# Volkswagen Connect for Home Assistant: a car integration with an API call budget > The Volkswagen Connect custom component pulls a connected VW into Home Assistant as sensors and, optionally, as a set of controls. The README carries a warning that the integration is currently non-functional because Volkswagen has blocked the authentication mechanism again, and it documents a hard limit of 480 API calls per day. **robinostlund/homeassistant-volkswagencarnet** — Volkswagen Carnet Component for home assistant - Repository: https://github.com/robinostlund/homeassistant-volkswagencarnet - Stars: 707 · Forks: 90 - Language: Python - License: GPL-3.0 - Published: 2026-10-21 · Updated: 2026-10-21 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/robinostlund-homeassistant-volkswagencarnet ## The warning that has to come before anything else The first thing a reader of this README hits is a warning block, and it is not cosmetic. The integration is currently non-functional, and the reason given is that Volkswagen has blocked the authentication mechanism once again, with a pointer to issue 989 for details, workarounds and status updates. Above that sits an open call to Volkswagen, Volkswagen Digital Solutions and CARIAD, linked as a full statement in another issue. This is the single most important fact about the project, because it defines what kind of project it is. The component is a client of a proprietary cloud service that the manufacturer controls and can change without notice. It is not a self-contained integration, and it cannot be made self-contained, because the car talks to the vendor's servers and the component talks to the servers in turn. The repository is not archived and the last push was on 2026-10-20, so the code is being worked on despite the broken access. The licence is GPL-3.0 and the primary language is Python. ## What the integration surfaces from a connected car The scope of the component is broad, and the README says most of the features available in the official Volkswagen Connect app are accessible through it. It supports Volkswagen Connect vehicles such as the Passat, Golf, e-Golf, Tiguan and the ID series, and it explicitly adds support for new electric vehicles including the ID series. An active VW online subscription connected to the car is required, which is a hard prerequisite rather than a recommendation, since without the subscription the vehicle exposes nothing to query. The component is distributed through HACS, the Home Assistant Community Store, under the Integrations category, and the repository carries the hacs.json manifest along with a custom_components/ directory, an info.md file for the store listing, and resources/ for the images the README shows. ## Read-only by default, with an S-PIN when you want control The configuration flow is where the design decisions sit. Alongside the name, which defaults to the VIN, and the required username, password and region, there are two options that decide what the integration is allowed to do. The mutable flag, if enabled, lets you interact with the car; if disabled, only data from the car is presented. That split is the sensible one, because the write path is the part that needs a second factor. The S-PIN is required for specific options such as lock and unlock, and it is the vehicle's secure PIN code. A distance unit setting lets you use Scandinavian miles or Imperial miles instead of kilometres, and there is a sensors update interval in minutes, defaulting to 5 with a range of 0 to 60, where 0 disables automatic updates and leaves only manual refresh. The README notes the interval can also be adjusted per vehicle after setup through a Scan Interval number entity. ## The 480 call daily budget is the real constraint This is the part of the documentation that changes how you configure the thing, so it deserves to be read as a design constraint rather than a footnote. The Volkswagen API has a connection limit of 480 calls per day, which works out to roughly one call every three minutes. The default 5 minute update interval in this integration consumes 288 of those calls, leaving 192 for everything else, including the official VW app, and the README says that may not be sufficient. The recommended fix for anyone running both is to raise the update interval to 10 minutes, which can be done by opening the integration in Home Assistant, selecting Configure and changing the Sensors update interval in minutes. The trade-off is direct: more frequent updates mean more calls and less left for the official app, and a longer interval means staler data in your dashboards. There is no way around the ceiling except by choosing where to spend it. ## Installing through HACS, or from a release zip The recommended path is HACS. You add the repository in the Home Assistant Community Store, or search for Volkswagen Connect in HACS and install it under the Integrations category. Then you restart Home Assistant, go to Settings, then Integrations, click Add Integration and search for Volkswagen Connect. HACS tracks updates automatically, which matters here because you will want to pick up a fix the moment the authentication situation changes. The manual route is documented too. You download the volkswagencarnet.zip file from the latest published release, extract the contents of custom_components into the custom_components folder of your Home Assistant config directory, restart, and add the integration from the same Settings menu. The README adds an important caveat about that manual path: only the packaged releases have their dependencies configured so Home Assistant can find them automatically, while a source checkout or git branch requires you to install