Add a discrete "Entity" selection under Automation Actions

[brystmar]

This request strives to improve the UX for updating the state of entities which don't have a parent device (aka "orphaned" entities). Although I consider myself modestly technical, I was unable to figure out how to accomplish this in the UI without writing raw YAML. I posted that thread after spending an embarrassing amount of time searching for an answer to help me figure it out on my own.

Adding an orphaned entity's state as an automation Trigger or Condition is reasonably intuitive today. Including it under Actions is not. Today, users must select the Call Service option, then select the service they wish to call — often from a very long list of items which don't always sound like the right option.

For example, my two stairway light switches are combined in a switch group called Stairway Lights Group. To include this orphaned entity under Actions, I need to:

• Select Call A Service
• Remember that this specific light group is actually a group of switches, not a group of lights. If I try searching for "stairway", no auto-complete results are shown. Searching for "light" doesn't return the correct results, and neither does searching for "group".
• Select Switch: Turn on as my service.
• Now I can choose my entity.

This is not intuitive. The UI should enable a more straightforward implementation, such as selecting an Entity to update directly, or having a Set State option.

Some integrations create orphaned entities by default. Some users configure helper entities, such as groups or boolean helpers, which are natural orphans. I believe this is a common enough occurrence to warrant a discrete Entity option, even if that option is potentially duplicative.