A thread started on the Home Assistant community forum on October 12 asked a question every installed system eventually runs into: once the automation list gets long, how do you keep track of it all? The replies are a decent cross-section of how people actually cope. We read through it, and a few ideas are worth passing on to anyone who maintains a system for themselves or for clients. The full thread is worth a look. Everything below comes from what posters said there, not from our own testing.
The approaches people described
- Categories and tags. One poster pointed out these only solve half the problem, since helpers are harder to group than automations.
- Split YAML files. One user keeps 211 automations hand-written in YAML, split into files such as cameras, climate, garage, lights and office. Their configuration keeps the UI-managed file separate and pulls the rest in with an include_dir_merge_list line pointing at a folder.
- Packages. Another poster recommended these because a package can hold the related automations, helpers, template sensors and scripts together in one file, so you are not hunting in several places to see what belongs to what.
- Tiny automations plus scripts. One user avoids medium-length automations. They prefer many one-trigger, one-action automations and a few very long ones, with repeated logic moved into scripts that take arguments. The caveat given: scripts should be truly generic and called from more than one place, otherwise you have only moved the mess.
- Descriptive template helpers. Another poster hides complex conditions behind helpers with self-explaining names, such as one that says whether the dishwasher is waiting for solar power. That keeps the automation itself simple and lets several triggers share one action.
- Multiple triggers. If you can get to one action with no conditions, a single automation can have several triggers, so one place shows everything that can fire it.
The comments problem
A side discussion covered comments. Posters said the UI editor strips YAML comments, and that flipping from hand-edited YAML back to the UI can reorder the keys. One poster demonstrated that a common Python YAML library drops comments when it re-saves a file, which would explain why the UI cannot keep them. Comments in files you edit directly on disk are fine. Another poster noted that the UI now supports a note on each automation step (three dots on the step, then add note), added a few releases ago by their account. If you live in the UI, that is the workaround to use.
What this means for an installed system
A few practical takeaways. Pick a structure before the count gets big, because reorganizing 200 automations later is a chore. If you mix UI and YAML, keep the UI-managed file separate and clearly labelled, since the UI may rewrite what is in it. Back up before you move anything. And be cautious about helper sprawl: one poster said their template helpers were getting out of control, and was considering putting logic that only one automation uses back inside that automation. Their rule of thumb was that a helper earns its place when you need delay_on or delay_off, when you need a dashboard control, or when several automations share it.
The thread also made clear there is no single right way. One poster said they have one blueprint and will probably drop it, while another is only now considering blueprints for reuse. Whatever you choose, make it consistent, make the names say what the thing does, and write it down for whoever opens the system next.