Settings in 0.9.7

These are the settings on the Configure page of version 0.9.7, in the order the app shows them. Settings marked Advanced are hidden while the page is set to Basic.

Other versions

Identity

Panel ID

Basic · panel_id

Stable id used in entity IDs and MQTT topics (lowercase, digits, underscores; 63 characters maximum).

Panel Assistant fills this in on first start, before it connects to anything, so a panel always has one:

• when the Android device name is set and is not just the model, the ID is made from that name;
• otherwise it is the model followed by a short suffix that keeps two panels of the same model apart.

Whatever you type is converted on save: letters become lowercase, any run of other characters becomes one underscore, and leading or trailing underscores are dropped.

You type	Stored as
Front Door	front_door
Hall - Upstairs	hall_upstairs
garage.wall 2	garage_wall_2

The ID names the panel in MQTT topics and entity IDs, in the panel list other panels show in their header switcher, and as the host name on every line the panel ships to a log collector. For the name people see, use Friendly name.

Caution

Set the ID once when you add the panel and then leave it alone. Changing it on a panel that already has entities in Home Assistant changes those names, so dashboards and automations that refer to the old ones stop matching, and the panel drops its cached link to its Home Assistant device and finds it again.

The ID is never copied when settings are applied to another panel, because two panels must not share it.

Related: Move a panel from MQTT

Friendly name

Basic · friendly_name

HA device display name.

This is the name shown:

• on the panel’s device card in Home Assistant, whether the panel is connected through Panel Assistant or through MQTT;
• for this panel in other panels’ header switcher.

Left blank, it uses the Android device name, which is also what the Home Assistant Companion app uses by default, and falls back to the model when the device has no name. Unlike Panel ID it is only a label, so you can rename it at any time without affecting entity IDs. It is never copied when settings are applied to another panel.

Manufacturer

Advanced · manufacturer

HA device-card manufacturer override (blank = profile/auto).

The manufacturer on the Home Assistant device card is the first of these that has a value:

1. this setting, used exactly as you type it;
2. the manufacturer named in the panel’s device profile;
3. the manufacturer Android reports.

Fill it in only when the automatic value is wrong or unhelpful, for example a rebadged panel that reports the chip or board maker rather than the brand on the box. It changes only the label; it does not change which device profile or hardware features the panel uses. It is treated as specific to this panel, so it is not copied when settings are applied to other panels by default. See also Model.

Related: Runtime panel profiles

Model

Advanced · model

HA device-card model override (blank = profile/auto).

The model on the Home Assistant device card is the first of these that has a value:

1. this setting, used exactly as you type it, with nothing added;
2. the model named in the panel’s device profile;
3. the model, device or product name Android reports.

Connection	Automatic value (2 or 3) is shown as
MQTT	the name followed by (ha-paneld), so the panel can be told apart from another integration that manages the same hardware
Panel Assistant	the name as it is, without that marker

Like Manufacturer, this changes only the label: device profile matching and hardware features are unaffected.

Related: Runtime panel profiles

Area in Home Assistant

Advanced · ha_area

Where this panel lives, by Home Assistant area name. This can only be changed in ha-paneld if your HA user has admin permissions, otherwise change it on your device in HA.

The list offers the areas that exist in your Home Assistant. Leaving it blank means “follow Home Assistant”.

Home Assistant's area wins unless you chose a different one here on purpose.

• When the device already has an area in Home Assistant, Panel Assistant adopts it here, even if you never open this setting.
• When the device has no area, the one you choose here is written to it, which needs a Home Assistant user with admin rights. Without admin rights it stays a request, and it is also suggested when the device is first registered.
• When you choose an area that differs from the device’s area in Home Assistant, Panel Assistant keeps your choice rather than reverting it. Choosing the same area as Home Assistant ends the override.

Tip

With Auto-sleep presence source set to Home Assistant, the presence and motion entities it watches are found through this area. If the room the panel is in has no motion sensor, point it at a neighbouring area that does.

The change applies without restarting anything.

MQTT

Broker URL

Basic · mqtt_broker

Blank auto-discovers HA over mDNS.

Note

MQTT is the older way a panel’s screen, buttons and sensors reach Home Assistant. Panels can now move those entities to Panel Assistant, which needs no broker, and MQTT support is due to be removed before version 1.0.

Left blank, the panel looks for Home Assistant on the local network over mDNS and connects to tcp://<address>:1883 on the Home Assistant instance that has that port open, which suits the Mosquitto add-on. Enter a URL when your broker runs elsewhere or on another port.

Scheme	Connection	Port when none is given
tcp://, mqtt://, or no scheme	unencrypted	1883
ssl://, mqtts://, tls://	TLS	8883

Examples: homeassistant.local, mqtts://192.168.x.x, tcp://[fd00::10]:1883 (IPv6 addresses go in square brackets).

WebSocket brokers, paths and user names inside the URL are not accepted; put credentials in Username and Password. How the host name is resolved is set by address family.

