I also find this a very weird and concerning change. If there’s any setting that should remain in the yaml, this is the one.
This is the one setting that every single software out there, even the ones with no configuration file at all, lets you configure without using a webUI, and that’s for very obvious reasons.
Is there anywhere we can read about the reasoning behind this deprecation?
The PR that implemented this doesn’t go in detail about why this deprecation was even remotely necessary, and I find it to be a concerning change: if ones current http config becomes unusable for whatever reason (unexpected server migration, new router from a shitty ISP, using the port for something else, etc), how would they change these access configurations if the webUI cannot be accessed?
Same goes for a first-time setup where the default port is inaccessible or whatever, how would one change the broken http settings if you need the http settings to be working in order to change the http settings?
This is also true for if you get something wrong when setting up https for the first time, I guess the backup settings would help in this case but otherwise you could end up needing a full reinstall if you do a single wrong configuration…
I truly hope this isn’t a move away from the ability to configure Home Assistant in yaml in general. The declarative yaml configuration and UI settings always coexisted in harmony in Home Assistant, see for example how you can have both yaml and UI automations at the same time and stuff, and the configuration file is a great way to declaratively configure the software without having to worry about manually doing these configurations on a new installation. Plus, sometimes wrong settings can break Home Assistant from launching (like any software out there) so the ability to change them without relying on a working connection to the web UI is very important. I see no reason why the UI couldn’t exist while still keeping the yaml configuration, just block the UI with an “already configured via yaml” alert when that’s the case, like is already done for the homeassistant: key in configuration.yaml.
I myself made Home Assistant totally inaccessible many times when trying to configure https and reverse proxies, until I eventually gave up. The only reason I was able to recover was the configuration being accessible without needing the web UI. I guess now I’m just never trying to configure that again, because I’m definitely not risking having to do a full reinstall and reconfigure all my zigbee devices if something goes wrong.