Getting started with HA - is manual configuration the way to go?

Hi,

I decided to give HA another shot.
HA Blue looked too attractive to ignore. :smile:
So it arrived recently.

Last time I tried HA a couple of years ago I could not get over confusion of manually configured YAML files and automatic discovery/configuration.

I am pretty technical so probably I would prefer all manual YAML configuration over clicking UI buttons.
As far as I understand configuration made via UI goes somewhere else (might be the database).

I feel like having 100% manual configuration gives me illusion that I am in control. :smile:
Pushing all config files into git sounds nice too.

But if UI is the “new normal” I will be Ok with it too (as long as I can “touch” it, I mean query that database to see what’s there).

I would like to hear your opinion and advice on the current (2021) best practices in HA configuration.

I’m using as much manual configuration as I can: sensors, automations, switches etc. If you’re comfortable with the picky syntax of YAML, trying out templates in Developer Tools / Templates etc, go for it.

Frenck’s configuration is here, as a point of reference.

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Problem is : configuration in yaml is for more and more integrations deprecated (or impossible) in favor of UI configuration.

Thank you. If UI is the only future I will have to find a way to deal with it. :thinking:

When I do configuration via UI where does it go?
Database? Another set of files?