Yellow Pages on Xiaomi: the hidden features of the smart home system

If you’re a Xiaomi device owner and you’re actively using the smart home ecosystem, you’ve probably come across the term Yellow Pages — but not everyone understands what it really is. Unlike the familiar Mi Home app (now Mi Home Lite), which manages individual gadgets, Yellow Pages works at a deeper level, linking devices together through the Xiaomi cloud and allowing you to automate scripts without user input.

In this article, we will explore in detail what Yellow Pages is in the context of Xiaomi, how it integrates with MiOT and Zigbee protocols, and why it is often confused with services like Google Home or Apple HomeKit. You will learn which devices support the technology, how to check for it in your smartphone or router, and what hidden features are available only through Yellow Pages, but are not available in the standard Mi Home application.

What is Yellow Pages in Xiaomi’s Ecosystem?

Yellow Pages (literally “yellow pages”) is an internal catalog of services and devices in the Xiaomi ecosystem that provides interaction between gadgets through the company’s cloud service. Unlike Mi Home, which displays devices to the user, Yellow Pages works “under the hood”, providing APIs for automation and integration with other platforms (for example, Home Assistant or Yandex Alice).

Simply put, it’s a phone directory for Xiaomi devices, where each has a unique ID and a set of supported commands. When you set up a script in Mi Home (for example, “if the motion sensor is working, turn on the lights”), the system is actually going to Yellow Pages to find the device and send it a command.

• 🔹 Not to be confused with Mi Home: the app shows the interface, and Yellow Pages is the backend that makes it work.
• 🔹 Powered by the Cloud: Even if your smartphone is turned off, devices communicate via Xiaomi servers.
• 🔹 Supports third-party integration: Yellow Pages allows you to connect Xiaomi devices to Home Assistant, Node-RED or IFTTT.

It's important to understand that Yellow Pages is not a separate application, but part of Xiaomi's infrastructure, and it's accessed through an API that uses both official apps (Mi Home, Xiaomi Home) and third-party services, for example, when you add a Yeelight bulb to Google Home, what Google is actually looking at is Yellow Pages for device data.

How Yellow Pages is linked to MiOT and Zigbee

To understand how Yellow Pages works, you need to understand the protocols that Xiaomi uses to connect devices, two of which are MiOT (for Wi-Fi devices) and Zigbee (for low-energy sensors), and Yellow Pages acts as a bridge between them and the cloud.

MiOT (Mi IoT) is a proprietary Xiaomi protocol that is used to control devices over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. For example, when you turn on Xiaomi Smart Plug through an application, the command goes over MiOT, and Yellow Pages provides its routing. Zigbee, in turn, is used for sensors (movement, door opening) and requires a hub (for example, Xiaomi Gateway).

The main difference between Yellow Pages and other smart home systems (like HomeKit) is that it is not tied to a single protocol: you can control both a Wi-Fi outlet and a Zigbee sensor through a single interface, but there is a caveat: some devices (especially older models) may not support cloud synchronization, and they will have to be managed locally.

⚠️ Note: If your Xiaomi device doesn't show up in Mi Home after a reset, check if it supports MiOT protocol. OEM-Devices (e.g., from Aqara) use their own protocols and may not sync with Yellow Pages.

What Xiaomi devices support Yellow Pages

In theory, all Xiaomi devices connected to the Mi Home use Yellow Pages for cloud sync.

• ✅ Full support: devices with the Mi or Xiaomi Smart Home logo (e.g. Xiaomi Smart Socket, Mi Robot Vacuum).
• ⚠️ Partial support: Aqara, Yeelight or Mijia devices may require separate applications, but data is still transmitted to Yellow Pages.

To check if your device supports Yellow Pages, follow the following steps:

1. Open the Mi Home app and go to the device section.
2. Click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select Settings → About the device.
3. If the information contains Device ID (DID) or MiOT Spec fields, then the device is integrated with Yellow Pages.

You can also use third-party tools like Mi Home Protocol Analyzer to see what commands your device sends to the cloud, which is useful for creating custom automation.

Open Mi Home → Device settings

Find the "About the device" or "Information" section

Check for Device ID (DID) or MiOT Spec

Try to control the device via Home Assistant (if supported)-->

How to Use Yellow Pages to Automate Your Smart Home

The main advantage of Yellow Pages is the ability to create complex automation scenarios that are not available in the standard Mi Home app.

