeKit Bridge makes of each kind of entity this integration creates, read from its source code. A device only gets the ones that apply to it.
| Entity | Shows up as | Note |
|---|---|---|
sensor | Sensor (PM10, PM2.5, humidity, temperature) |
What people report
PurpleAir uses the cloud API with a key; private sensors cannot be added, though sensors expose a local /json API usable via REST.
- Partly works1
- Won’t be supported1
| Device | In Home Assistant | In Apple Home | What they said | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PurpleAir sensor local JSON API | Partly works Local | Local /json endpoint usable only through REST integration, not this oneSaved copyThe problem I’m trying to integrate a PurpleAir sensors into Home Assistant. Adding the integration, when I enter the required API key and select my location I get a red error message: Unexpected error. Looking in the logs, I get "2023-05-24 09:09:30.326 ERROR (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.purpleair] PurpleAir error while getting nearby sensors: Error while querying https://api.purpleair.com/v1/sensors?fields=name,latitude,longitude&nwlat=45.44641602476684&nwlng=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx&selat=xxxxxxxxxxxxxx&selng=-xxxxxxxxxxxxxx: Payment is required to make this api call." Is there a way to … Excerpt saved from GitHub on 2026-10-23. | Issue #93663 · 2023-05 | |
| PurpleAir private sensor | Won’t be supported Cloud | Sensor must be public on the map to be found via API keySaved copyUpdate: I transferred some pints to my PurpleAir Project, and sure enough, now I'm getting a list of sensors. Too bad my sensor is not on the list. I then remember that during sensor registration with PurpleAir, I chose my sensor to be private. I guess private sensors do not show up on that list, I assumed. I re-registered my sensor as public, and tried again. Same thing, my sensor is still not on list. I broadened the search radius to 100km, same thing, my sensor is not showing up. Checked to see if my sensor is showing up on PurpleAir's public map, yup sure enough, it's there. I'm going to … Excerpt saved from GitHub on 2026-10-23. | Issue #93663 · 2023-05 |
Gathered from GitHub issues, pull requests, discussions and docs, and from r/homeassistant. These are individual reports, so check the linked thread and the date before you buy.
How it connects
Cloud polling
Goes through the maker’s cloud, asking it for updates every so often. Needs the internet and an account.
Details
| Installs (analytics) | 245 (0.03%) |
|---|---|
| Added in | Home Assistant 2023.1 |
| Set up in the UI | Yes |
| Maintainers | @bachya |
In ReReHome
Whatever HomeKit Bridge shares reaches Apple Home as normal HomeKit accessories behind your Home Assistant bridge, so ReReHome shows and controls them like any other.
Bridges get their own settings page listing the accessories behind them.
