Home Assistant's Matter Server 1.5: Camera Talkback, Aqara FP400 Zones, and What You Can Use Today

The piece of software that actually runs Matter inside Home Assistant isn't Home Assistant. It's the OHF Matter Server, built on matter.js, and it ships on its own schedule. Version 1.5.0 landed on GitHub on October 20, followed by 1.5.1 and 1.5.2 the next day.

The changelog is long and good. The catch is that most of it is plumbing. The server can do new things before Home Assistant has any buttons for them. So I sorted the release into three piles: what changed, what you can use now, and what's waiting.

Can you even get it yet?

Not on the stable channel, as far as I can tell. The Matter Server app's own changelog tops out at version 9.2.0, which moved the server from 1.3.3 to 1.4.0. Matter Alpha, which covered the release, calls 1.5.0 a beta and says you can enroll by turning on the beta option in the Matter Server settings. GitHub marks 1.5.0 through 1.5.2 as full releases of the server itself. Both can be true: the server project is done with it, Home Assistant's packaging hasn't shipped it to everyone.

My advice is boring. Unless you want one of the specific features below badly, wait for the stable app update. Matter is what runs your lights. Beta-testing the thing that runs your lights is a hobby, not a requirement.

One specific note if you're thinking about jumping early: 1.5.1 fixed a migration bug. Per the changelog, "Migration from the Python Matter Server keeps the Python controller fabric, so the migrated nodes are available." If you're still coming off the old Python server, don't migrate on 1.5.0. Use 1.5.1 or later.

What's in 1.5

Matter 1.6.1 support. The server moves to matter.js 0.18.0, which "Adds support for Matter 1.6.1 (including Python client)." Matter Alpha says the big thing this sets up is Groupcast, real multicast group commands. Today, Home Assistant sends group commands one device at a time, which is where the "popcorn effect" comes from, lights in a room turning off in a ragged sequence. Matter Alpha describes 1.5 as laying "the protocol-level foundation" for fixing that. Foundation is the key word. Nothing in the changelog says your groups stop popcorning today.

A real camera API with two-way audio. A new WebSocket schema (version 14) adds a camera API that "handles stream management and WebRTC sessions for the client." Talkback is explicit: camera_start_stream only plays the client's audio when you pass talkback: true. In the server's own dashboard, the camera view "Talks back to cameras that support two-way audio." Matter Alpha names the Aqara Camera Hub G350 as one such camera. One gotcha, same one that trips up every browser mic: it "needs HTTPS or localhost for the microphone."

Aqara FP400 zones and positions. The server now knows the FP400 Spatial Multi-Sensor's three vendor clusters, including detection zones and "the target position event." That's the stuff that makes a radar presence sensor worth the money, and it was previously stuck in Aqara's app. There's also a fix so zone configuration bytes actually reach the sensor as bytes.

IKEA radiator valve calibration. The IKEA ValveCalibration vendor cluster is in, with a panel in the server dashboard. Matter Alpha's summary: you can calibrate compatible IKEA radiator valves "without an IKEA hub."

Faster offline detection. The old 3-minute grace period after a device drops off is gone. A node now shows unavailable as soon as matter.js gives up on reaching it. Automations that react to "device unavailable" will fire sooner. If you had any that relied on that delay to ride out short blips, check them.

Sharing to other ecosystems got easier for apps. open_commissioning_window now also returns the discriminator, vendor ID, product ID and timeout, "so clients can hand the data to another ecosystem without decoding the QR code." If you share Matter devices from Home Assistant to Apple Home or Google Home, this is the kind of change that should eventually make that flow less fiddly.

Thread names you'll actually understand. The dashboard's network view now uses Thread 1.4 role names: a Router is a "Mesh Extender," a REED is a "Standby Mesh Extender," and outside devices are "Always-on device." Same mesh, friendlier labels.

Security knobs for people who want them. New flags let you load device attestation revocation sets (the server "refuses devices whose certificates they list"), import a vendor's own PAA certificates, and run with --dcl-offline so the server "never contacts the DCL." When attestation rejects a device, the error now says why. These are niche, but they're the right kind of niche. They're about the server deciding whether a device is genuine.

What you can use now vs. what waits

Here's the honest split, based on the changelog and Matter Alpha's own line that "Most of the new features still require works in Home Assistant Core to be more accessible."

Usable in the Matter Server dashboard once you're on 1.5: camera talkback in the dashboard's camera view, IKEA valve calibration panel, the Door Lock panel's new expiring guest PINs, a pile of new command panels (robot vacuums, ovens, water heaters, EV chargers, media players and more), the Thread role names.
Changes you'll feel without doing anything: faster unavailable status, the migration fix, attestation errors that explain themselves.
Waiting on Home Assistant Core: Groupcast-style group control, FP400 zones as proper Home Assistant entities, talkback inside Home Assistant's own camera cards, and smoother share-to-Apple/Google flows.

The dashboard is a power-user tool. It's great that IKEA valve calibration exists there. Most people will want it as a button on a device page, and that's Core's job.

Why this matters past Home Assistant

The ecosystems are all chasing the same Matter features right now. SmartThings just claimed Matter 1.6 support, and Apple's Home Collection comes with NFC setup and possible hints of Matter Binding. Home Assistant's version of the story is more transparent than either, because you can read every line of the changelog. It's also slower to reach users, because there are two layers to ship.

If you're on Home Assistant and use Matter, here's what I'd do:

Leave the app on stable unless you need talkback, FP400 zones or IKEA calibration right now.
If you're still on the old Python Matter Server, plan your migration for 1.5.1 or later.
When the stable app update arrives, check any automation that triggers on a Matter device going unavailable. The timing just changed.