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| title | description |
|---|---|
| Concepts and terminology | Explaining some Home Assistant basics |
Now you're in Home Assistant, let's look at the most important concepts.
Integrations
Integrations are pieces of software that allow Home Assistant to connect to other software and platforms. For example, a product by Philips called Hue would use the Philips Hue {% term integration %} and allow Home Assistant to talk to the hardware controller Hue Bridge. Any Home Assistant compatible {% term devices %} connected to the Hue Bridge would appear in Home Assistant as devices.
For a full list of compatible {% term integrations %}, refer to the integrations documentation.
Once an {% term integration %} has been added, the hardware and/or data are represented in Home Assistant as devices and entities.
Entities
Entities are the basic building blocks to hold data in Home Assistant. An {% term entity %} represents a {% term sensor %}, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other {% term entities %}. An {% term entity %} is usually part of a {% term device %} or a {% term service %}. Entities have {% term states %}.
Devices
Devices are a logical grouping for one or more {% term entities %}. A {% term device %} may represent a physical {% term device %}, which can have one or more sensors. The sensors appear as entities associated with the {% term device %}. For example, a motion sensor is represented as a {% term device %}. It may provide motion detection, temperature, and light levels as {% term entities %}. Entities have states such as detected when motion is detected and clear when there is no motion.
Devices and entities are used throughout Home Assistant. To name a few examples:
- Dashboards can show a state of an {% term entity %}. For example, if a light is on or off.
- An automation can be triggered from a state change on an {% term entity %}. For example, a motion sensor entity detects motion and triggers a light to turn on.
- A predefined color and brightness setting for a light saved as a scene.
Automations
A set of repeatable {% term actions %} that can be set up to run automatically. Automations are made of three key components:
- Triggers - events that start an {% term automation %}. For example, when the sun sets or a motion sensor is activated.
- Conditions - optional tests that must be met before an {% term action %} can be run. For example, if someone is home.
- Actions - interact with {% term devices %} such as turn on a light.
To learn the basics about {% term automations %}, refer to the automation basics page or try creating an automation yourself.
Scripts
Similar to {% term automations %}, scripts are repeatable {% term actions %} that can be run. The difference between {% term scripts %} and {% term automations %} is that {% term scripts %} do not have triggers. This means that {% term scripts %} cannot automatically run unless they are used in an {% term automations %}. Scripts are particularly useful if you perform the same {% term actions %} in different {% term automations %} or trigger them from a dashboard. For information on how to create {% term scripts %}, refer to the scripts documentation.
Scenes
Scenes allow you to create predefined settings for your {% term devices %}. Similar to a driving mode on phones, or driver profiles in cars, it can change an environment to suit you. For example, your watching films {% term scene %} may dim the lighting, switch on the TV and increase its volume. This can be saved as a {% term scene %} and used without having to set individual {% term devices %} every time.
To learn how to use {% term scenes %}, refer to the scene documentation.
Add-ons
Depending on your installation type, you can install third party add-ons. Add-ons are usually apps that can be run with Home Assistant but provide a quick and easy way to install, configure, and run within Home Assistant. Add-ons provide additional functionality whereas {% term integrations %} connect Home Assistant to other apps.
{% include getting-started/next_step.html step="Edit the dashboard" link="/getting-started/onboarding_dashboard/" %}