Related: Move a panel from MQTT

Username

Basic · mqtt_user

Credential for this panel.

The user name the panel gives the broker, together with Password. With the Mosquitto add-on this is usually a Home Assistant user you created for the panel.

• Clearing the user name also clears the stored password, so the panel connects without credentials.
• If the broker rejects the pair, the panel status shows that authentication was rejected.

The value is treated as specific to this panel and is not copied to other panels by default.

Related: Move a panel from MQTT

Password

Basic · mqtt_password

Blank on save keeps the current password.

The password for Username. The form never shows the stored password, so the field is empty each time you open it.

When you save with	The stored password
the field empty	is kept
a new password	is replaced
the user name cleared	is cleared as well
a changed broker URL and the field empty, in Hardened security mode	is discarded

Like the user name, it is not copied to other panels by default.

Related: Move a panel from MQTT

MQTT + Home Assistant WebSocket address family

Advanced · mqtt_address_family

Applies to the MQTT broker connection and the panel's Home Assistant WebSocket connections; plain HTTPS reads always try every published address. Automatic learns a working route and falls back between IPv6 and IPv4. Prefer IPv4 keeps IPv6 as a fallback; Force IPv4 rejects endpoints with no IPv4 address.

This only matters when a host name, such as your broker or homeassistant.local, resolves to both IPv6 and IPv4 addresses.

First choice on the left, fallback on the right.

Choice	What happens	When to pick it
Automatic (default)	Tries IPv6 first, switches family when a connection fails, and remembers the family that worked for next time.	Almost always.
Prefer IPv4	Tries IPv4 first, still falls back to IPv6.	IPv6 is advertised on your network but does not reliably reach the broker or Home Assistant, and the panel keeps reconnecting.
Force IPv4	Never uses IPv6.	As above, when IPv6 must be avoided entirely.

Caution

With Force IPv4, a host that has only an IPv6 address becomes unreachable.

The setting is read at each new connection attempt, so it takes effect the next time the panel connects. Log shipping does not use it; it always tries IPv4 first on its own.

Behaviour

Auto-sleep presence source

Basic · auto_sleep_source

Use the panel’s calibrated proximity sensor, or choose Home Assistant Area devices. If the selected source is unavailable, automatic sleep pauses and touch remains available.

Choice	What watches for people	When to pick it
Panel (default for new installations)	The panel’s own proximity sensor, once the panel has learned it	The panel has a usable proximity sensor and faces the people who use it
Home Assistant	The presence devices in the Home Assistant Area this panel is assigned to; the Configure page lists them so you can include or leave out each one	The room already has a better presence sensor, or the panel has no usable proximity sensor

With Home Assistant, the panel checks its Area assignment and shows the Area it found. Until the panel has an Area, Auto sleep cannot be switched on with this source.

An installation that already had auto sleep configured before this choice existed keeps the Home Assistant behaviour it had. A change takes effect straight away and restarts the auto sleep decision with the new source.

Related: Adaptive proximity and wake on wave

Auto sleep

Basic · Default off · auto_sleep

Automatically wake the panel when activity is detected and switch the screen off after the learned delay. Manual screen control remains separate.

Navbar mode

Advanced · navbar_mode

Soft on-screen navigation bar for panels with no native navbar. Native leaves navigation to the panel's own Android bar and draws nothing. Note that hiding the Android system bars, from the built-in renderer's fullscreen setting or the Android dashboard lock, still hides a native bar.

Wake on wave

Basic · Default off · wake_on_wave

Wake after a calibrated clear-to-near-to-clear wave. Set up proximity on the panel; touch-to-wake remains available.

Lock Android to dashboard (experimental)

Advanced · Default off · kiosk_lock

Root-only casual-use lock. Hides Android system bars and returns to the selected dashboard within about 3 seconds when another app or Recents opens. It does not hide Home Assistant navigation. Release it here, from Home Assistant, through adb, with 7 rapid top-left taps, or during the 60-second unlocked window after reboot.

App watchdog

Advanced · Default off · watchdog_enabled

Self-heal the dashboard app: relaunch if it dies, return if backgrounded too long.

When the watchdog is on, Panel Assistant checks the dashboard app every 30 seconds and acts on two situations. It never acts while the dashboard is in front.

Situation	What the watchdog does
The app’s process is dead on two checks in a row	Starts the app again
The app is running but has not been in front for five minutes, for example because someone opened Settings and walked away	Brings the dashboard back to the front
The app keeps crashing as soon as it starts	Backs off instead of relaunching over and over, and shows a health warning; this clears when the dashboard comes back to the front

Someone leaves the dashboard at 0. The watchdog leaves them alone until the app has been in the background for five minutes.

The watchdog needs root or the Panel Assistant helper to see the dashboard’s state, and does nothing on panels with neither.

Tip

Leave it off if you often use other apps on the panel for longer than five minutes. For a faster return that also hides the Android bars, use Lock Android to dashboard instead.

