Home Assistant Cookbook - Discussion Thread

Damn it, I tested all the links in the Cookbook, but I didn’t think of the preview-for-links feature…

I think we can safely take the current TOC out. As I wrote above, I talked to @MissyQ and she’s looking into it in the next weeks. For the time being, we should simply wait, I’m quite sure, the TOC functionality from Discourse will come rather sooner than later. :slight_smile:

It’s an obscure use case, but just letting us know. I’m not going to change the link I dropped on them, it looks fine if they don’t click the link in the link.

I asked TheFes if he could write up in a fresh post his global variable template so I could reference it better and then he asked if it could be in the cookbook. So He did and I did…

Trigger based template sensor to store global variables.

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I added a link to Definitive guide to Weather integrations 🌦 under a new subsection callen “integrations”.

The reason why I added it to the top of the section is because I think a section should go from beginner/basic stuff to advanced/obscure. Adding a (core) integration is pretty basic.

I suggest to reorder the section to:

  • integration
  • frontend
  • automation
  • blueprint
  • templating / yaml
  • system (including database)
    Notifications can be moved to integration or system maybe?
    It’s just my 2 cents. I don’t want to force my opinion.

The main added value of the weather integration guide is to help new users select the integration which fits their needs.
I’m planning to expend it with links to weather cards, supplementery integrations such as air quality and weather related blueprints.

My intent of these very specific guides is to complement this Cookbook.

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Thoughts on usefulness? https://community.home-assistant.io/t/where-does-notify-notify-put-files/739970/11?u=tom_l

It would basically entail:

  • Searching the integration index
  • Device specific vs domain documentation pages
  • How to interpret the configuration options.
  • How to interpret the service definitions.
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I just use Tips on Searching for Answers & Duplicate Topics in the Forum. and google the community, the docs, or both depending on what I’m looking for and drop a keyword, so I’m open to something new.
I have that in my sidebar.
Screenshot_20240615_201018

This would be more about how to use the documents to configure and/or use something. e.g. How many people know what this sort of information means?

Screenshot 2024-06-16 at 11-21-17 RESTful - Home Assistant

Or know how to specify a service from this information:

From my experience on this forum, not enough.

I have always felt a fair amount of the documentation on the website is from an advanced user’s perspective. I would suspect it’s intimidating for a new user.

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I guess what I was saying i I don’t know how the docs are set-up or the hierarchy really. It has never made a lot of sense to me. I just google everything picking out integration keywords or describe some thing I want to do (or the customer wants to do) and find it that way.
When I’m looking a template Jinja2 thing, I pull up the page and word search it because it’s one document. I don’t get that one either. But this is me.
I don’t think a post would have me doing something different to see if there is an integration, for instance. Maybe others, don’t know.

That too is what I would explain.

You are not alone, I do the same thing. Although, I start with the forum then move to Google if I am running in circles. My thought process being, someone else most likely asked the same question at some point.

Then I have my own notes because as I have gotten older I forget a lot. :older_man:

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It took me quite some time to find that out until Tom made me aware of this.
My idea was that integrations were 3rd party services, devices and didn’t think I would find something like the basic media player info amongst the integrations - now I do.
For newcomers, it’s not that obvious where to look for information.
Things have gotten better, but maybe that’s also my perception* because of being a regular.
Having more ‘upfront’ guidance in what do to, where to search, what to post when asking a question can be helpful.

Exactly this!

*edit

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It took me while to figure this out too. I only clicked it when I developed my own integration.

I think a cookbook is a good idea.

What I’m also thinking is whether one could reach out to the dev team to make a bigger change to the docs by creating a new top bar menu item called domains (for example). All these building blocks can then be put there.

I too find it odd that it’s under integrations when it’s not something you can directly use or configure. I know those pages typically call it out and that specific integrations will often link back to these building block pages, but the penny may not drop immediately.

@123
Just added this to the cookbook. It would be awesome if you did an edit to that to pull in your version of how to do this like you did in How do I create a unique name for scene within a blueprint? - #2 by 123. or however you want to present it. I did a header on my section in anticipation that you would add your section.

Your suggested method is easier than the template I had suggested back in 2021.

It’s true, but it requires a script or automation that has a trace and you can easily figure the context. Sometimes a random name/word is needed in just a template so yours can be a useful option. I would love to see it there but it is your choice.

( that template would make a useful custom_template as well…)

That said, if you want to persue that I’m hands off, but if you don’t, I would be happy to credit you on the code and share a custom template doing that in HACS, then post that as an alternative.
However I am pulling from your code, so you have to tell me it’s OK or I won’t.

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Ideally there would be Jinja2 function to generate UUID.

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True, but a custom template could do it.

By “custom template” do you mean a Jinja2 macro?

Given a choice of having a function versus a macro, I would choose a function for its convenience (no installation required and no “import” directive wherever it needs to be used).

Anyways, I added the following method, of creating a unique string, to the cookbook:

{{ now() | string | slugify }}
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Very true, but of the 2 there is only 1 that I am capable of pulling off.
An [FR] could be started for the other one.