Home Assistant Guide

1. Install Alarmo & Alarmo Card (HACS)

1. Open HACS, search "Alarmo", click Download, then restart Home Assistant.
2. Add the integration: Settings → Devices & Services → Add Integration → Alarmo.
3. (Optional) Install the Alarmo Card from HACS, reload your browser, then edit your dashboard and add the card – pick alarm_control_panel.alarmo as the entity.

2. General Tab

2.1 Global Options

• Disarm after triggering – automatically returns to disarmed instead of armed after an alarm trip. Leave off unless you have a specific reason.
• Ignore blocking sensors when re-arming – lets you re-arm even if a sensor is still open. Useful for "bypass" scenarios.
• Enable MQTT – exposes the panel via the MQTT protocol (a lightweight "publish/subscribe" messaging system often used by IoT devices). Beginners can keep this off unless they already use an MQTT broker.

2.2 Arm Modes & Delays

Alarmo comes with six modes: away, home, night, vacation, custom bypass, disarmed. Only away and home are enabled by default.

Tip – keep night mode disabled until you're ready to fine-tune which sensors stay active while you sleep.

3. Sensors Tab

3.1 Add or Remove Sensors

1. Scroll down to Add Sensors. Select any sensors you wish to include (you can later choose which modes to attach these sensors to) and click "Add to Alarm".
2. In the "Currently Configured Sensors" section, you can view all sensors you've added and enable or disable them. You can also see which mode(s) they are attached to.
3. Click on a sensor to edit it. Here you can select the device type (e.g. Door sensor, Motion sensor), and which mode(s) to attach it to. Most of the time, if Alarmo knows the type of device, it will pre-set sensible values, but if necessary you can change them.
4. You will also see options to add the device to a group - this is covered in detail below, and is a useful feature, but you don't need to set it up straight away. Several "Advanced Settings" are also present, these are also covered below but not necessary to worry about for now..
5. Toggle Enabled to temporarily exclude a sensor without deleting it.

3.2 Advanced Sensor Settings (optional)

• Use exit delay – keep a door usable while leaving.
• Use entry delay – first sensor that starts the entry timer.
• Open initially – ignore a door that's already open when arming (handy for windows). Beginners normally leave this off.
• Trigger when unavailable – rare; flags a sensor that drops offline.

3.3 Sensor Groups for False-Alarm Filtering (Optional)

A sensor group in Alarmo lets you combine multiple sensors - like two motion detectors or a door and window sensor - and set both a time span (for example, 5 minutes) and a count (the number of different sensors that need to trigger) so that the alarm will only go off if enough sensors activate within that time; this greatly reduces false alarms from just one sensor going off by mistake. You can set this up easily in the Alarmo UI by going to Sensors, selecting a sensor, choosing a group selecting "Setup Groups", picking which sensors are included, setting the count and time window, and saving - no coding needed.

4. Codes & User Management

4.1 Global Code Rules

• Require code for arming / disarming / switching mode – toggle as desired.
• Code format – pick Pincode (digits only) or Password (full keyboard). If you intend to use this as your home's alarm system, choose a secure PIN or password that cannot be easily guessed.

4.2 Users

Select New User (or click a user) to set:

• Name – friendly label.
• Current code – leave blank to keep existing code.
• Allow code for arming / disarming – gives the user's code these permissions. For example, you might want someone like a guest or cleaner to be able to arm, but not disarm.
• Override code – forces arming even if sensors are open. Use sparingly.

5. Actions Tab

5.1 Notifications

Click New Notification to send a push or actionable notification via the HA companion app. You can template messages to include the triggering sensor ({{ trigger.to_state.attributes.friendly_name }}). Action buttons ("Disarm", "Call Police") are supported.

5.2 Actions

Use New Action to switch lights, sirens or scripts when the alarm changes state ( arming, pending, triggered, etc. ). Typical uses: flash bulbs red, play a TTS announcement, or unlock doors when disarmed.

6. Next Steps & Troubleshooting

• Test each mode thoroughly before relying on it.
• If your siren keeps firing on a single motion blip, tighten sensor groups or shorten trigger time.
• Need external app control? Enable MQTT and subscribe to alarmo/<area>/state. Beginners can safely ignore this.
• For advanced automations, monitor alarm_control_panel.alarmo state changes in automations.

Keep your devices' firmware & Alarmo up-to-date in HACS to benefit from new features and bug fixes.