Apps the lock allows

Advanced · kiosk_companion_packages

Android package names, separated by commas, that the dashboard lock leaves in front instead of returning to the dashboard. Use it to reach a companion app's own screens. Needs root.

While Lock Android to dashboard is on, it brings the dashboard back whenever another app is in front. An app listed here is allowed to stay in front, for example the settings screens of a companion app that the dashboard opens. Enter full Android package names such as com.example.app, separated by commas; a value that is not a valid package name is rejected when you save. Up to 512 characters fit.

The list only matters while the lock is on. A change is in force at the lock’s next check, within about three seconds, with no restart.

Touch sound

Advanced · Default on · touch_sound

Audible tap feedback (system touch sounds).

Silence boot chime

Advanced · silence_boot_chime

Mute the firmware startup chime.

Some panel firmware plays a chime at startup through the ring and notification volumes. Turning this on records those volumes, then silences them, so the panel restarts quietly. It is on by default. Turning it off restores exactly the volumes recorded when it was turned on. If there is no recorded volume, for example after upgrading from an older version that did not record one, the panel stays silent rather than guessing a level.

Because the chime and ring or notification sounds share the same volume on these panels, leave this on unless you need those sounds from the panel.

Prevent idle dim

Advanced · Default on · prevent_idle_dim

Stop the vendor firmware dimming the backlight at the screen-off timeout.

Some panel firmware turns the backlight right down when Android’s screen-off timeout passes, even while the screen is meant to stay on, so the panel goes very dim some time after the last touch.

State	What Panel Assistant does
On (default)	Saves the current screen-off timeout once and sets it to never; the built-in renderer also keeps the screen on while it is showing
Off	Puts back the saved timeout, or 60 seconds if none was saved

It should normally stay on for a mains-powered panel. Screen sleep that you want is better handled by Auto sleep.

Note

In Hardened security mode, turning it off from the network needs approval at the panel.

Related: Security mode

Keep panel responsive

Advanced · Default on · keep_awake

Keep the network and background services running while the screen is off.

With this on, Panel Assistant holds two Android locks:

• one that stops the processor from going into deep sleep;
• one that stops the Wi-Fi radio from going into power saving.

Without them, a panel with its screen off can stop answering on the network, drop its connection to Home Assistant or miss commands. The screen can still turn off as normal.

It is on by default because wall panels run on mains power. Turn it off only on a battery-powered device where standby time matters more than staying reachable.

Note

In Hardened security mode, turning it off from the network needs approval at the panel.

Related: Security mode

Display

Dark mode

Advanced · Default on · dark_mode

Themes ha-paneld's own screens and sets the dashboard's default colour scheme on panels without a system dark-mode setting (Android 9 and older). A theme picked inside Home Assistant overrides the dashboard default; this web UI always follows the viewing browser's own preference.

This setting appears only on panels running Android 9 or older. On Android 10 and later the panel has its own system dark-mode control, and Panel Assistant follows that for everything, so the toggle is hidden.

On the dashboard it is a default, not an override:

Situation	What the dashboard shows
No theme picked in Home Assistant on this panel	The scheme this setting chooses
A theme picked in the Home Assistant profile	That theme; this setting is ignored
Dashboard theme forcing Dark or Light	The forced scheme; this setting only themes Panel Assistant’s own screens

Tip

To force the dashboard dark or light whatever Home Assistant has stored, use Dashboard theme rather than this setting.

Ambient light source

Advanced · auto_brightness_ha_entity

Blank uses the panel light sensor. Select a Home Assistant illuminance sensor when the panel has no suitable sensor.

The value is a Home Assistant entity id beginning with sensor., such as sensor.living_room_illuminance. The picker lists the illuminance sensors Home Assistant reports. When you save, the panel checks the entity with Home Assistant, and refuses it unless:

• the panel is already connected to Home Assistant (save any connection change first, then pick the entity);
• the entity exists;
• it has the illuminance device class or a lx unit;
• it is reporting a number at that moment, so a sensor that is currently unavailable is refused.

Choose an entity when the panel has no light sensor of its own, or when a sensor elsewhere in the room better represents the light people see. With an entity selected, the panel can start from up to seven days of that entity’s recorded history instead of learning from nothing. Clear the field to go back to the panel’s own sensor.

Note

The learned pattern belongs to the source, so switching source starts a separate history.

Related: Adaptive brightness

Auto-brightness

Advanced · Default off · auto_brightness

On-panel engine maps a lux stream to the backlight (off = HA drives the screen).

Minimum level

Advanced · auto_brightness_minimum_percent

Lowest automatic screen level as a percentage. Proposals scale from this floor to full brightness; manual brightness can still go lower.

The range is 4% to 99%, and the default is 4%. That lowest value is where the backlight’s own minimum sits, so a lower number would change nothing on the screen. Raising the floor lifts the whole automatic range: the darkest room gets this level, and the brightest still gets full brightness.

Simplified: the proposed level between the room's darkest and brightest learned light.

