Problem statement
Non-administrator household members have no visibility into automations at all. They cannot access the automation overview UI, and there is no read-only equivalent. Even for administrators, understanding what an automation does requires reading YAML or stepping through the UI configuration. The description field exists to capture intent, but it isn't surfaced prominently and is rarely filled in. It's only the only option to add some form of documentation to automations; there is no ability to add comments inline.
The result is that automations are opaque to everyone except the person who built them. We want every household member to be able to see which automations exist and understand the intent behind each one at a glance.
Community signals
- "What does this automation do?" is a common household friction point (source needed).
- This feature request is asking for more ways to be able to explain existing automations to other people in the household.
Scope & Boundaries
In scope
- A read-only automation overview accessible to non-administrator household members
- Surfacing the description field as a first-class element in the automation list and detail view
- A generated plain-language summary of what an automation does, for automations without a description
- A main dashboard summary widget showing how many automations are active, linking to the full automation overview
Not in scope
- Editing access for non-administrators
- Automation activity or health visibility (or anything else "observability"-related)
Foreseen solution
A read-only automation overview is made accessible to all household members. The description field is surfaced prominently in both the list and detail view. For automations without a description, a generated summary is shown. Approach for generation (template-based vs. LLM-assisted) is an open question.
Risks & open questions
- Generated summary accuracy matters a lot. A wrong summary could be worse than none.
- Template-based generation may not cover complex automations well, but LLM-assisted adds a dependency
Appetite
Small-Medium — ~1 cycle. The read-only view and surfacing the description field can be quick; the generated summary adds complexity depending on approach.
Execution issues
No response
Decision log
Problem statement
Non-administrator household members have no visibility into automations at all. They cannot access the automation overview UI, and there is no read-only equivalent. Even for administrators, understanding what an automation does requires reading YAML or stepping through the UI configuration. The description field exists to capture intent, but it isn't surfaced prominently and is rarely filled in. It's only the only option to add some form of documentation to automations; there is no ability to add comments inline.
The result is that automations are opaque to everyone except the person who built them. We want every household member to be able to see which automations exist and understand the intent behind each one at a glance.
Community signals
Scope & Boundaries
In scope
Not in scope
Foreseen solution
A read-only automation overview is made accessible to all household members. The description field is surfaced prominently in both the list and detail view. For automations without a description, a generated summary is shown. Approach for generation (template-based vs. LLM-assisted) is an open question.
Risks & open questions
Appetite
Small-Medium — ~1 cycle. The read-only view and surfacing the description field can be quick; the generated summary adds complexity depending on approach.
Execution issues
No response
Decision log