# Home Assistant's Debug Console Home Assistant 2026.11 adds its own Python console, the [Debug console](https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/debug_console/) integration, described in the [developer blog](https://contributors.home-assistant.io/blog/2026/10/17/debug-console/) a couple of weeks after this component was first announced. Once `debug_console:` is added to `configuration.yaml` and Home Assistant restarted, administrators find it under *Settings > Tools > Debug console*: a browser console with `hass` available, top-level `await`, and the last result in `_`. It covers some of the same ground as `ha-repl`'s [live mode](https://homeassistant-repl.rhizomatics.org.uk/modes/live_mode/index.md), so this page sets out which suits what. The two don't conflict, and can both be enabled on the same instance. ## In Short Use the **Debug console** to poke around a running instance from a browser - on any machine, a tablet, with nothing to install or configure beyond one line of YAML. Use **`ha-repl`** to work from a terminal or a coding agent, to work on data with your own local Python libraries, to query the Recorder database, or against a Home Assistant older than 2026.11 - or with nothing installed on Home Assistant at all, in [API mode](https://homeassistant-repl.rhizomatics.org.uk/modes/api_mode/index.md). ## Side by Side | | Debug console | `ha-repl` | | ---------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Where it runs | Browser, in Home Assistant's own UI | Terminal, `ha-repl exec` for scripts and agents, or from plain Python, ipython or Marimo | | Home Assistant version | 2026.11 or later | Live mode: see [Server Installation](https://homeassistant-repl.rhizomatics.org.uk/configuration/server_install/index.md). API mode works with any version | | Installed on Home Assistant | Part of core | Live mode: the `ha_repl_server` HACS component. API mode: nothing | | Enabling | YAML only, then restart | Requires a custom Marketplace install, then added from *Devices & services* after a risk acknowledgement, or YAML. `hass` and `sql` can be switched on separately, with a time limit | | Where your code runs | All of it inside Home Assistant | Locally, except statements using `hass` or `obj`, which are sent to Home Assistant - see [What Runs Where](https://homeassistant-repl.rhizomatics.org.uk/modes/live_mode/#what-runs-where) | | Libraries you can import | Only what Home Assistant's Python has installed | Anything installed locally, such as polars or pandas | | Looking inside objects | Expandable results, with properties only evaluated when clicked | [`show()`](https://homeassistant-repl.rhizomatics.org.uk/modes/live_mode/#looking-inside-objects), printed in colour as text | | Completion and signatures | Yes, static | Yes, static, on both sides, including `obj` paths and dict keys, matching anywhere in a name - see [RFC 0002](https://homeassistant-repl.rhizomatics.org.uk/developer/design/rfcs/0002-auto-completed/index.md) | | Help | Expand a result to look inside it | `thing?` for help, `thing??` for a GitHub link to the source at the version running | | Multi-line input and history | Yes, recalled with the arrow keys | Yes, a whole block per history entry, kept across sessions in a history file | | Stopping running code | *Stop* button or Ctrl-C | Ctrl-C in the shell, a *Stop running code* button in Home Assistant, or `ha-repl exec --timeout` | | Waiting code | Doesn't block the console | Blocks the prompt until it finishes | | Database | Through `hass` like anything else | [`sql`](https://homeassistant-repl.rhizomatics.org.uk/sql/index.md), with results downloaded as Arrow for local dataframes or CSV | | Entities and actions | Through `hass` | Also the [object tree](https://homeassistant-repl.rhizomatics.org.uk/obj_tree/index.md), `obj`, the same in live and API modes | | Sessions | One per browser tab. Deleted 30 minutes after the tab disconnects, or on restart | Named, and kept until Home Assistant restarts, so `ha-repl exec` calls can share one | | Audit trail | Each run is logged with the user who ran it | Each command is logged with the user who sent it, its outcome and timing, at `warning` so it shows by default - see [the log](https://homeassistant-repl.rhizomatics.org.uk/configuration/server_install/#stopping-code-and-the-log) | | Paste protection | Pasting blocked until you type `allow pasting` | None - the terminal's own paste is used | | Extending | No | [Plugins](https://homeassistant-repl.rhizomatics.org.uk/configuration/plugins/index.md), which a component can ship for its developers | ## Things in Common - Both are for developers, not everyday use, and are admin only. - Code inside Home Assistant runs on its event loop in both. A blocking call such as `time.sleep()` freezes Home Assistant, and nothing can interrupt it. `await` asynchronous calls, and run blocking work with `await hass.async_add_executor_job(...)`. - Both give full access to everything Home Assistant holds, including passwords and tokens. Never run code you don't understand. ## Security Choices The Debug console can only be enabled in YAML: the Home Assistant team chose that so code in an administrator's browser, such as a custom card, can't switch it on. `ha-repl`'s server component can be added from the UI as well as YAML, as most integrations can. If that matters for your instance, add it with `ha_repl_server:` in YAML, and use the [time limits](https://homeassistant-repl.rhizomatics.org.uk/configuration/server_install/#limiting-what-is-exposed) on `hass` and `sql` so they don't stay on.