• 🔄 Synchronize devices of different brands: turn on the Yeelight light bulb if the Aqara sensor recorded movement.
• 📊 Get real-time sensor data: Send temperature or humidity notifications to email.
• 🤖 Integrate with voice assistants: Manage devices through Alice or Google Assistant without official support.

This will require one of the following solutions:

1. Home Assistant: An open smart home platform that can connect to Yellow Pages via a component xiaomi_miot.
2. Node-RED: A visual automation editor that can work with the Xiaomi API.
3. IFTTT: a service for creating simple “if...then” scenarios.

Example of settings through Home Assistant:

Configuration for connecting to Yellow Pages (configuration.yaml fragment)


xiaomi_miot:




username: !secret xiaomi_username




password: !secret xiaomi_password




country: "cn" # or "ru" for Russian servers

Once connected, all devices from Yellow Pages will appear in the Home Assistant interface, and you can create automation using YAML or a visual editor.

⚠️ Note: When using third-party integrations (such as Home Assistant), your Mi Account login and password are shared with a third party, it is recommended to create a separate account for automation and not use the main one.

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If you are using Xiaomi Gateway 3, You can locally manage Zigbee devices without the cloud, and use the Zigbee Home Automation (Zha) component in Home Assistant instead of using the Zigbee Home Automation component. xiaomi_miot

Yellow Pages and Mi Home and other services

Many people confuse Yellow Pages with Mi Home or services like Google Home.

The main advantage of Yellow Pages over Mi Home is flexibility. For example, in Mi Home, you can't create a script that will fire at a certain sensor value (for example, "humidity > 70%"), and through Yellow Pages and Home Assistant, it is possible.

On the other hand, Google Home or HomeKit offer a simpler interface and better voice integration, but support fewer Xiaomi devices, especially older models.

Yellow Pages and How to Solve Them

Despite the convenience, Yellow Pages can be unstable, and here are the most common problems and solutions.

• 🔌 The device is out of sync with the cloud: check your Internet connection and reboot your router. Sometimes it helps to reconnect the device to Mi Home.
• 🔄 Delayed commands: This is a feature of cloud architecture. For critical scenarios (e.g., alarms), use local protocols like Zigbee.
• 🔒 Authentication error when connecting to API: Update the access token in integration settings (e.g. Home Assistant). Xiaomi periodically updates the authorization mechanisms.

If your device stops showing up in Yellow Pages, try the following steps:

1. Remove the device from Mi Home and add again.
2. Check if your account region has changed (e.g. from cn to ru) and some devices are linked to a specific server.
3. Update the device firmware through Mi Home (Settings → Software Update).

For diagnostics, you can use the Mi Home Protocol Analyzer tool (available on GitHub), which shows what data your device is sending to the cloud. If there are no logs about your gadget, then the problem is on the Xiaomi side (for example, servers are temporarily unavailable).

⚠️ Note: If you are using Home Assistant and the automation has stopped working after the update, check if the Device format has changed. ID In Yellow Pages, Xiaomi makes changes to the API without warning.

The future of Yellow Pages: what to expect from Xiaomi

In 2026, Xiaomi is actively developing the smart home ecosystem, and Yellow Pages is playing a key role in this.

• 🌍 Global Server Synchronization: Devices purchased in China (cn) do not always work with European servers (ru/eu). Xiaomi promises to unify infrastructure.
• 🔗 Matter support: New devices will be Matter compatible, but for older models, integration will be done via Yellow Pages.
• 🛡️ Improved security: Two-factor authentication API Restricting access to devices from untrusted networks.

Xiaomi is also expected to expand the developer experience by providing more detailed documentation on the Yellow Pages API, and many features are now only available through reverse engineering, posing risks to the stability of automation.

If you’re planning to build a Xiaomi-based smart home system, Yellow Pages will remain a key element for at least another 2-3 years, but for long-term projects, hybrid solutions (such as Home Assistant + Zigbee2MQTT) should be considered to be independent of changes in Xiaomi’s cloud infrastructure.

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Yellow Pages is not an alternative to Mi Home, but an addition to it. For most users, a standard application is enough, but for advanced automation, Yellow Pages is necessary.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Yellow Pages on Xiaomi