The TP-Link integration in Home Assistant now uses python-kasa 0.12.0, the library that talks to Kasa and Tapo devices on the local network. Teemu R. (rytilahti), who also wrote the library's HomeKit fix, opened the pull request, and Shay Levy (thecode) merged it into the development branch on 25 October 2026. The bump closes five Home Assistant issues, four of them opened this month.

What it fixes

The most visible problem came from legacy Kasa plugs. Python-kasa had started asking iot devices for HomeKit setup information in every regular update. Some older plugs could not answer that request and timed out each time. Issue #185971 describes a KP100 (hardware 3.0, firmware 1.0.1) losing connection after an upgrade to Home Assistant 2026.10.1, with 2026.9.4 still working. The new release removes HomeKit from the default update cycle. The integration does not use the HomeKit module anyway.

Two more fixes target Tapo cameras and the H200 hub:

  • After a timeout, smartcam devices now keep using multi requests. Before, cameras such as the Tapo C200 and H200 hubs kept failing with error -40210 (PROTOCOL_FORMAT_ERROR) until the config entry was reloaded (#186172).
  • Hub child devices are kept even when the child component list is missing from a response, which matches #186473, where H200 child devices disappeared until the integration was reconfigured.

The release also extends the default SSL ciphers with legacy suites and uses them in the SSL transport. The pull request also closes #186951, where a Tapo C110 became unavailable with a "Bad status line" error after a successful handshake. Finally, unknown legacy device types such as IOT.IPCAMERA now raise UnsupportedDeviceError instead of an uncaught KeyError during discovery, which closes #138866 from February 2025.

New device fixtures

Python-kasa 0.12.0 adds test fixtures for the TD21(EU) and the P116M(IN). It also adds a Device.supports_module() API, so code can check whether a device supports a module such as HomeKit without querying it on every update.

When it arrives

The pull request has no milestone. The change is in the dev branch, which becomes Home Assistant 2026.11 in early November. Anyone hit by these dropouts on 2026.10 can watch the linked issues or test the beta when it is published.