WTH critical entities alert and backup action

Hi everyone,

I’d like to propose a new feature that could improve the robustness of Home Assistant for critical use cases. The idea is to allow users to mark certain entities as “critical”, which would enable special handling for these entities in terms of notifications and fault tolerance.

Key Features:

  1. Marking Entities as Critical: users could assign a “critical” tag to specific entities via the UI
  2. Enhanced Monitoring: if a critical entity becomes unavailable, reports errors, or has unexpected behavior, Home Assistant could:
    • Send immediate notifications (e.g., push, email, or persistent notifications in the dashboard).
    • Log these events clearly for easier troubleshooting.
  3. Fault Tolerance Actions: when critical entities fail, Home Assistant could automatically:
    • Trigger predefined backup actions (e.g., switch to a secondary device or activate a fallback configuration).
    • Execute automations designed for fault scenarios.
  4. Dashboard Indicators: critical entities could be highlighted on the dashboard, making them easier to monitor in real time.

Use Case Examples:

  • Smart Locks or Security Systems: be notified instantly if a lock goes offline or experiences issues.
  • HVAC Systems: ensure your thermostat/boiler doesn’t fail during extreme weather.
  • Backup Devices: automatically activate a backup light or sensor when the primary device is unavailable.

Why This Is Important:
Home Assistant is used in many critical scenarios, and having a built-in way to manage high-priority entities could prevent downtime or enhance safety. While some of this can be achieved with custom automations today, an integrated “critical entity” feature would streamline the process and make it accessible to all users.

What do you think? Would this be useful for your setups? Any additional ideas or feedback are welcome!

These are grest ideas. Most of them can currently be achieved with labels, template triggers, and a series of automations/scripts.

What is it you are currently trying to do that those tools don’t work for?

3 Likes

This should solve your WTH

1 Like

I think I see the point here.

I guess it won’t hurt if HA would indeed actively tell if something was wrong.
All by itself, like a default behavior for each device (with an option to disable it).

Of course you can always build something that checks something and then send a notification. I have a bunch of automations for exactly that reason.

But it feels a bit like
Q: “I need a desk”
A: “Grab an axe, fell a tree, …”