Home Assistant has so many features that you’ve probably missed some. While you can get by with the basics, some of the things you never touch can make your server more efficient and your smart home even smarter.
Some of them aren’t even that well hidden, but they’re easy to ignore until you finally take the plunge.
Tags
You can assign tags to almost everything in Home Assistant, including areas, devices, automations, and individual entities. it’s a Easy way to group things together, regardless of what they do and where they are..
Tags can make automations and scripts more efficient. For example, you can create automations that use tags and then assign them to the devices you want to target. This means there is no need to activate specific devices in automations; You can simply add or remove a tag any time you want to change how a rule works.
The same goes for excluding devices from routines. In another example, you can issue a command to turn off all the lights in the house except devices labeled “keep on.” Even basic organization can work with labels, allowing you to label devices based on the type of battery they require or whether they are rechargeable, which can be a huge help.
You can add tags by editing any device, entity, area, etc. You can also use the “Enter Selection Mode” button in certain views (such as Device or Automation lists), then check the items you want to tag and click “Add Tag” at the top of the screen.
https://www.howtogeek.com/clever-ways-to-use-labels-in-home-assistant/
Helpers
A helper is the Home Assistant term for a tool that simplifies common tasks to enable broader functionality and more complex scripts or automations. Go to Settings > Devices and Services and click the “Assistant” tab. You’ll see the “+ Create Helper” button at the bottom of the screen.
For example, you will need to use a helper if you want fix a thermostat that is off a couple of degrees either Calculate the average temperature of your house using more than one sensor.. Both operations use the “Template” wizard, creating a new virtual device that you can display on your dashboard or use in your automations.
Another helpful example is a simple thermostat that can make any old heater smarter. you can too use this to create device groupswhich are similar to tags but only apply to a single device class. Use this to group multiple smart bulbs into a single light group entity, for example.
You don’t know you need help until you’re faced with a problem that can’t be solved without it, so it’s good to be aware of what these tools can do.
Calendars
I just started using the Home Assistant calendar and I’m glad I did. I am using a calendar event to activate a signal light every other Monday so I remember to take out the recycling, but the possibilities are enormous.
Automations can use the start or end of a specific calendar event as a trigger for automations. To limit your trigger to a specific event (for example, an event called Meeting) you will need to add a rule using the “Template” condition and specify the event name using the following line:
{{ 'Meeting' in trigger.calendar_event.summary }}
You can even add your Google, iCloud, or Outlook calendars and use them in automations. It’s great for events that are time sensitive or where you might want to move around, and it makes it easy a great alternative to the rigid schedules coded into Home Assistant.
Actionable notifications
It’s a good idea to keep smart home notifications to a minimum, so the ones you receive should at least be helpful. Actionable notifications allow you perform actions directly after receiving a notificationand you can customize them to do whatever you want.
They work with both iOS and Android and can even be combined with critical alerts to take vital actions with the touch of a button. You can set rules that could lead to an actionable notification and at the same time decide what actions will appear on the screen when you tap it.
For example, you could create an automation that sends you an actionable notification whenever your house is unlocked and no one is home. If you have a smart lock, you can lock the door by tapping an action. Another example is a shortcut that takes you to a specific camera that has detected something of interest.
web hooks
A webhook is another type of automation trigger that uses a web address “endpoint” to perform an action on your Home Assistant server. Simply add it to your automation using the “Webhook” action (along with any other triggers you want) and then copy the webhook. ID. The URL will look like this: http://your-server/api/webhook/ID
He your-server Part of the URL will be replaced with the local IP address of your Home Assistant instance (for devices on the local server) or the remote access address for a Home Assistant server.
Home Assistant automatically generates complex and long webhook IDs, but you can change them however you want. With your webhook in hand, you can do things like use QR codes to activate eventsdesign iPhone shortcuts that trigger automations remotely, use external services to trigger things, create a Android TV quick menuand more.
Wondering what other Home Assistant features you’re missing? Check out these integrations you probably aren’t using.
