Add "Edit in YAML" and "Create from YAML" for Helpers (like Automations)

[spacecabbie]

Describe your core improvement

Enable a hybrid workflow for Helpers similar to Automations: start in the GUI wizard for guided creation/structure, switch to YAML mode to edit or add advanced options, and add a "Create from YAML" option to paste/import YAML code directly (with validation).
This is already possible almost everywhere in Home Assistant (e.g., automations, scripts, scenes, blueprints), making Helpers a notable exception — bridging UI ease with full YAML power, without manual config file edits or full restarts.

Current limitations

• Helpers are UI-only for creation/editing (stored in .storage, no direct YAML access).
• Advanced options require full YAML recreation from scratch in configuration.yaml or template.yaml.
  Editing template.yaml is a poor workaround for novice and intermediate users who rely on the GUI to generate a correct base structure before editing. Direct YAML editing lacks any built-in validation, preview, or error highlighting; mistakes are unforgiving, external file management is required, and syntax errors or broken inter-entity dependencies can easily cause widespread issues. Forcing an all-or-nothing YAML approach from the start hinders learning and discourages gradual progression from GUI to code.
• template.yaml workaround is cumbersome: edit file externally → save → check config → reload "Template entities" (Developer Tools → YAML). New template helpers load on reload after initial setup, but first-time use of the template integration often requires a full restart. No built-in editor/validation/preview, manual file handling, syntax errors can affect unrelated entities, and reloads sometimes break inter-dependent templates (requiring restart to fix) — far less seamless than automations/scripts.
• Inconsistent with automations/scripts/scenes, where UI ↔ YAML is seamless.

Technical benefits

• Quick edits/reloads directly in UI YAML editor.
• Easy import of community YAML snippets with validation.
• GUI scaffolding + YAML tweaks lowers the bar for novices/advanced users.
• Better learning: See YAML from GUI actions.
• Faster sharing/troubleshooting via copy-paste YAML.

Additional context

• Automations model this perfectly: GUI create → YAML edit → quick reload.
• Many users fake it by creating dummy Helpers to inspect structure, then rewrite in YAML — inefficient.
• Especially useful for template sensors/binary sensors, input_select with complex options, etc., where UI lacks fields (e.g., delays, advanced templates).

[Cschlaefli]

I setup a dev environment because this would be helpful, thinking that it may be possible to update helpers to use the ha-yaml-editor like ha-automation--editor or hui-dialog-edit- components.

Looks like you'd need to add support to both the helper creation dialog flow (dialog-helper-detail), and/or possibly conditionally show it in the more-info dialog.

Mostly documenting my brief research into this. I think templates/helpers may be the only configuration where it would actually be helpful instead of harmful to directly edit yaml directly, and I suspect that is the reason it hasn't been done, but I couldn't personally find any discussion on it.

The other thing that probably makes it more complicated is that automations, scripts, scenes and dashboards operate off of some trigger, where Helpers are adding or modifying entities.

Not 100% on the architecture but I imagine those are handled quite differently and the impact of invalid yaml might be harder to predict for an entity, basically guessing on that one though.

[oka326]

Great proposal. I want to add a broader architectural framing that I think strengthens the case.

The real problem: storage format and input format are conflated

The current situation is:

• Helpers are stored in .storage/ (JSON) — which is fine
• But YAML is no longer accepted as input — which is the problem

These are two separate concerns. Conflating them creates a gap that affects the entire ecosystem, not just power users.

AI assistants will keep generating YAML — for years

Every LLM (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) trained on Home Assistant community content will produce YAML for Helper configuration for the foreseeable future. The community knowledge base — docs, forums, GitHub, YouTube — is written in YAML. There is no mechanism to
retrain the ecosystem on a new format.

Today, if a user asks an AI how to create a input_select Helper, they get YAML. That YAML cannot be pasted anywhere in the UI. The user is stuck.

The fix is simpler than it looks

Not "store in YAML" — just accept YAML as input, convert to JSON on import. The storage layer stays exactly as-is.

This is the same pattern already working for Automations:
GUI ↔ YAML editor, stored internally in .storage/.
Helpers are the only notable exception.

Undeclared deprecation is not a migration strategy

YAML support for Helpers is being quietly reduced in the codebase, but without any announcement, without updated docs, and without tooling that makes the transition rational. The result: the ecosystem and the codebase are moving in opposite directions.

A YAML import path for Helpers would be the minimum viable bridge — and would send a clear signal about what the actual migration path looks like.

Proposed scope (minimal):

• "Create from YAML" button in the Helper creation dialog
• Parse → validate → convert to .storage/ JSON schema
• No change to storage layer required

[mad-scientist]

Fully agree to the problem statement. I consider myself an advanced user, and I find it highly confusing that with helpers some things can be done only in UI, while other things can be done only in YAML, and I cannot convert UI <> YAML.

The approach with automations is fantastic, please consider this as the reference standard!

[spacecabbie]

I agree with all of these, i find it just a little bit worrying that no reply or acknowledgments has been given to this topic....