the dependency versions yourself. ```bash pip install -r requirements.txt ``` After the integration is added, the README says all available features of your car should appear automatically once you have selected the VIN. ```python volkswagencarnet==5.5.1 ``` That single pin is the whole dependency file in the repository, and installing it by hand is what the manual path asks for. ## European cars only, and a dependency on someone else's uptime Two limits are stated without hedging. The first is regional: so far the component has only been reported to work successfully with cars sold in the EU, and the maintainers say they do not have access to non-EU Volkswagen Connect accounts to verify functionality, so contributions for other regions are welcome. That is a verification gap, not a claim that other regions fail, and it is the kind of gap that closes only when someone with access contributes. The second is architectural. The README is blunt: the component relies entirely on the Volkswagen Connect service, so if that service has issues the integration will not function, and it is only as reliable as the platform itself. The troubleshooting guidance follows from that. Before opening an issue, the README asks you to confirm the VW Connect service works for your own account through a web browser, checking not only login but also that the service interacts with the car correctly, including sensor updates and location tracking. ## What the repository says about how it is built The tree shows a project with the tooling a Home Assistant custom component is expected to have. There is a manage/ directory, a tests/ directory with pytest.ini, requirements.test.txt and requirements.txt, and a .pre-commit-config.yaml for hook-driven checks. The README badges point at a CodeQL analysis workflow, a Snyk known vulnerabilities scan and a ruff style badge, so the repository treats code scanning and formatting as continuous rather than occasional. The package the component depends on, volkswagencarnet, is itself published on PyPI and pinned to version 5.5.1 in the requirements file, which matches the v5.5.1 release tag dated 2026-08-17, with v5.5.0 the same day and v5.4.12 from 2026-07-22. The version numbers are shared between the component and its library, so when you compare the two you are looking at the same release train rather than two independent ones. The README also has an enable debug logging section that points at a wiki page for the procedure, which is the first place to look when a car does not appear or a sensor stays empty. ## Conclusion Adopt this component only if you own a European Volkswagen with an active Connect subscription and you accept that the integration depends entirely on a third party service that can and does break it, since the README currently marks it non-functional after a fresh authentication block. Do not adopt it if your car was sold outside the EU, because the maintainers say they have no non-EU accounts to verify against. Before you install, check issue 989 to see whether the current authentication workaround applies to your account, decide on an update interval that leaves room in the 480 call daily limit for the official VW app, and plan how you will supply the S-PIN for any remote actions. ## FAQ ### Does the Volkswagen Connect integration for Home Assistant work right now? The README carries a warning that the integration is currently non-functional, because Volkswagen has blocked the authentication mechanism once again. It points to issue 989 for details, workarounds and status updates. ### How do I install the Volkswagen Connect component in Home Assistant? The README recommends HACS: add the repository in the Home Assistant Community Store or search for Volkswagen Connect and install it under the Integrations category, then restart Home Assistant and add it through Settings, Integrations, Add Integration. A manual path downloads volkswagencarnet.zip from the latest release and extracts custom_components into your config directory. ### What does the S-PIN option do in the Volkswagen Connect integration? The S-PIN is described as required for some specific options such as lock and unlock, and it is listed as an optional field in the configuration flow. The separate mutable setting decides whether the integration can interact with the car at all, or only present data read from it. ### How many API calls does the Volkswagen Connect integration use? The README states the Volkswagen API has a limit of 480 calls per day, roughly one every three minutes, and that the default 5 minute update interval uses 288 of them, leaving 192 for other applications such as the official VW app. It recommends an interval of 10 minutes if you use both. ### Which cars does the Volkswagen Connect component support? The README names Passat, Golf, e-Golf, Tiguan and the ID series, and states that new electric vehicles including the ID series are supported. It also notes the component has only been reported to work successfully with cars sold in the EU, because the maintainers have no non-EU accounts to verify against. ## Sources - [Issues](https://github.com/robinostlund/homeassistant-volkswagencarnet/issues) - [License: GPL-3.0](https://github.com/robinostlund/homeassistant-volkswagencarnet/blob/master/LICENSE) - [README](https://github.com/robinostlund/homeassistant-volkswagencarnet/blob/master/README.md) - [Releases](https://github.com/robinostlund/homeassistant-volkswagencarnet/releases) - [robinostlund/homeassistant-volkswagencarnet on GitHub](https://github.com/robinostlund/homeassistant-volkswagencarnet) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/robinostlund-homeassistant-volkswagencarnet