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Access control for lights, doors and heating

Switch lights, heating and door locks on and off automatically around bookings, issue door codes, and connect controllers through the device API.

How-toChecked against the app on 24 September 2026

Access control connects Nola to the devices in your venue. Court lights come on shortly before a booking starts, heating runs only when a room is used, and each customer gets a door code that works only around their own booking.

How it works

You add devices (a light, a door lock, a heater) and rules that tie a device to a resource. Every minute, Nola works out whether each device should be on or off and sends the command when the state changes. The Live status board at the top shows each resource as On or Off and when the next change happens.

Add a device

  1. Under Devices, enter a name such as "Court 1 lights".
  2. Pick the kind: Light, Door / PIN, Heating or Generic.
  3. Pick how Nola talks to it and fill in the connection fields:
AdapterWhat to enter
Home AssistantBase URL, entity ID (for example switch.court_1_light) and a long-lived access token
Shelly or SonoffRelay URL, channel (default 0) and an optional auth token
Generic webhookA URL to call to turn it on, a URL to turn it off, and an optional auth token
  1. Optionally pick a Linked resource.
  2. Click Add device.

Use Test on and Test off to check the connection before you rely on it. Each device shows its last known state. Disable pauses a device without deleting it.

Add a rule

  1. Under Rules, pick the device and a resource, or leave All resources.
  2. Set Start offset (minutes) and End offset (minutes). A start offset of -15 turns the device on 15 minutes before the booking; an end offset of 15 keeps it on 15 minutes after.
  3. Choose what it Applies to: Bookings only, Maintenance blocks only or Bookings + maintenance. Maintenance blocks are the time blocks you add under Services → Hours.
  4. Click Add rule.

Door codes

When a booking is made on a resource that has a rule with a Door / PIN device, Nola issues a door code for it. The code is valid from the start offset before the booking until the end offset after it. If the booking is cancelled, the code stops working; if it is extended, the code lasts longer too.

Customers see their code on the booking in their account. You can also add it to confirmation messages with the {{doorCode}} placeholder under Settings → Notifications.

Override a device by hand

Under Manual override, pick a resource, choose Force ON or Force OFF, set how many minutes and an optional reason, then click Apply override. Active overrides are listed with a Clear button. The Event log shows every switch, code and error.

Connect a controller through the API

If your controller should ask Nola instead of being called by Nola, click Generate API key under Home Assistant polling. The Device API section lists the endpoints, with your key filled in:

  • /access/devices lists devices and their resource ids.
  • /access/occupancy says whether a resource should be on right now.
  • /access/schedule returns on and off windows for the next hours.
  • /access/codes/current returns the door code valid right now.

Poll occupancy every 30 to 60 seconds, or fetch the schedule once an hour. Regenerate API key replaces the key, so update your controller afterwards.

Still stuck?

Ask the AI Copilot inside Nola, or send a request to the Nola team. A person answers within one working day.

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