/ha-automation

Home Assistant Automation Skill

Create, debug, and optimize Home Assistant automations, scripts, blueprints, and Jinja2 templates.

What This Skill Does

This skill provides comprehensive guidance for Home Assistant automation development, covering:

• Automation YAML syntax - Triggers, conditions, actions, and modes
• Jinja2 templating - Template syntax, filters, and debugging
• Blueprint creation - Converting automations to reusable blueprints
• Scripts and actions - Complex automation sequences and logic
• Troubleshooting - Common errors and debugging techniques

Core Capabilities

• Create automations with correct YAML structure and best practices
• Write Jinja2 templates with proper variable references and filters
• Convert automations to blueprints with parameterized inputs
• Debug template syntax using Developer Tools
• Optimize automation modes for performance and reliability
• Handle complex action sequences with choose, repeat, parallel

Auto-Trigger Keywords

Primary Keywords

Exact terms that strongly trigger this skill:

• automation
• trigger
• condition
• action
• blueprint
• script
• jinja2
• template
• automation yaml
• ha automation

Secondary Keywords

Related terms that may trigger in combination:

• home assistant
• state change
• entity
• service call
• automation mode
• yaml syntax
• device trigger
• automations.yaml

Error-Based Keywords

Common error messages that should trigger this skill:

• "Invalid YAML in automations.yaml"
• "template error"
• "entity not found"
• "trigger not working"
• "blueprint input mismatch"
• "jinja2 syntax error"

Known Issues Prevention

When to Use

Use This Skill For

• Creating new automations from requirements or specifications
• Converting standalone automations into reusable blueprints
• Debugging automation triggers, conditions, or actions
• Writing Jinja2 templates for dynamic values and logic
• Optimizing automation modes (single/restart/queued/parallel)
• Explaining automation YAML syntax and best practices

Don't Use This Skill For

• Installing Home Assistant or integration setup
• Dashboard UI configuration (use ha-dashboard skill)
• Frigate camera setup or NVR configuration (use frigate-configurator skill)
• General Home Assistant troubleshooting unrelated to automations

Quick Usage

Test a Jinja2 Template

Use Developer Tools > Template in Home Assistant UI:

{{ states('light.bedroom') }}
{{ state_attr('light.bedroom', 'brightness') }}
{{ (now() | as_timestamp) | round(0) }}

Basic Automation

- alias: "Turn on bedroom light at sunset"
  trigger:
    platform: sun
    event: sunset
  action:
    - service: light.turn_on
      target:
        entity_id: light.bedroom
      data:
        brightness: 200

Automation with Condition

- alias: "Turn off lights if away"
  trigger:
    platform: state
    entity_id: person.john
    to: not_home
  condition:
    - condition: numeric_state
      entity_id: sensor.house_brightness
      below: 100
  action:
    - service: light.turn_off
      target:
        entity_id: light.bedroom

Token Efficiency

The skill prevents syntax errors, suggests best practices, and provides ready-to-use patterns.

File Structure

ha-automation/
├── SKILL.md        # Complete instruction set and reference
├── README.md       # This file - auto-trigger keywords and quick start
└── [future] references/  # Advanced reference documentation

Dependencies

No external dependencies required. This skill uses built-in Home Assistant features:

• YAML configuration
• Jinja2 templating engine (included in Home Assistant)
• Blueprint system (available in Home Assistant 2021.1+)

Official Documentation

• Home Assistant Automation
• Jinja2 Templating
• Blueprint Documentation
• Script Integration
• Developer Tools

Related Skills

• ha-dashboard - Configure Lovelace dashboards and UI
• frigate-configurator - Set up Frigate NVR with cameras

License: MIT