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Connect Govee

Govee Wi-Fi devices speak a local LAN protocol that is switched off at the factory. There is no account or token to exchange with Nexus - the entire setup is: turn on LAN Control in the Govee Home app, then let Nexus find the device on your network. The device and the PC running Nexus must be on the same network, and Bluetooth-only Govee models have no LAN API at all, so they cannot be used.

1. Turn on LAN Control first

  • Open the Govee Home app on your phone, select the device, open its settings, and turn on LAN Control. Repeat it for every device you want Nexus to drive - the switch is per device, not per account.
  • Govee's own LAN API guide lists which models expose the switch, and what to do when a supported device does not show it (power-cycle it and give it time to reappear).
  • Skip this and pairing fails with "Turn on "LAN Control" for this device in the Govee Home app, then try again" and a Retry button. That message is the single most common reason a Govee pair does not work.
  • Once the setting is on, the device answers on the local network and never needs the phone app again.

2. Turn on Govee in Nexus

  • Open Smart Lights in the sidebar and flip the Govee toggle. Brands are off by default, so nothing is scanned until you turn one on.
  • Turning the brand on starts a scan straight away. A How to connect link appears under the brand name, pointing back at this page.

3. Scan the network

  • The scan sends a multicast request and collects the devices that answer, listing each one by its model number and IP address - the LAN protocol reports no friendly name, so a strip shows up as something like Govee H619A rather than the name you gave it in the phone app.
  • Press Pair on a result. Pairing has no key exchange: it probes the device to confirm LAN Control really is on and records what the model can do.
  • Press Scan (the circular arrow on the brand card) to run it again after switching LAN Control on for another device.

4. Add by IP if the scan misses it

  • Multicast is unreliable over Wi-Fi and some routers drop it entirely, so a device with LAN Control on can still be missing from the results.
  • Use Add by IP at the bottom of the column: leave the brand on Govee, type the device's IP address, and press Add. Nexus probes that address directly, which sidesteps discovery completely.
  • Give the device a fixed address (a DHCP reservation on your router) if you use this route - a device that changes IP has to be re-added.

5. Check what got added

  • Paired devices appear in the right-hand column under Govee, each with its online state and a toggle. The toggle decides whether the device takes part in lighting effects; turning it off leaves it paired and listed.
  • Color, brightness, and effects live on the Lighting page, where Govee devices behave like any other lighting device.
  • Addressable strips are driven segment by segment, so effects travel along the strip rather than flooding it with one color. Single-color bulbs get the averaged color of the canvas area they cover.

Tip

If a strip ignores effects but still responds to on/off, it has usually dropped out of realtime mode after a power cycle. Nexus re-arms it automatically within a couple of seconds - no need to re-pair.