This really needs to run locally for me to even bother. I'd rather just go get a new thermostat with proper local support instead and be done with this nonsense
this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2025
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That's what HA is all about, so, yeah, that's the goal
Yeah. Self-hosted option, or I'm not going to even bother.
Definitely very cool.
It is odd that they went to a “different” cloud instead of making it full local. It seems like that would be more work. Local control of iot is critical.
But I wonder if they dumped the firmware, edited the URLs, and reverse engineered the google API, and made their own.
That's exactly what they did.
The custom firmware flashes the device with modified bootloader and kernel components that redirect all network traffic from the original Nest/Google servers to a server we specify. This server hosts a reverse-engineered replica of their API, allowing the thermostat to function independently while giving you complete control over your device data and settings.
By intercepting the communication layer, the thermostat believes it's communicating with the official Nest infrastructure, but instead connects to the NoLongerEvil platform. This approach ensures full compatibility with the device's existing software while breaking free from Google's cloud dependency
Well look at you reading TFA! (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞
That’s why the source is locked down. It’s a copyright grey area and IANAL but - good luck!
Maybe the next step would be to have that replica API run on HA or another module and redirect the traffic locally instead.
Fairly certain that’s the entire idea already.
I looked through the GitHub details and it talks about connecting the thermostat via USB to flash it. I really only have Chromebooks at home and I'm not sure how well that would work on Linux container.
https://github.com/codykociemba/NoLongerEvil-Thermostat]
Should be a way to work around that.
you should be able to give a container access to the usb.
There is also iMike78/nest-mini-drop-in-pcb which - although through putting in a new board - will hopefully make the Nest Mini speaker HA Voice compatible.
That is really cool. I've always liked the design of the nest