Raise it if the screen gets too dim to read at night or in a dark corner. It only bounds Auto-brightness; manual brightness, from the panel or from Home Assistant, can still go below it. The change applies at once, and the chart on the Configure page previews it before you save.

Related: Adaptive brightness

Sensitivity

Advanced · Default 50 · 0 to 100 · auto_brightness_response_percent

How much of the difference from the learned ambient-light pattern is applied to the screen, once the engine has decided a change is real. Lower values keep the screen closer to its learned daily pattern. While the pattern is still being learned the screen follows the measured light directly.

Value	What the screen does
0	Follows the learned daily pattern alone and ignores short changes, such as a lamp switched on
50 (default)	Applies half the difference between the measured light and the pattern
100	Applies the whole difference

It is not a follow-the-light control. A brief brightening is acted on only once it has lasted, or risen sharply enough to count, whatever this is set to, and while the pattern is still being learned the screen follows the measured light directly. Lower it if the screen reacts to changes you would rather it ignored; raise it if it feels slow to catch up when the room lights change. The change applies at once, and the chart on the Configure page previews it before you save.

Note

Earlier releases called this setting auto_brightness_sensitivity on a different scale. A stored value, or a script that still sends the old key, is converted to the new scale automatically.

Related: Adaptive brightness

System

CPU profile

Advanced · cpu_governor

Live CPU scaling profile until reboot; Auto = the SoC's dynamic governor.

Zigbee router

Advanced · Default off · zigbee_router

Run the on-board Zigbee gateway as a router/repeater (NSPanel Pro).

This setting appears only on a panel with a built-in Zigbee gateway, such as the Sonoff NSPanel Pro. Turning it on starts the vendor gateway if it is not already running and switches it to the Repeater role, so the panel can extend an existing Zigbee network run by your own coordinator. To join it to that network:

1. Turn this switch on and save.
2. Open permit-join on your coordinator.
3. Use Request join in the Join Zigbee network row that appears under the switch. The button stays disabled once the router has joined.

Turning it off stops the gateway and frees the radio. Stock firmware often starts the gateway at boot by itself, and Panel Assistant only stops it when you have set this switch explicitly, so a gateway you already rely on is left alone by default.

Caution

On some stock firmware the vendor gateway cannot be stopped from the app and keeps running until the next restart.

While the router is on, Panel Assistant samples the gateway once a minute. After a 15-minute start-up grace period it treats the gateway as a runaway if either of these happens:

• it restarts three or more times within ten minutes;
• it stays unjoined while using more than half a CPU core for five consecutive samples.

A runaway gateway is stopped and this setting is turned off, to protect the panel’s responsiveness.

Samples during the grace period never count; only after minute 15 can five high readings in a row contain the gateway.

Related: Performance, Sonoff NSPanel Pro

Interface language

Basic · ui_language

Language used by ha-paneld's own interface. Automatic uses an explicit page override first. Configure setting labels and help can then follow the connected Home Assistant user's language; browser, device and English are the remaining fallbacks.

Choice	Status
Automatic	Picks a language by the order described in the help above
English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Simplified Chinese	Released translations
Dutch, Polish, Ukrainian	Early access: machine drafts not yet independently reviewed, shown so you get your language rather than English

The setting covers Panel Assistant’s own screens and web pages, including the Configure page and the app’s native Android screens. It does not change the Home Assistant dashboard, which follows your Home Assistant profile.

Note

When you save a new language, the Configure page clears any language previously picked in that browser and reloads, so every label and help text is fetched in the new language.

ha-paneld auto-update

Advanced · Default on · self_update

ha-paneld updates itself from GitHub releases on the selected channel. Only shown where verified app install is available.

With this on, the panel checks for a newer release about 30 seconds after Panel Assistant starts and then once every 24 hours, and installs it when one is available on the update channel. The install is signature-checked, and the app restarts itself onto the new version. The same daily check runs the other automatic updates first, because this one restarts the app:

One pass of the daily update check.

With it off, the panel still reports available releases, and you install them yourself from Home Assistant’s update entity or from a computer. The setting appears only on panels where Panel Assistant can install verified apps.

Note

In Hardened mode, turning this on needs approval at the panel. A policy already on when Hardened mode was chosen keeps installing authenticated updates without a new prompt.

Related: Updates and recovery, Security mode

ha-paneld auto-update channel

Advanced · update_channel

Release channel the self-updater follows.

Companion auto-update

Advanced · Default off · companion_auto_update

Install/update the minimal HA Companion over root when missing or out of date.

Companion auto-update channel

Advanced · companion_update_channel

Release channel the Companion auto-updater follows.

WebView auto-update

Advanced · Default off · webview_auto_update

Keep the System WebView on this panel's recommended build (from the ha-paneld mirror), installing a newer one over root on the update check. Off by default — a WebView swap needs a restart to take effect. Only shown where a recommended build exists (not on Play-updated panels).

Launcher app

Advanced · launcher_package

App the Launcher button brings forward. Blank auto-picks an app. Selecting Panel admin (ha-paneld) also makes and keeps ha-paneld the Android Home app.

