Blueprints are a great, but lack a UI editor. I usually create automatons with the UI so for blueprints I end up designing and testing it in the automation editor then copy and paste the results into the yaml file. The problem arises again if bugs are discovered and I need to edit the blueprint.
This might be a long-term goal of the developers, especially with the recent changes to the automation editor UI. Just my two low-value coins on the subject.
+1, I often wonder for my automations whether to make a blueprint to reduce redundancy and improve scalability or to duplicate automations because they’re easier to modify than a YAML blueprint.
Blueprints in the UI would save a lot of time!
I’m running into the same issue. I kept looking up “Templates” thinking they were what “Blueprints” are. I’ve been struggling with this for 2 weeks now. Home Assistant has great docs provided you know which term to look up. If I could’ve clicked “Blueprints” in the UI using “+ Add Blueprint”, it would’ve been obvious how they work.
Blueprints need to be first-class citizens. Scripts are a clutch for me. I finally got to the point where I was trying to write advanced scripts with Trigger IDs and realized it was gonna be easier if I could simply write a template for the whole Automation.
Here’s how I view it: I don’t want to download someone else’s Blueprint, I want to create my own. Considering we have Fields in Scripts, it makes sense to have Inputs or Fields in Blueprints. At the same time, I can’t see how difficult it would be to edit Blueprints in the UI considering it could use the same “Fields” panel as Scripts and that could sit right above the Automation pieces.
Is it possible I could add this myself? I’m assuming it wouldn’t be too difficult considering Scripts have almost the exact same functionality.
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Just wanted to add my voice. I’d love to see the entire Blueprint in a UI editor. I had a line 11 column 17 error in my new one after listing blueprints, and trying to match what HA thought line 11 was against my original text file revealed no column 17 on what I thought was line 11 at all. Probably some indentation error causing the parser to think something was on the line that was not physically, but a UI editor can pinpoint what’s giving its own system problems more than an unrelated text editor