Home Assistant Manager
Operate a remote Home Assistant instance precisely: make a change, get it live, prove it
worked. Optimize for the fewest safe round-trips.
Assumptions
- The repo you're editing is the HA
/config dir, git-connected to the instance.
Edits aren't live until pulled on the instance.
root@homeassistant.local in examples is a placeholder. Resolve the real user/host once
(project CLAUDE.md, ~/.ssh/config, or ask) and if it isn't recorded in the project
CLAUDE.md yet, add it so future sessions skip this step.- Access via one or more of:
hass-cli (REST), SSH ha, or an MCP server (see below).
- Only edit
.yaml/.yml/.md. Never read/write .env or secrets.yaml; use !secret.
Remote access — pick the right tool
- SSH
ha — always works, needs no local env. Use for ha core check|restart|logs|info.
hass-cli (REST) — state/service calls, but needs HASS_SERVER/HASS_TOKEN in the
shell before the session starts. If they're unset, hass-cli falls back to the wrong
host (localhost) and errors — don't retry, check [ -n "$HASS_TOKEN" ] once, then use
SSH or MCP instead.- MCP (preferred when available) — first-class tools for live state/control, no env
juggling. Official
mcp_server integration (HA core ≥2025.2) or community ha-mcp
(richer, 80+ tools). Use it instead of shelling out when present.
The deploy pipeline (the one canonical flow)
Changes are not live until step 4.
- Edit YAML locally.
- Validate:
ssh root@homeassistant.local "ha core check" (slow, ~30-60s — see "when to
skip" below).
- Commit + push:
git add … && git commit -m "…" && git push.
- Make it live:
ssh root@homeassistant.local "cd /config && git pull".
- Apply: reload if possible, else restart (table below).
- Verify (next section).
Rapid iteration: skip git and scp straight to the instance, then reload — good for
dashboards and tight test loops. Commit to git only once stable.
scp automations.yaml root@homeassistant.local:/config/ → reload.
When to skip ha core check: it parses the whole config and is slow. For an isolated
YAML edit you're confident in, a domain reload surfaces errors faster and the logs tell
you immediately. Always run it before a restart or for configuration.yaml changes.
Reload vs restart
| Change | Action |
|---|
| automations, scripts, scenes, groups, template entities, themes | reload the domain (hass-cli service call automation.reload, etc.) |
configuration.yaml core, new integrations, platform sensors (min/max), MQTT sensor/binary_sensor platforms, dashboard registry (lovelace_dashboards) | restart (ssh … "ha core restart", ~30s) |
Prefer reload. Never restart without a passing ha core check. Before risky changes
(core configuration.yaml surgery, removing an integration), snapshot first — it's cheap:
ssh root@homeassistant.local "ha backups new --name pre-<change>".
Verify — don't assume it worked
- Reload/restart the right domain.
- For automations, trigger manually for instant feedback:
hass-cli service call automation.trigger --arguments entity_id=automation.<id>
(or call the service via MCP). This bypasses conditions by default — it proves the
actions, not the gate. To test conditions too, pass skip_condition: false or exercise
the real trigger, then read the automation's trace in the UI.
- Read the logs filtered to your change:
ssh root@homeassistant.local "ha core logs | grep -iE '<name>|error' | tail -20".
Good: Running automation actions, Executing step …. Bad: Invalid data for call_service, TypeError, Template variable warning, Error executing script.
- Confirm the real outcome: device/sensor state (
hass-cli state get <entity>), or ask
the user for notification-type actions.
- On error: fix → re-pull/scp → reload → re-check. Loop until clean.
Automations — write modern syntax
HA 2024.10 renamed the keys; legacy syntax still works but don't emit it in new code:
top-level triggers:/conditions:/actions: (plural), trigger: not platform: inside a
trigger, action: not service: for calls. Every automation gets a stable id: (traces
and UI editing need it) plus an alias.
Full automation reference (syntax table, mode: behavior, blueprints, trace debugging,
pitfalls) → read reference/automations.md when writing or
debugging automations.
Templates — the precision rules
- Always coerce types before comparing:
states('sensor.x') | int(0) < 7. Bare states are
strings; '5' < 7 raises TypeError. Provide a default (int(0)) so startup None
doesn't error.
- Test in Developer Tools → Template before committing.
state_attr(...) returns None if the entity/attr is missing — guard it.
Conventions
- Surgical edits; preserve comments; 2-space indent.
- Validate before restart; prefer reload; verify from logs.
- Use context7 MCP for current HA docs before non-trivial or unfamiliar config.
Dashboards
Lovelace dashboards live in .storage/lovelace.* (JSON). UI edits show on a browser refresh;
direct file edits (scp/git) may not appear until a ha core restart — HA caches the
lovelace store in memory. Adding a new dashboard to .storage/lovelace_dashboards also needs
a restart. scp + refresh is the fast loop; validate JSON first:
python3 -m json.tool .storage/lovelace.x > /dev/null. After deploying, validate the UI
visually in the browser (see the reference) — logs/state won't catch a broken card or a
mis-sorted popup.
Full dashboard reference (view types, card catalog, template cards, tablet layout,
pitfalls, debugging) → read reference/dashboards.md when doing
UI work. Modern HA: native sections view (drag-drop grid, badges, heading cards) and
feature-rich tile cards now cover most needs without custom cards; reach for Mushroom
only when you want its specific look.
Quick reference
# Validate / apply
ssh root@homeassistant.local "ha core check"
ssh root@homeassistant.local "ha core restart"
ssh root@homeassistant.local "cd /config && git pull" # make pushed changes live
# Logs
ssh root@homeassistant.local "ha core logs | grep -iE 'error|<name>' | tail -20"
# State / services (needs env loaded, or use MCP)
hass-cli state get <entity>
hass-cli service call <domain>.reload
hass-cli service call automation.trigger --arguments entity_id=automation.<id>
# Rapid deploy
scp <file>.yaml root@homeassistant.local:/config/ && hass-cli service call automation.reload