Understanding YAML as it's used in Home Assistant Config files

[@pr19580]

That video had the highest density of answered questions of anything I watched recently! Thanks!

[@williammiller4143]

There is so much to digest but the approach of one task per day makes it less scary. Thanks to you and Frank for a great video!

[@surfingnoid]

THANK YOU! This was absolutely, by far, the best explanation of how HA uses YAML and the structure of everything!!! All of this now makes complete sense, and I just wish I saw this six months ago. It would have saved me from repairing and painting my walls after constantly bashing my head against them.

[@LordGeva]

Keep coming back to this video everyday. It's pure gold

[@andrejsersen59]

AWESOME!!! Thank you guys for this! I think you should do such classroom/course regularly!

[@aleharder]

So glad I watched this before starting out in HA, definitely helpful to keep everything organized right from the start. 😄

[@tarcisio_menezes]

What a informative video!!! Thank you very much for both of you! Waiting for more videos like that! 👏🏻

[@andor421]

Great video to start with yaml! I'm migrating from domoticz to homeassistant and this video helps me understand the automations in yaml and help me to design my configurations (splits) before starting.

[@user-0xastalavista]

It's great, big thanks Doc and Frenck. It's really helpful and the fog of yaml files in my head just got cleared a lot. :-) One line I like most is : "Every automation is a item in a list. Inside the item is a dictionary. So it (automaiion.yaml) is a list of dictionaries." Thanks. :-)

[@michiganmitten]

I've been hoping for an explanation like this for years! Thank you!

[@PM13501]

Franck, this video has been the best one I have watched so far on HA! It made my life so much less messier and now I only refactor code in small steps.....thank you for taking time to explain it.

[@gonzalolaplata]

Just 3 words... THANK YOU BOTH!!!!!!!!!

[@madrian_hello]

Back to basics, oh yes! I learned a lot. Thank you both. BTW Frank has the best ASMR voice ever. 😬😎

[@edgaro.4564]

Doc, This video is soo valuable , Thanks, and just in 30 mins.!!!!!

[@JevVan]

Wow, new to hassio, but I've been coding as a hobby my whole life. This video, just ulocked a ton of knowledge and understanding of how HA works. Thank you so much!

[@stevesfascinations1516]

You filled in a bunch of missing information in my knowledge bank! Thanks to Dr & Frank!

[@chrisc9213]

HA Yaml 101, when are HA Yaml 200 & 300 courses come out? Great Job!!

[@PM13501]

Excellent tutorial, very informative!!! Thanks for putting it together.

[@ChrisTopher-wl6pd]

Ok this was f@cking AWESOME!!! Hurry up and do class 102

[@jeffmills8737]

Great information. When you added the "Alexa Media Player", did you put the files it created for each of you echo devices in a folder? Looks like by default it just places them in "config/"

[@EsotericArctos]

Thanks for editing this and releasing a concise version. I think this will help a lot of people and reduce the confusion. Yaml is quite a powerful way to program HA, but most people get lost in the big files and the indentation. @DrZzsHow far have you got with your splitting so far?

[@lmamakos]

Not to be pedantic, but you're not actually *programming* anything in YAML - you're defining a data structure. Now, it's a pretty large and complex data structure, but that's really what's happening here. I think if people think of YAML as a way to write down and specify structured data -- which is then interpreted in specific ways by software like Home Assistant - then it's less magical. An automation in Home Assistant is just a defined by a specifically shaped piece of data. And white space / indentation largely ceases to be a problem if you have a text editor or other tool that understands YAML definitions to help you.

[@balelab4211]

Outstanding informations, thanks!

[@nigelhill6358]

Great video. Thanks a lot !!

[@dionwestmeijer8735]

Nice Vid!

[@sekt1953]

Excellent tutorial, very informative !!! Thanks for putting it together. next question how can i have Helpers like timers, input_select, etc .. in yaml files and still be able to create Helpers with UI, later move them to yal files.

[@paullonsdale2148]

Silly question I’m sure - but what is the benefit of creating lots of smaller files vs. Smaller number of longer files?

[@frogeye22]

Me too.. Can someone throw some light on this ??

