Blueprint Studio - A Modern File Editor for Home Assistant

soulripper13 · December 5, 2025, 9:26am

Blueprint Studio - A Modern File Editor for Home Assistant

Category: Integrations

Tags: integration #editor yaml #custom-component hacs

Hey everyone!

I’m excited to share Blueprint Studio, a new custom integration I’ve been working on that brings a professional, VS Code-like file editing experience directly into your Home Assistant dashboard.

The Problem

We’ve all been there - you need to quickly edit a YAML file, tweak an automation, or fix a configuration error. Your options are usually:

SSH into your system
Use an external SFTP client
Install a heavy add-on like VS Code Server
Use the basic File Editor add-on

What if you could just… edit files directly in Home Assistant with a modern, powerful editor? That’s why I built Blueprint Studio.

What is Blueprint Studio?

Blueprint Studio is a custom integration that adds a full-featured code editor to your Home Assistant sidebar. Think VS Code, but built right into your HA interface.

Key Features

Professional Editor

Syntax highlighting for YAML, JSON, Python, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Markdown, Shell
Real-time YAML validation - Catch errors before you save!
Multi-tab interface - Edit multiple files at once
Code folding, bracket matching, line numbers
Search and replace functionality
Keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+S to save, Ctrl+F to search, etc.)

File Management

File tree explorer with expandable folders
Create, delete, rename, copy, move files and folders
Upload files or entire folders (ZIP support)
Download files or folders as ZIP archives
File search to quickly find what you need

Security & Safety

Admin-only access - Only administrators can use it
Path protection - Can’t access files outside config directory
File type restrictions - Only edit safe text files
Critical file protection - Can’t delete configuration.yaml or secrets.yaml
Hidden sensitive folders - .storage and other critical directories are hidden

Dark Theme

Clean, VS Code-inspired dark interface
Easy on the eyes for late-night config editing
Syntax highlighting optimized for dark backgrounds

Installation

Via HACS (Recommended)

Add Custom Repository:

Open HACS
Go to Integrations
Click the three dots (⋮) → Custom repositories
Add: https://github.com/soulripper13/blueprint-studio
Category: Integration

Install:

Search for “Blueprint Studio” in HACS
Click Download
Restart Home Assistant

Configure:

Go to Settings → Devices & Services → Add Integration
Search for “Blueprint Studio”
Click to add

Access:

Look for “Blueprint Studio” in your sidebar
Start editing!

Manual Installation

Download from GitHub Releases, extract to custom_components/blueprint_studio, restart, and add via integrations.

Use Cases

Here’s what I’ve been using it for:

Quick edits to automations.yaml without restarting SSH
Debugging integration configurations with syntax highlighting
Creating and editing Lovelace dashboard YAML
Fixing YAML syntax errors with real-time validation
Backing up configs by downloading folders as ZIP
Testing new automations in a separate file before merging

What would you use it for?

How Does It Compare?

|---------|------------------|---------------------|----------------|----------|

Keyboard Shortcuts

One of my favorite features - familiar shortcuts that just work:

Ctrl+S / Cmd+S - Save file
Ctrl+Shift+S - Save all open files
Ctrl+F - Search in file
Ctrl+H - Search and replace
Ctrl+G - Go to line
Ctrl+/ - Toggle comment
Ctrl+W - Close tab
Ctrl+Z - Undo
Ctrl+Y - Redo

Known Issues & Limitations

Being transparent about current limitations:

No light theme yet - Dark theme only (planned for v1.1)
No git integration - Can’t commit changes directly (planned for future)
Admin only - By design for security, but means non-admin users can’t use it
Config directory only - Can’t edit files outside HA config (security feature)

Roadmap

I’m actively developing and have plans for:

Light theme option
Configurable editor settings (font size, tab size, etc.)
File diff viewer
Git integration for version control
Search across all files
Built-in backup/restore
File history/versioning

What features would YOU like to see? Drop your ideas in the comments!

Looking for Feedback!

This is v1.0.0 - the first stable release. I’ve tested it extensively on my own system, but I’d love to hear from the community:

Bug reports - If something breaks, please let me know!
Feature suggestions - What’s missing? What would make it better?
Screenshots - If you install it, share screenshots!
General feedback - Too simple? Too complex? Just right?

I’m very open to contributions and suggestions. This is for the community, so your input matters!

kmb36td · January 23, 2026, 11:45pm

nice… but needs the next and previous button on search results… its kinda required for any code editor instead of just highlighting the results and you have to manually scroll and search for each search result hit…

soulripper13 · January 24, 2026, 1:47am

Yea I know working on improvements and suggestions. I’m only one guy doing this in my spare time. so please bear with me.

soulripper13 · January 24, 2026, 1:53am

I’m currently working on some improvements and features. Should be available soon in a day or two.

soulripper13 · January 24, 2026, 8:40am

I’ve released a new minor update v1.3.1. There will a new one v1.3.2 also soon with new features that i’m curently testing and debugging.

# Blueprint Studio v1.3.2 Release Notes

This release introduces powerful visual tools for reviewing code changes, bulk file management, and a significantly upgraded search experience.