The picker lists apps that register as an Android Home app. When the field is blank, Panel Assistant resolves the launcher in this order, and the Configure page shows which app it landed on:

1. the panel’s default Home app, if it is a real launcher;
2. otherwise another installed launcher;
3. otherwise its own panel admin launcher, an app drawer for panel maintenance.

Apps that register as a Home app without being a launcher, such as the Home Assistant Companion, Android Settings and some vendor control panels, are never picked automatically, because opening them would hide the dashboard rather than open an app drawer.

Choosing Panel admin makes Panel Assistant the Android Home app and keeps it so, restoring it if something else takes over. If you later hand the panel back to its own launcher, Panel Assistant clears this setting first.

Caution

If you disable vendor packages, do not disable the launcher you choose here.

Related: Vendor packages

Network ADB

Advanced · Default off · network_adb

Security risk: keeps classic ADB listening on TCP port 5555 across boots and reconnects. Enable only during active maintenance on a trusted network. If ADB was enabled outside ha-paneld, it must also be disabled there.

Camera

Camera

Advanced · Default off · camera_enabled

Off by default. Serves the panel's camera as a video-only RTSP stream and as a JPEG snapshot for Home Assistant to pull; no frames leave the panel unless a client is connected, and the panel shows a red light whenever the camera is open.

Resolution

Advanced · camera_resolution

What a stream gets when its URL does not ask for something else. A stream URL can override it with ?res=, in either direction.

Choice	Size	When to pick it
480p	640 × 480	A panel that already struggles to keep its dashboard smooth, or a busy network
720p (default)	1280 × 720	Most rooms
1080p	1920 × 1080	When detail matters and the panel and network have headroom

It applies to the snapshot as well as the stream, unless the snapshot URL asks for its own with ?res=. Higher resolutions cost the panel more processing and the network more data.

Note

All viewers share one session, and whoever opens the camera first decides its capture size; a stream that joins later gets that session rather than a new one. A change here applies from the next time the camera opens.

Related: Control API and Home Assistant reference

Frame rate

Advanced · Default 15 · 1 to 30 · camera_fps

What a stream gets when its URL does not ask for something else. A stream URL can override it with ?fps=, in either direction.

The value is frames per second, from 1 to 30, with 15 as the default. A lower rate saves processing on the panel and bandwidth on the network; a doorway or room view rarely needs more than the default.

Note

All viewers share one session, and the first client to open the camera sets its rate. A stream that joins a session a snapshot has already opened gets the rate that session was opened with, not the one it asked for. The camera section of the panel’s status reports both the rate asked for (requested_fps) and the rate the encoder was given (encode_fps), so you can see when they differ.

A change here applies from the next time the camera opens.

Related: Control API and Home Assistant reference

Bitrate (kbps)

Advanced · Default 2000 · 250 to 8000 · camera_kbps

What a stream gets when its URL does not ask for something else. A stream URL can override it with ?kbps=, in either direction.

The value is the H.264 video bitrate in kilobits per second, from 250 to 8000 in steps of 250, with 2000 as the default.

Value	Picture and cost
Lower	Less network traffic; suits a busy Wi-Fi network or a small view
2000 (default)	The starting point
Higher, up to 8000	A cleaner picture, especially with movement or at 1080p, at the cost of more network traffic

Below 250 H.264 does not produce a usable picture at any size, which is why that is the floor. As with the other stream settings, the first client to open the camera binds the session and later viewers share it. A change here applies from the next time the camera opens.

Related: Control API and Home Assistant reference

Exposure

Advanced · Default 0 · -2 to 2 · camera_exposure

Exposure bias in stops, for a camera that reads a room darker or brighter than it looks. 0 leaves the camera's own automatic exposure alone; the panel clamps this to whatever range the sensor actually supports.

The value runs from -2 to +2 stops in half-stop steps, with 0 as the default. It works on top of the camera’s automatic exposure, which keeps working either way.

Value	Effect	When to use it
-2 to -0.5	Darker picture	A bright window or lamp washes the picture out
0 (default)	The camera’s own automatic exposure	Most rooms
+0.5 to +2	Brighter picture	A room looks murky on camera

Camera sensors adjust exposure in their own step sizes and ranges, so the panel rounds your value to the nearest step the sensor offers and limits it to the sensor’s range. A camera that reports no exposure control ignores the setting. The change applies from the next time the camera opens, to both the stream and snapshots.

Dashboard

Dashboard app

Advanced · dashboard_package

App used for the dashboard. Blank uses ha-paneld's built-in renderer.

This chooses which app draws the dashboard on the panel. The list always starts with Auto and Built-in renderer, followed by any supported Home Assistant Companion app installed on the panel. Using the Companion app as the dashboard is retired: it is listed only so a panel already set up that way keeps working, and Panel Assistant never removes it for you. Other launchable apps are not offered. If the panel is already set to an app the list does not recognise, that choice stays in the list rather than being dropped silently.

