Helper creation and duplication

[thoriversen]

Describe your core improvement

This request is twofold:

1. Copy helpers: Allow users to copy an existing helper (including all of its configuration such as name, initial value, min/max, step, icon, etc.). This would make it much faster to create multiple similar helpers without having to repeat the same steps manually via the UI.
2. Create helpers via script or YAML: Introduce support for creating helpers programmatically - either through a new service (e.g., helper.create) or by allowing them to be defined in YAML like automations and scripts. Ideally, this would include support for loops and variables, enabling batch creation of similar helpers with minimal effort.

Use cases:

• Quickly duplicating helpers for multiple people, rooms, or zones
• Creating 10–50 helpers in a setup process using loops and variable input
• Avoiding repetitive UI work when building dashboards or automation structures

Current limitations

Currently, helpers must be created manually through the UI, one at a time. This becomes tedious and error-prone when many similar helpers are needed — especially in setups involving dozens of helpers for rooms, users, or devices.

Technical benefits

• Faster configuration and scaling for larger or advanced setups
• Reduced human error by avoiding repeated manual input

Additional context

Other parts of Home Assistant (like automations and scripts) support YAML configuration, duplication, and templating. Bringing similar capabilities to helpers would ensure consistency across the platform and greatly improve usability for power users.

This request is somewhat related to: https://github.com/orgs/home-assistant/discussions/34

[gjohansson-ST]

Most helpers supports yaml configuration just fine so not sure why it's a topic here?

[thoriversen]

Thanks for the reply.

Just to clarify my perspective:
This request is less about whether helpers can be defined in YAML, and more about how users are supposed to do it in practice.

For example, I have an input_number.something, and I’d like to duplicate it with all its settings (name, min/max, initial value, icon, step, etc.). Right now, that has to be done manually through the UI, one by one (I think).

I’m not sure what the current recommended way is to define or replicate helpers efficiently, if there is a proper YAML-based approach, it’s definitely not obvious to newcomers like me.

A feature like copy helper or script-based creation would make it much easier to scale up setups involving dozens of similar helpers.

Appreciate any pointers if such functionality already exists - otherwise, I do think this could be a helpful improvement for many.

[yxk6q6jsww-cpu]

Agree to the request. It should be a no brainer to copy and paste helpers as almost any other element/diagram or automation. But the feature does not exist. Creating multiple helpers is tiresome. YAML does work of course, but HomeAssistant was designed for balancing between coding and accessibility. So it is a question of taget audience and user orientation to have such normal features.

[fra-yer]

I agree to the request. Copying/duplicating an existing helper would be a great addition. For clarity, the following would be helpful for me (as i have a number of groups with >25 entities):
• Use case: Duplicate an existing light group helper, to create variants of it, e.g. "minus bedroom lights" or "minus status LEDs"
• Expected behavior: A “Duplicate” (or copy/paste) button on the helper detail page that:
• creates a new helper of same type
• copies all options (name, icon if applicable, entity list, etc.).
• prompts for new name and entity_id/unique_id
• Scope: At least group-style helpers (Light group, Sensor group, etc.), ideally all helpers that have structured configuration.
• Why it matters: Reduces friction, reduces errors, encourages consistent naming and reuse.
As of now, there is no documented way to duplicate or copy an existing helper that was created in the GUI. This is clearly something users expect, given that "duplicate" is present for many other things.

[Tankdoz]

I support the request as well:
I ran into this issue as well when I started creating helpers to parameterize my automations so I could adjust values using a dashboard instead of hardcoding them. Once you build a dashboard, you quickly end up needing many helpers, and creating them one by one through the UI takes significant time. YAML allows batch creation and updates, but helpers created in YAML don’t show up in some (filtered) searches or in the 'used-by' view in the UI.

It’s manageable, but it would be much easier if the UI supported batch create/update and offered a way to migrate helpers between YAML and the UI in both directions.

It would also help if there were a helper type that supports selecting multiple options, similar to how the UI lets you pick multiple weekdays in automations. Building something like that in a dashboard requires creating seven separate helpers that can be toggled individually, which feels overly complicated for such a simple use case.

[muddro1]

Ties into this request, not sure its exactly the same, but just like dashboards, I would like to be able to view the whole yaml of the helper instead of just parts. I think this ties into duplication piece somewhat.

[robchandhok]

Strongly agree with this enhancement request. I also agree with @muddro1 that it implies full YAML edit mode for helpers, which is likely why It Is Harder Than It Seems. :-)

My use case today was duplicating a helper from one HA instance to another, one that included an enumerated value (an input_select for phase of day). There's no good way to copy of the values for the input_select.

[DaniMol]

Agree to this request

Creating helpers is in my opinion quite cumbersome in the first place.
I really hate how I have to create them first before I can put them in a category.
And like many others, I create a lot of them with the same functionality, just minor parameter differences between them.
It's an absolute pain to create big batches of them