Ha Workflow Automation Builder

ha-workflow-automation-builder

A repeatable recipe to turn a request into a working automation. Prerequisite: ../ha-shared/SKILL.md; see also ../ha-automation/SKILL.md.

Steps

1. Gather context — never guess entity ids or services.

   hass-cli state list -o json | jq '[.[].entity_id]'      # available entities
   hass-cli service describe light.turn_on                 # fields for actions
   hass-cli registry area list                             # for area targeting
   

2. Draft the config as YAML/JSON. Prefer plural keys (triggers/conditions/actions) for UI-managed ids. Minimal example:

   alias: Sunset lights
   triggers:
     - trigger: sun
       event: sunset
   conditions: []
   actions:
     - action: light.turn_on
       target:
         entity_id: light.living_room
   mode: single
   

3. Save (choose a stable id; 32-hex for UI storage):

   hass-cli workflow automation save sunset_lights --file sunset_lights.yaml
   

4. Reload so it takes effect:

   hass-cli workflow automation reload
   

5. Verify — confirm it exists, then test:

   hass-cli workflow automation get sunset_lights
   hass-cli workflow automation trigger automation.sunset_lights
   hass-cli system logbook --entity automation.sunset_lights
   

Guardrails

• Validate every entity_id against state list before saving.
• Validate every action against service describe.
• If save returns HTTP 404, the config integration is disabled — fall back to editing automations.yaml and automation reload.
• Keep automations small; prefer multiple focused automations over one large one.