Choice	Stored value	What happens	When to pick it
Auto	blank	Uses Panel Assistant’s own renderer.	The usual choice.
Built-in renderer	builtin	Uses Panel Assistant’s own renderer, named explicitly.	When you want the choice spelled out in a backup or script.
A Companion app	its Android package name	Hands the dashboard to that app.	Retired as a panel dashboard. A panel already using it keeps working; switch to Auto once the panel is in Panel Assistant.

A change takes effect immediately: the panel launches the newly selected app as soon as the setting is saved. Selecting the built-in renderer needs a working Home Assistant connection first, so connect with Browser sign-in before choosing it.

Note

Most settings on this card apply only to the built-in renderer, including Home dashboard idle return, Dashboard theme, Entity filtering and Zoom (%). Saving an idle return time while a Companion app is selected is refused.

Related: The built-in renderer

Entity filtering

Advanced · Default off · dashboard_entity_learning

Built-in renderer: limit Home Assistant's state stream to dashboard-used entities and learn runtime dependencies. Manage sources and pins in Entities.

Home Assistant’s frontend normally subscribes to the state of every entity the signed-in user can see, and the panel has to receive and process all of those updates even when its dashboard shows only a few. With this on, the built-in renderer limits that subscription to the entities the dashboard uses, so Home Assistant filters the stream before sending it. On a large installation this is usually the biggest single improvement on a slow panel.

The entity set comes from two kinds of evidence:

• a scan of the dashboard’s configuration;
• entities the dashboard is seen to use while it runs.

To set it up:

1. Turn this on and save.
2. Open the Entities tab on the panel’s web interface and select Scan dashboard now.
3. Visit every dashboard tab and use its pop-ups and conditional content.
4. Review the result, pin entities a custom card or template needs indirectly, and apply the set.

While filtering is on and no trustworthy set exists yet, the panel shows a hold screen instead of opening the dashboard unfiltered.

Caution

Automatic learning cannot prove every dependency of a custom card or a dynamic template, and a missing entity leaves a card stale or unavailable. If something is missing, turn this off and reload the dashboard to return to the full subscription.

It has no effect when a Companion app is selected in Dashboard app.

Related: The built-in renderer, Performance

Home dashboard

Advanced · home_dashboard

Dashboard used by reload and idle return. Auto lets Home Assistant choose. Custom accepts a specific view, e.g. /dashboard-name/tab-name.

This is the dashboard the built-in renderer opens when it starts or reloads, and the one Idle return to home goes back to. A change applies without restarting the app.

Choice	What happens
Auto	Follows the default dashboard of the panel’s Home Assistant account. The label tells you whether the account has a default set, or whether the list could not be fetched.
A listed dashboard	Opens that dashboard. The list is what Home Assistant reports for the panel’s account.
Custom	Opens the path you type, which can name a single tab, for example /lovelace/garden.

Every spelling of the root path, such as /, is stored as Auto. A path is checked for form when you save, but not for whether the dashboard exists, because the list can be unreachable or the dashboard may be created later; a path Home Assistant does not know is shown as a warning instead.

Choosing a specific dashboard also tells Entity filtering which dashboard to learn from.

Related: The built-in renderer

Dashboard theme

Advanced · dashboard_theme

Built-in renderer only. Follow Home Assistant leaves the dashboard's light/dark choice to Home Assistant, which is what the Dark mode setting supplies a default for. Dark and Light choose it on this panel when Home Assistant is set to Auto, for a kiosk dashboard with no sidebar to reach the Home Assistant profile page from. An explicit Light or Dark choice in Home Assistant still wins; use Auto or a separate panel user. Returning to Follow Home Assistant hands the choice back exactly as it was found.

Hide Android system bars

Advanced · Default on · dashboard_fullscreen

Built-in renderer only. Hides Android's status and navigation bars while the dashboard is in front; swipe from an edge to reveal them temporarily. It does not lock the panel or hide Home Assistant navigation.

With this on, the dashboard fills the whole screen. Android’s status bar and navigation bar stay hidden while the built-in renderer is in front, and the panel hides them again after you have revealed them with a swipe or after a dialog brings them back. A change applies straight away, without reloading the dashboard.

Tip

A swipe in from a screen edge always shows the bars briefly, so this cannot shut anyone out of Android.

Three separate controls affect different layers:

Setting	Hides	Does not
Hide Android system bars (this one)	Android’s status and navigation bars	Stop anyone leaving the app, or hide Home Assistant’s own navigation
Hide Home Assistant navigation (native)	Home Assistant’s own navigation	Touch Android’s bars
Lock Android to dashboard	Nothing visual; it returns to the dashboard when another app opens	Change how the dashboard looks

Turn this off if you want the clock and notifications visible, or use Android’s on-screen buttons regularly. It has no effect on a Companion app.

