Anima

Anima is a local brain for a Xiaomi smart home. Instead of writing rigid "if motion, then light" rules, you run an LLM agent that figures out what your devices are and decides what to do based on context and learned habits. Apache-2.0 licensed and self-hosted, you bring your own LLM API key.

Setup is real work. You need the Python and Node stack running, an MQTT broker, an LLM key, and physical Xiaomi or MIoT hardware with the device tokens and local IPs sorted out. Once running, it discovers devices, plans actions through the LLM, and keeps an evidence-based memory of your preferences over time. There's a React dashboard and a full REST API.

The obvious comparison is Home Assistant, which is more mature, hardware-agnostic, and has years of community behind it. Anima's bet is that an LLM agent beats hand-written automations. If you're deep in Xiaomi gear and like living on the edge, try it. Everyone else: Home Assistant, possibly with an LLM layer bolted on.

The catch: it's days old, Xiaomi-only, and self-described as early-stage. The cloud login handles discovery, but actual control still needs each device reachable by local IP and token. Promising direction, very green.