The matter.js-based Matter Server, the controller behind the Matter integration in Home Assistant, reached version 1.5.0 on 20 October 2026. It moves to matter.js 0.18.0, which brings support for Matter 1.6.1, and adds a proper camera API with two-way audio. Home Assistant users do not get it automatically yet: the stable Matter Server app (9.2.0) still bundles server 1.4.0.

Cameras get their own API

Until now a client such as Home Assistant had to drive Matter cameras through raw cluster commands. Version 1.5.0 introduces WebSocket schema 14, which is backward compatible, and with it a camera API in which the server itself manages streams and WebRTC sessions. The old commands keep working.

The new part that users will notice is talkback. A stream started with talkback: true sends the client's audio to the camera, while without that flag the server keeps the outgoing audio muted. The server's own dashboard already uses the new API and can talk back to cameras that support two-way audio. The browser only gives the page microphone access over HTTPS or on localhost, so a plain HTTP address on the local network will not do. Camera failures now come with their own error codes, 102 to 106.

Vendor clusters for IKEA, Aqara and Heiman

Some device features live outside the Matter specification, in manufacturer clusters. The release adds definitions for:

  • IKEA's ValveCalibration cluster for its radiator thermostats, with a dashboard panel to run the calibration;
  • the three Aqara Spatial Multi-Sensor FP400 clusters, covering detection zones, radar settings and a target position event, plus a fix that sends zone data to the sensor as bytes instead of strings;
  • an LED switch and a siren command in the Heiman cluster;
  • blind type and manual mode attributes for WAGO Home Blind Control.

Older Eve Energy plugs, which do not support subscriptions for their custom attributes, get a --custom-cluster-poll-interval option. It keeps the old 60 second default and accepts 60 to 86,400 seconds.

Devices go offline sooner

The 3-minute grace period after a lost connection is gone. A node is now reported unavailable as soon as matter.js gives up on reaching it. Automations that react to a device going offline will therefore fire earlier.

The Thread network view uses the Thread 1.4 role names: a router appears as "Mesh Extender", a REED as "Standby Mesh Extender". When the server opens a commissioning window to share a device with another platform, it now also returns the discriminator, vendor ID, product ID and timeout, so the client does not have to decode a QR code. The door lock panel can create expiring PIN users, and Door Lock PIN fields are no longer written to debug logs.

How to try it

The Matter Server app has a Beta option that installs the latest matter-server from npm at startup, and a matter_server_version option that pins a specific version. If the npm install fails, the app logs a warning and starts the bundled server. Matter Alpha notes that most of the new features still need matching work in Home Assistant Core before they show up outside the server's own dashboard.