Related: The built-in renderer

Hide Home Assistant navigation (native)

Advanced · Default on · dashboard_native_kiosk

Built-in renderer only. After Home Assistant 2026.4.2+ connects, asks its native frontend to hide its navigation. On by default; an unsupported or failed request leaves the dashboard unchanged. It does not lock Android or inject CSS into the dashboard.

This uses Home Assistant’s own kiosk mode rather than altering the page. Once the frontend has loaded and connected, the built-in renderer sends it a kiosk_mode/set request to hide its navigation. If the request fails, the panel retries a few times; a Home Assistant version without the feature leaves the dashboard as it is. Turning the setting on or off applies to the dashboard already on screen, without a reload.

State	Use it when
On (default)	The panel should show only the dashboard.
Off	People need Home Assistant’s navigation on the panel, for example to reach other dashboards or their profile page.

Hide Android system bars is the separate control for Android’s own bars.

Related: The built-in renderer

Idle return to home (min)

Advanced · Default 0 · 0 to 1440 · dashboard_idle_return_min

Built-in renderer: return to Home dashboard after this many idle minutes. 0 = off.

Idle means nobody has touched the screen. The panel checks once a minute, so the return happens up to a minute after the time you set. It returns only when all of these hold:

• the screen is on;
• the dashboard is connected to Home Assistant;
• the dashboard is not already showing the home view.

The return swaps the view in place, without reloading the page.

With a 5 minute setting, the return happens at the first check after five minutes without a touch.

The destination is Home dashboard, including a specific tab if you set one. With Home dashboard on Auto, the panel waits until Home Assistant has told it which dashboard is the account’s default.

Value	Effect
0 (default)	Off. The panel stays wherever it was left.
1 to 1440	Returns home after that many idle minutes; 1440 is one day. A value such as 5 suits a shared panel where people wander into other views.

Note

This works only with the built-in renderer. Saving a value while a Companion app is selected in Dashboard app is refused.

Related: The built-in renderer

Home Assistant URL

Advanced · ha_url

Built-in renderer: Home Assistant base URL, e.g. http://homeassistant.local:8123. Blank disables it.

This is the address the panel uses to reach Home Assistant for the built-in renderer, the same address you would type into a browser on the same network. The address must:

• start with http:// or https://, for example http://homeassistant.local:8123 or https://192.168.x.x:8123;
• not contain a user name or password.

A trailing slash is removed. HTTPS with a private certificate authority works once that authority is installed on the panel.

Caution

Clearing the address switches the built-in renderer off and also removes the stored Home Assistant sign-in and Long-lived access token. Other dashboard apps are unaffected.

With security mode on, pointing the panel at a different Home Assistant also discards the old sign-in unless you supply new credentials in the same change, so the panel never sends one server’s credentials to another.

Related: Connect a panel, The built-in renderer

Long-lived access token

Advanced · ha_token

Use browser sign-in when possible. This fallback can be created in your Home Assistant user profile.

There are two ways to give the panel a Home Assistant credential:

Method	What the panel stores	When to use it
Browser sign-in (preferred)	A short-lived access token that the panel renews itself	Whenever you can sign in through the browser. No long-lived credential stays on the panel.
Long-lived access token (this field)	The token you paste	Setups where signing in through the browser is not practical.

Create a long-lived access token in your Home Assistant user profile and paste it here; use an account that can see the dashboard the panel should show.

• Saving a token here replaces any Browser sign-in the panel held.
• Clearing Home Assistant URL clears this token too.
• The Configure page never shows the stored token, and leaving the field empty when you save keeps the current one.

Related: Connect a panel, Security mode

Zoom (%)

Advanced · Default 100 · 50 to 300 · dashboard_zoom

Browser zoom.

Logging

Ship logs

Advanced · Default off · log_ship_enabled

Forward ha-paneld's own process log — not the full system log — to a central sink (LAN-only, tokens and passwords redacted).

With shipping on, every line of Panel Assistant’s own log on the panel is sent to a log collector you run, such as a syslog server, so you can keep a history across several panels and after restarts. It is the same log the Logs tab streams live. While you have WebView developer tools enabled for the dashboard, its JavaScript console is sent as well. Hardened mode refuses those tools, so there it never is.

Panel Assistant's own log, plus the dashboard console while WebView developer tools are on, is redacted and queued on the panel, and never sent faster than the collector accepts it.

• Tokens and passwords are removed before a line leaves the panel, including console lines. Android’s system log is never sent.
• Each record carries the panel ID as its host name, the app name ha-paneld, and the app build that wrote it.
• If the collector is unreachable for long enough that the queue fills, the oldest lines are dropped rather than slowing the panel.
• The panel’s runtime diagnostics show whether shipping is connected and how many lines were sent or dropped.

Nothing is sent until Sink host is set as well. Leave shipping off unless you have a collector to receive the logs.

Related: Troubleshooting

Sink host

Advanced · log_ship_host

Log-collector host; blank keeps shipping inert. A scheme or :port here is honoured (udp://collector, collector:1514).

