Friendly name/Device Alias

Feature Requests
1

Example of a use for devices alias/friendly names would be physcially labelling devices (e.g zigbee bulb 1, 2, 3, etc.) then having corresponding labels in Home Assistant.

Doesn’t sound out of the ordinary, but what I propose is a friendly name option. From there you can change the name you see in Home Assistant for the device such as “ZIgbee Bulb 3 → Top Front Left Living Room Lightbulb”. That way the same can be super descriptive but the device id (which will be used for automations) relates to the original id independant of the alias.

Why?
So you can have friendly names in the UI, but inventory style names for the ID.
Allows moving devices between locations/uses without breaking automations (from changing the name).

2

don’t forget to vote for your own suggestion!

1 Like
3

Isn’t what you’re asking for already available by clicking on the pencil, top right in the device screen ?

4

I dont want the device name to change. I want the visible name to be separate from the device id used in automations.

5

afbeelding

6

This is the feature request: name / device abstraction in a structured way.

No home automation is ever finalized :slight_smile: Needs change, new ideas emerge, new devices come in and current ones may need reassignment. When you have enough scripts / automations / etc., it will suddenly make sense. P.S. I’m a programmer, so there’s that as well, I guess I can’t help it.

7

If you want to avoid automations breaking down, then avoid using devices at all and stick to entities.