How to take your robot vacuum off the cloud with AI

Short answer: Pick the least invasive route your model supports. If it has Matter, add it to Home Assistant over Matter for local start, stop, dock and room cleaning. Roborock owners can run the open-source Roborock Local Server in place of the maker's cloud without rooting, and models supported by Valetudo (Dreame, Roborock and Midea) can be rooted and flashed with free, cloud-free firmware. Then ask Claude Code or Grok Bot to watch which servers the vacuum calls during one cleaning run, block the ones it doesn't need at your router or DNS blocker, and connect the vacuum to your agent through Home Assistant. One builder below even revived a vacuum two years after its maker's cloud shut down.

Real setups where an AI agent revived a vacuum after its maker's cloud shut down, moved a Eufy to local Home Assistant, mapped every server a vacuum calls and let a bot start cleaning on its own. 7 matching use cases below, each with a public source.

Looking for something else? Search all 1965 use cases or Get the daily 5.

Step by step

1. Identify the exact model and what it supports. Take a photo of the label under the vacuum or its About screen and give it to Claude Code, Codex or Grok Bot. Ask it to check three things for that model: whether it supports Matter (the Eufy Omni S2 does, and Dreame is adding Matter to its X50 and X60 series through updates), whether it is on Valetudo's supported robots list, and whether Roborock Local Server supports it (entry-level Roborock Q-series models such as the Q7 are not supported).
2. See what it sends home before changing anything. Ask the agent to watch the vacuum on your router during one cleaning run and list every server it contacts. One shared Claude Code prompt then sorts them into three piles (needed to clean, needed for the app, not needed) and prepares one rule to block each unneeded server and one to undo it, changing nothing until you say yes. Keep your router password out of the chat; the same prompt has the agent store it in your keychain.
3. Pick your local route. Matter is the easiest: no hacking, local control from Home Assistant, but only basic controls, and maps stay in the maker's app. Roborock Local Server runs Roborock's cloud backend on your own machine with no rooting; it needs a domain name, a local DNS rewrite on Pi-hole, AdGuard or your router, an SSL certificate, and Docker or the Home Assistant add-on. Valetudo replaces the cloud entirely with free, open-source firmware, but you must root the robot first, which is model-specific and best done by following Valetudo's own instructions.
4. Put Home Assistant in the middle. Run Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi or spare computer. Valetudo robots connect over MQTT, Roborock has its own integration, and Matter vacuums join as Matter devices. Home Assistant 2026.3 added area cleaning (clean a chosen room) for Matter, Ecovacs and Roborock vacuums. One builder had Claude Code add every device in his house to Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi 5, including a Dyson robot vacuum.
5. Connect your agent. A bot running in the cloud cannot reach devices on your home network directly, which is exactly the wall one builder hit with his Roborock. Let the agent talk to Home Assistant instead, for example through Home Assistant's Model Context Protocol (MCP) server integration, and expose only the vacuum actions you want: start, stop, return to dock and clean a room.
6. Cut the cloud and test. Once local control works, apply the block rules or move the vacuum to a network with no internet access. Test a cleaning run with the internet blocked and again after a restart. The builder who revived a cloud-dead $400 vacuum tested exactly that, then scheduled weekday cleans at 40% suction from his own server.

Related guides: How to check if your devices are spying on you with AI · How to fix Wi-Fi and secure your home network with AI · How to build a smart home and voice assistant with AI agents

What it costs

• Valetudo: Free. Open-source (Apache-2.0) cloud-free firmware for supported Dreame, Roborock and Midea robots. Requires rooting.
• Roborock Local Server: Free and open source. No rooting. You need a domain name (registrar prices vary) plus Docker or Home Assistant to host it.
• Matter: Free if your vacuum supports it. Uses Home Assistant as the controller. Basic controls only; maps stay in the maker's app.
• Home Assistant: Free and open source. Runs on a Raspberry Pi or a spare computer you may already own.
• The AI agent: Varies. Claude Code and Codex need a paid plan from Anthropic or OpenAI; check each tool's pricing page.

Common questions

How do you take your robot vacuum off the cloud with AI?

Pick the least invasive route your model supports. If it has Matter, add it to Home Assistant over Matter for local start, stop, dock and room cleaning. Roborock owners can run the open-source Roborock Local Server in place of the maker's cloud without rooting, and models supported by Valetudo (Dreame, Roborock and Midea) can be rooted and flashed with free, cloud-free firmware. Then ask Claude Code or Grok Bot to watch which servers the vacuum calls during one cleaning run, block the ones it doesn't need at your router or DNS blocker, and connect the vacuum to your agent through Home Assistant. One builder below even revived a vacuum two years after its maker's cloud shut down.

Can I use a robot vacuum without the internet?

Often yes. Matter vacuums can be controlled locally from Home Assistant, Roborock Local Server replaces Roborock's cloud on your own machine, and Valetudo firmware removes the cloud completely on supported models. Test a full cleaning run with the internet blocked before relying on it.

Will I lose maps and app features?

It depends on the route. Matter gives basic controls and leaves maps in the maker's app. Valetudo has its own local web interface with maps, and Roborock Local Server keeps the Roborock app working against your own server.

Can Claude Code or Grok Bot control my robot vacuum?

Yes. The usual pattern is to connect the vacuum to Home Assistant and let the agent call Home Assistant, because an agent running in the cloud cannot reach your home network directly. Builders below control vacuums from Grok Bot and Claude Code this way.

Is my robot vacuum sending data it doesn't need to?

Find out by having an agent watch one cleaning run on your router and list every server the vacuum contacts, then block only the ones it doesn't need to clean. Our guide on checking whether your devices are spying on you covers the same approach for every device on your network.

My vacuum's maker shut down its cloud. Can it be saved?

Sometimes. One builder used Claude Code with Claude Opus 5.5 to reverse-engineer how his $400 vacuum talked to the dead servers, built a local server to replace them and had it cleaning again after two years in a cupboard. Check Valetudo's supported list first, since flashing it is far less work.

Which AI tools do people use to take your robot vacuum off the cloud?

Across the 7 sourced use cases in this guide, the most used tools are Claude Code, Grok Bot, Home Assistant, Claude Opus 5.5, Eufy.

How much does it cost to get started?

0 of the 7 use cases can start on a free plan. The most common paid starting price is $17/mo (4 use cases). Prices come from each tool's official pricing page.

How long does setup take?

3 of the 7 use cases list a setup time of an hour or less. Each card shows the setup time the builder reported.

Are these real examples?

Yes. Every use case links to its public source (an X post, a Hacker News thread or a GitHub repo) with the author and date, so you can check it yourself.

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