I was under the impression that Kasa integrated well with Home Assistant.  I have over a dozen older Kasa switch and plugs in my system right now, and none of them have required me to authenticate via cloud to set up in my Home assistant hub.  

I just bought a handful of new Kasa devices, one of which is the KS240 Dimmer/Fan switch.  I was very upset when I came across an authentication prompt in my HA panel to continue the set up.  

Is this the future of Kasa and TP-Link smart home devices?  I already plan on returning the $300+ dollars worth of new devices I purchased because of this.  I'll be going with Inovelli instead.

Just wondering if Kasa/TP-link are going to keep this going so I can remove this brand completely off of my list for any future purchases