Yes, same exact boat, I was just starting to think about looking for a small, cheap device in this space for HA.

I used a Flirc many years ago for my mythtv DVR and it worked great. https://flirc.tv/

edit: I used the receiver, but they do make a remote. It looks cool but I have no experience with it.

Let me know if you find one! I wanted to wait for a few months to let the experienced smart homers pave the way.

Will do. Currently adapting HA because I want to make my new ceiling fans smart which has required learning a bit of RF (though Claude has made it phenomenally easy to the point I have to ask for explanations so I actually know what's happening).