I donāt use them because I donāt need to. I can easily and quickly write what I need myself tailored for my needs.
Nothing like class libraries.
Thatās not the point.
If you want to include how to write blueprints thatās fine.
But do not include a useful list of blueprints, that has no place in this (IMO).
The ancillary addons/blueprints/custom cards, etcā¦will still need to addressed in some respect.
No matter how solid the Cookbook is, folks we still push the limits on HA manipulation(a good thing) In fact it may generate additional customization questions as folks get educated. The majority of people attracted to HA are inquisitive and that will 100% generate requests for assistance beyond the Cookbook.
Whether we agree or disagree on whatās included, a clear line will need to be drawn in the sand.
I think it would be good to be explicit about what is excluded.
Yes, that was my long winded point! 
Thatās what you are saying. I agree. 100%
I wrote that up a few hours ago and posted that I did in the other āofficialā thread.
Have to admit that occasionally i use blueprints as yaml generator (although it has been a while).
Let it run once, look up the trace, copy the automation configuration and paste it into my automation to adapt for my own use.
after that i delete the blueprint as it has no value to me anymore
Same hereā¦but we are probably not the norm. Focus on the majority and finalize with the minority.
Thatās also what they are for.
And if you do the same thing over and over. like canned TTSās or playing MP3ās you can just write it once and tie into that a bunch of times.
Canāt the title just be Regularsā Chatroom? 
Agreed. Blueprints are community generated - not officially tested or maintained - much the same as custom integrations, which we have already excluded.
Iāve had HA switched off for the last four days. 
After about five years, an interesting experienceā¦
The main point was to make sure the house still functioned properlyā¦ and Iām pleased to report that it almost did. The doorbells didnāt ring (Zigbee buttons need binding) and it was impossible to control the yard light, which is on motion sensor (switch on order).
Otherwise, a rather enjoyable nostalgia fest. I find that I rather like flipping wall switches as I walk around the place. The thermostat had to be adjusted manually (not a problem) and the boiler stayed on for longer than it probably would have done, so a cost saving plus for HA there.
Also, so many devices were being turned on and off at the smart wall socket, Iād forgotten that most of them have on/off switches of their own. How simple just to press that!
The thing I missed most? Shopping list on the kitchen wall tablet (sorry guys). Followed, probably, by the weather forecast.
Also, a minor insight: complications beget complications.
When I walk the dog, I set the alarm. (Do I really need to do this? Well, the market town where I live is the fifth most dangerous in the county: there was a burglary only last month!). Arming the alarm triggers an automation which turns everything off. But sometimes I need to leave something on while Iām outā¦ OK, an input_boolean to leave the PC on, another for the Xboxā¦
How much simpler not to turn some of these things off in the first place. Just rely on my common sense to press the power off button (or not) when Iāve finished using them.
And the time Iāve saved not checking things. I think I may go off-HA-grid for a week every month. Hell, I might even not post on the forum. 
Cool experiment 
Our lighting setup is controllable manually in the event of HA being down. I started using bindings after a situation last winter: My main server is located in the garage, which is not insulated. During a cold period with temperatures down to -20 C I found out the hard way that the server has a lower temperature limit where it shuts down and will not power back on until the temperature is higher. I could easily have passed as a mental patient sitting in the garage at 6 AM, with my wifeās hairdryer blowing at the server.
Iāve after this set up binding and have made certain that this does not happen again
I did this same experiment a few weeks ago (granted not for 4 days). I couldnāt do a lot of bindings because most of my lights are Wiz lights. But, I was able to do some bindings to other zigbee lights (strips and a couple of outdoor bulbs). One thing that was troublesome were my Aqara double rockers. I have them all in decoupled mode, so no on/off events. I had to switch them back to control relay mode and then everything worked as it was supposed to. Wiz lights are great with their WizClick functionality.
Everything else worked well aside from my security automations as they all rely on the companion app and some nmap device tracking. Iām still thinking about a way around this.
So, Iām working out a Python script that tests if HA is down for 5 minutes and sends a MQTT message to flip the switches back to control relay mode automatically through Z2M. This is going to run on a āwatcherā rPi that will just be for monitoring various services and such.
Do write up a post if you manage to implement this. Had the same thought for my Aqara switches but initially dismissed your solution since I didnāt think it would survive if Z2Mqtt itself is dead.
Still, your plan is better than having no protection at all so I shouldnāt have dismissed that.
Ps. Thereās a Z2Mqtt extension which lets you set automations directly in Z2Mqtt, bypassing HA. That should avoid you needing separate hardware and scripts and reduce points of failure.
You are supposed to be able to pair things in Z2M but Iāve not had luck with things from different companies.
Welcome to the dark art of binding. Never could figure it out properly.
Found the extension I was referring to. Itās this one
zwave association is stupid easy. +1 for zwave I guess.
Have you looked at the ZHA toolkit? It gives you a set of services which you can call from developer tools. Iāve found ZHAās native binding is a bit hit and miss even with devices from the same company.
This is why I have disparate systems. The chances of HA, Z2M and MQTT all being down at the same time are slim. Separate servers and a docker swarm really helps. Although, I have had Z2M go down on me more than HA ever has. Thatās the other script I need to write: monitor the swarm and if a container goes down, redeploy it in the swarm to another host. I started writing it, but havenāt finished it yet.
oooohhhh I need to try that!!!