[@finipini]

hello. It surprised me at 23:20 that Frank said that automations in packages does not needed full reload of HA, but i tested it and it does need it. Am i missing something, or doesn,t understand it right ?

[@Druidus98]

This is so helpful 👍🏻 Thx a lot dream team 😉 What about securing this all with ssl https and certificates? Thx again 🙏🏻🍪

[@waynenocton]

Have you done any kind of home tour so we can see what all you are controlling?

[@CamStansell]

excellent.

[@3ATIVE]

I watched the live stream of this, after the fact, so didn't get a chance to ask... Does this mean Franck is about to buy a 3D Printer???

[@DrZzs]

oh man! I can't believe I forgot to ask him that! BTW, I watched a couple of your Alexa TTS videos. Great work man. Keep it up!

[@seamus65]

Technically would Justin not have to actually tidy his config before that happens?

[@3ATIVE]

@@DrZzs Call him now!! LOL So glad you like(d) my tuts. Thnx for the support, still got a few more ideas on the list. 😎

[@3ATIVE]

@@seamus65 I thought that too, that's why I ask if he was "about to buy..." 😉

[@reesericdotci]

Thanks for the cut poo!

[@heimdallmidgard4670]

Nice video you too. Now make a video about variables/input numbers and automations etc. Or any other topic.

[@Rmharnisch]

Best comment: "You can't triple stamp a double stamp" 🤣

[@ranikeev]

Is it possible to do nested includes?

[@sekt1953]

someone shows items on split like this: automation split:! include_dir_list ./automations others like here: automation split:! include_dir_list automations / I understand well what ./ means, but what is correct

[@DavidSmith-fh3yi]

Great video, although I watched the original a few times to get my head around lists and dictionarys, almost there now! You mention a sensor to show how many lines in config.yaml Can you or anyone reading this share how you did it, i have looked for a couple of hours but nothing immediately springs to the front.

[@DavidSmith-fh3yi]

I managed to get the solution from some nice people on the facebook group "DrZzs Home Automation and Tech Hacks" This works on my RPi 4 with HASSIO using the command line integration within my sensors.yaml: - platform: command_line name: config yaml lines command: 'cat /root/config/configuration.yaml | wc -l'

[@guentherh8807]

It seems you HA automation doesn't work properly as you have to wear these hats. Will watch the video in detail when I have time at home :-)

[@lubeda04]

very helpful, but i thing @frencks 04-secret-trick.yaml does only work for automations and not for scripts :-( at least i couldnt get it to work.

[@johnwalker3180]

Great video, but I can't get even the basics of it to work for me. Created "integrations" folder pointed to by "packages" line in configuration.yaml and moved one integration (a Xiaomi robot vacuum) and I cannot for the life of me get it to recognize it. So, I'm just going to continue doing most of this in NodeRed. It's just so much easier.

[@MrBobWareham]

I can see why people use NodRed

[@enkrypt3d]

is he saying YAML or JAML?

[@abouteverything2115]

I used to program in C++, Fortran, Pascal, and still do VBA. Apparently, I am a mechanical engineer with old school programming skills. I tried learning Java and recently Yaml but to be honest, these are absolutely boring stuff. I hate it to admit that these days I copy and paste code when I need it and just fix small pieces here and there. Why on Earth we need so many different programming languages? These days every developer creates a new language. It's like they say "Ok, we have built this abacus, let's create a new language, copy C++ style but change a few rules and add a few unnecessary handling elements and make it sensitive to spaces so that people have to come to our community and search for clues". How hard can it be to use an existing language and just add your own library to it? I don't think copying a language is harder than creating one.

[@kevin8798]

13:37 Funny that in the USA you can't say sh*t. Where in The Netherlands you can, without beeing beeped or whatever haha.

[@n.r.2258]

Nerds for nerds ....

[@xnolimitgamerx]

The left one is Dutch

[@jamegrabham9992]

First course for me...LOL

[@seamus65]

First? TeeHee!!!

[@LapinskasDarius]

HA YAML configuration format is freaking junk :E

[@dagger6498]

This made no sense!

[@nexes-forty-four2381]

First