I use home assistant to create my list of "entities", then I do all logic/automation in nodered, but this could easily be bash if you really wanted. This allows me to leverage the communities work on integrations for stuff (python libraries interfacing with xyz hardware/api/cloud/local device), and then put all of my automations in one place (nodered for me)
If I add new "stuff" I add it to home assistant, if I want to do things with my "stuff" I do it in nodered.
Also, if the "stuff" I want to add is a little sensor or arduino or esp8266, I can just have it send MQTT messages, and then all of a sudden without touching anything in home assistant, I have access all the way in nodered to use these messages to do anything I want.
If I add new "stuff" I add it to home assistant, if I want to do things with my "stuff" I do it in nodered.
Also, if the "stuff" I want to add is a little sensor or arduino or esp8266, I can just have it send MQTT messages, and then all of a sudden without touching anything in home assistant, I have access all the way in nodered to use these messages to do anything I want.