It would be very useful to have an always-available chatbot within Home Assistant. Here are some ideas of what it could do.
- Make use of the “C” hotkey allowing the bot to execute navigation, reloads and server actions (restart, stop)
- Provide a space for automations to call the notify service that will place a message within the chat bot section. This is useful because you can revisit these messages and even have custom actions on messages. Basically historical HA notifications. Some ideas: “Today will be cloudy with a temperate of 17°C” or “It’s Sunday so don’t forget to water your plants”
- Ask for help. This could search the HA discourse and find the top results and the FAQs
- Ask it to execute a script or automation
- Ask it to turn on/off lights
- Ask it to send a device a notification
- Ask it to create automation similar to what was demonstrated in the State of the Union 2019 via Almond
- If the automation from above can’t be found search for a Blueprint
- Ask it to remind you of something. This will create a timer helper, automation to send a notification when it’s done and then execute a script to delete the timer helper afterward
- and many more…
It doesn’t have to be a completely new section, it can just fit into the existing notifications panel with an input field at the bottom to chat. This could give your home a feeling of a living entity with a personality. Someone/something to help you and cater to your needs.