I use Node-RED to do home automation with Home Assistant, and I like it. As others have mentioned, it's easier to do than YAML automations - especially because you can throw in a JS "function node" when you need to just write a few lines.
Something I wish they'd get to is looping support. It's unusual that you need a third party extension to do a for-loop. Fingers crossed this can make its way into NR proper in a future release.
> Something I wish they'd get to is looping support. It's unusual that you need a third party extension to do a for-loop.
Out of curiosity, what do you need a for loop for?
I've so far only created a single loop: it randomly changes the colors of a couple lights in my office.
This uses a delay component and a switch (controllable from Home Assistant) called "office_lights_cycle". The switch both initially triggers and breaks the loop. When executed, it picks a random color for one light, sets the other to a complementary hue 90° away, sets them with a transition time of 300s (very slow fade), and the loop triggers again a few minutes later.
How are you integrating Node-RED into Home Assistant? How does Home Assistant talk to Node-RED? I recently set up Home Assistant (love it) and an MQTT broker for some sensors and I can think of many ways in which Node-RED could also be involved but don't know which is considered canonical.
Not GP, but I just expose node-red flows via http and hit those from hass. There's probably a more elegant way, but having them communicate via http also lets me hit the flows via flic buttons or Apple Shortcuts without having to go through hass (which I never let see the public internet).
Something I wish they'd get to is looping support. It's unusual that you need a third party extension to do a for-loop. Fingers crossed this can make its way into NR proper in a future release.