## ✨ New Features

### 📦 Bulk Download
*   **Select Multiple**: Enter selection mode via the new checklist icon to pick multiple files and folders.
*   **Auto-Zipping**: Click download to receive a single `.zip` file containing all your selected items, keeping directory structures intact.

### 🔍 Visual Diff Viewer (Integrated)
*   **Compare Changes Anywhere**: See exactly what you changed directly from the file explorer.
*   **Side-by-Side View**: Modified files now show a "Difference" icon in the tree; click it to see your current work vs the last commit.
*   **Color Coded**: Deletions are highlighted in red, additions in green, optimized for high readability in both Dark and Light themes.

### 🔎 Professional Search & Replace
We've significantly upgraded the search functionality to make finding and navigating code even easier!
*   **Enhanced Widget**: A new floating search tool with dedicated buttons for Next, Previous, Replace, and Replace All.
*   **Live Match Counting**: Instantly see "X of Y" matches (e.g., "1 of 10") in the search toolbar as you navigate.
*   **Distinct Active Highlight**: The currently selected match is now highlighted in vivid orange with black text.
*   **Smart Wrapping**: Search now automatically wraps around to the beginning (or end) of the file.
*   **Keyboard Shortcuts**: `Ctrl+F` to Find, `Ctrl+H` to Replace. Use `Enter` for next, `Shift+Enter` for previous.

### 🛡️ Optimized .gitignore Editor
*   **Clean & Efficient**: The exclusions manager now automatically detects redundant rules. If you ignore a folder, it won't clutter your `.gitignore` file with every single file inside it.
*   **Intelligent Toggle**: Background Git tasks and UI notifications now fully respect your Git Integration settings.

## 🚀 Improvements & Polish
*   **Enhanced Scrolling**: Improved the diff viewer behavior on smaller screens and mobile devices.
*   **Smart Selection**: Improved cascading checkbox logic for complex folder structures.
*   **Theme Optimization**: Fine-tuned colors for syntax highlighting and UI elements to ensure maximum readability.

Sourcer63 · January 24, 2026, 9:04am

Thank you. Something is not straight though as I can see the update (after active searching), but it has the same version number 1.3.0 from HA’s view and can’t be installed.

soulripper13 · January 24, 2026, 9:09am

Hmm that’s weird. let me check

soulripper13 · January 24, 2026, 9:13am

Looks like a cache problem with your browser

Sourcer63 · January 24, 2026, 9:25am

Probably a sync issue on the internet servers. It is showing now.

Small issue: at every start of the addon I am being greeted again by the same GIT integration initialization screen. I don’t need/want GIT, but I can’t find a way to permanently deactivate the option.

soulripper13 · January 24, 2026, 9:30am

Ahh got you !!! I’m currently debugging that in the version 1.3.2. Just go throught it once then close it

soulripper13 · January 24, 2026, 9:36am

If you close it and turn off the github integration in settings does it still happen?

Sourcer63 · January 24, 2026, 9:39am

No, once through the init process the settings are kept.

Sourcer63 · January 24, 2026, 10:35am

Ah no, now I am getting a 401 error:

A login error is thrown. Refreshing the browser window helps, but that doesn’t appear normal to me

Logger: homeassistant.components.http.ban
Quelle: components/http/ban.py:136
Integration: HTTP (Dokumentation, Probleme)
Erstmals aufgetreten: 11:34:07 (2 Vorkommnisse)
Zuletzt protokolliert: 11:34:07

Login attempt or request with invalid authentication from 2a00:6020:ad2d:4b00:e188:4e01:7469:ef4d (2a00:6020:ad2d:4b00:e188:4e01:7469:ef4d). Requested URL: ‘/api/blueprint_studio?action=list_all&show_hidden=false’. (Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/144.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 Edg/144.0.0.0)

The login error reappeared. There is no debug log, or is there?

Sourcer63 · January 24, 2026, 11:11am

One more small thing: the Recent File list is continuously growing and uses the bigger part of the screen.

Currently it is not possible to limit the size of the Recent File part. Ideally Recent Files would be displayed in a separate virtual screen with its own slider.

soulripper13 · January 24, 2026, 11:17am

No there is no debug log. It’s a problem from being inactive. Should remedy it in the next iteration. I’ll add scroll also to the recent files. I don’t use it that why i didn’t notice. I’ll limit it to 3 files and add scroll

Sourcer63 · January 24, 2026, 2:03pm

One more thing in 1.3.1: I can no longer unhide files. This throws a 401 error.

soulripper13 · January 24, 2026, 2:07pm

After you refresh does it work then?

soulripper13 · January 24, 2026, 2:10pm

Are you working remotely with the integration by any chance?

Sourcer63 · January 24, 2026, 2:29pm

No, I am at home and the access is local.

I reset the whole thing and set it up again. It is working for the moment. How long does it need to be idle to trigger a possible connection issue? I will check it again later.

In the same hidden file context: can I access HA’s \config directory?

soulripper13 · January 24, 2026, 2:46pm

By default in the file explorer you’re in config directory