Adding Entities

Add and manage Home Assistant entities in your plasmoid

Once you’ve configured your connection, you can add Home Assistant entities to your plasmoid. The entity management interface allows you to add, edit, remove, and reorder entities that appear in your widget.

Entity Management Interface

The entity list is managed through the Items configuration page (ConfigItems.qml:94-106), which displays all configured entities with their icons, names, and entity IDs.

Opening the Configuration

1. Right-click the plasmoid widget
2. Select Configure Home Assistant…
3. Navigate to the Items tab

The entity list displays a busy indicator while fetching available entities from your Home Assistant instance. Entities become available once the connection is established.

Adding New Entities

1. Step 1: Click the Add Button
2. At the bottom of the configuration dialog, click the Add button (ConfigItems.qml:31-36).
3. This opens the entity configuration dialog with empty fields for a new entity.
4. Step 2: Select Entity ID
5. In the entity configuration dialog:
7. The autocomplete provides all entity IDs from your Home Assistant instance, sorted alphabetically.
8. Example entity IDs:
9. light.living_room
   sensor.temperature
   switch.bedroom_fan
   climate.thermostat
   

10. The Entity field includes autocomplete functionality (ConfigItem.qml:20-22) that searches through all available entities as you type.

11. Step 3: Configure Entity Settings
12. After selecting an entity ID, you can customize:
14. See Entity Settings for detailed configuration options.
15. Step 4: Save the Entity
16. Click OK to add the entity to your list. The entity appears immediately in the entity list.

Entity List View

The entity list (ConfigItems.qml:94-163) displays configured entities with:

• Drag handle: Reorder entities by dragging (ConfigItems.qml:137-142)
• Icon: Entity icon (custom or from Home Assistant)
• Title: Entity name or friendly name
• Subtitle: Entity ID
• Edit button: Modify entity settings
• Delete button: Remove entity from list

Reordering Entities

Entities can be reordered using drag-and-drop:

1. Click and hold the drag handle (left side of each entity)
2. Drag the entity to the desired position
3. Release to drop the entity in the new position
4. Changes are automatically saved (ConfigItems.qml:141)

The order in the configuration list determines the order entities appear in the plasmoid widget.

Reordering uses smooth animations (ConfigItems.qml:98-100) to show entities moving to their new positions.

Editing Entities

To modify an existing entity:

1. Click the Edit button (pencil icon) next to the entity (ConfigItems.qml:153-156)
2. The entity configuration dialog opens with current settings
3. Make your changes
4. Click OK to save

All entity settings can be modified after creation, including the entity ID.

Removing Entities

To remove an entity from the plasmoid:

1. Click the Delete button (trash icon) next to the entity (ConfigItems.qml:157-160)
2. The entity is immediately removed from the list
3. Changes are automatically saved

Deleting an entity only removes it from the plasmoid display. It does not affect the entity in Home Assistant.

Entity Availability

The plasmoid fetches available entities and services when the configuration page loads (ConfigItems.qml:118-126):

• Entity states: All entities from ha.getStates()
• Available services: Service definitions from ha.getServices()

This data is used for:

• Autocomplete in the Entity field
• Displaying entity icons and friendly names
• Populating service action dropdowns
• Validating entity configurations

Error Handling

If the connection to Home Assistant fails:

• An error message appears at the top of the dialog (ConfigItems.qml:21-26)
• The entity list shows a busy indicator
• Add/Edit operations are disabled until connection is restored

Ensure your Home Assistant URL and token are correctly configured in the General settings if you encounter connection errors.

Bulk Operations

For managing multiple entities at once, see the Backup & Restore documentation for import/export functionality.

Next Steps

After adding entities, customize their behavior and appearance:

Entity Settings

Configure display options, actions, and notifications

Backup & Restore

Export and import entity configurations