The host name or address of your log collector, for example 192.168.x.x or logs.local. You can also type the transport and port here; the three fields are saved to agree with each other.

You type	Protocol	Port
192.168.x.x	from Protocol	from Sink port
192.168.x.x:1514	from Protocol	1514
udp://192.168.x.x	Syslog over UDP	from Sink port
tcp://[fd00::20]:514	Syslog over TCP	514

IPv6 addresses go in square brackets. When a name resolves to both IPv4 and IPv6, the panel tries IPv4 first, because a UDP send to the wrong address fails without any sign.

Note

Leaving the host blank turns shipping off even when Ship logs is on.

Sink port

Advanced · Default 514 · 1 to 65535 · log_ship_port

The port your collector listens on.

Protocol	Usual port
Syslog over TCP	514
Syslog over UDP	514
HTTP protocol	whatever your collector’s HTTP endpoint uses

A port typed into Sink host replaces this value.

Protocol

Advanced · log_ship_protocol

TCP is the default because it reports a sink that is refusing or unreachable; UDP cannot, so a wrong setting there fails silently. Port 514 serves both.

Choice	What is sent	Notes
Syslog over TCP (default)	Standard RFC 5424 syslog lines over a connection, one per line	Long lines arrive whole. A collector that refuses the connection shows as an error.
Syslog over UDP	The same lines, one per datagram	What many syslog servers accept out of the box. Each line is cut at 1024 bytes, and a wrong host or port fails silently.
HTTP protocol	Batches of JSON objects, one per line, posted to http://host:port/	Fields: timestamp, host, app, versionCode, package, message.

Tip

Start with TCP. If the collector accepts only UDP, TCP fails with a visible connection error and you can switch; the reverse mistake loses every line without a warning.

A transport typed into Sink host takes precedence over this choice. Older saved values syslog and tcp mean Syslog over TCP, and udp means Syslog over UDP.

Sensors

Screen brightness

Advanced · screen

Current screen state and brightness. Home Assistant presents the light's native 0–255 brightness as a percentage.

Panel volume

Advanced · volume

Current panel media volume reported on its native 0–100 percent scale.

Ambient light

Advanced · illuminance

Ambient illuminance measured by the panel light sensor.

Proximity

Advanced · proximity

Learned near/far occupancy from a supported proximity source.

Proximity level

Advanced · proximity_level

Normalized learned proximity level from 0 to 100 percent; binary sources report 0 or 100.

Auto-sleep activity

Advanced · auto_sleep_activity

Whether the auto-sleep policy is currently holding the panel awake. The Home Assistant entity provides the activity history timeline.

Temperature

Advanced · temperature

Environmental temperature reported by Android's panel sensor.

Humidity

Advanced · humidity

Relative humidity reported by Android's panel sensor.

Room temperature

Advanced · room_temp

Room air temperature from the panel's supported climate sensor (calibration offset applied).

Room humidity

Advanced · room_humidity

Relative humidity from the panel's supported climate sensor.

Room temperature offset

Advanced · Default 0 · -20 to 20 · room_temp_offset

Correction (°C) added to the reported room temperature — usually negative, since panel self-heating reads high. Per-panel (depends on mounting), so not cloned by a fleet push.

The offset is added to every Room temperature reading before it is reported, in steps of 0.1 °C between -20 and 20 °C. The default of 0 reports the sensor as read. The panel profile can carry its own baseline correction, and this setting is added on top of it; the built-in profiles all use a baseline of 0.

To set it:

1. Place a reliable thermometer next to the panel and let both settle.
2. Subtract the panel’s reading from the thermometer’s.
3. Enter the difference here. The new value appears in Home Assistant with the next reading.

Panel reads	Thermometer reads	Offset to enter	Reported afterwards
23.5 °C	21.0 °C	-2.5	21.0 °C

Note

The warmth depends on how and where the panel is mounted, so the offset belongs to this panel only and is not copied when settings are pushed to other panels.

It has no Home Assistant entity; change it on the Configure page or through the local API.

Related: Tuya TPA10

Diagnostics

IP address

Advanced · diag_ip

This panel's LAN IPv4 address as a sensor.

CPU usage

Advanced · diag_cpu

Overall CPU busy percentage (root/su panels; unavailable on sandbox-walled panels).

Memory usage

Advanced · diag_memory

Used RAM as a percentage.

SoC temperature

Advanced · diag_soc_temp

System-on-chip temperature (root/su panels; unavailable on sandbox-walled panels).

Last boot time

Advanced · diag_boot

When the panel last booted (a timestamp — HA shows the elapsed uptime).

Wi-Fi network

Advanced · diag_wifi_ssid

Current Wi-Fi network name while Wi-Fi is the active connection. This can identify a location and enters HA history when exposed; Android may hide it unless network-information permission is available.

Wi-Fi signal strength

Advanced · diag_wifi_rssi

Current Wi-Fi received signal strength in dBm while Wi-Fi is the active connection.

Wi-Fi outages (24 h)

Advanced · diag_wifi_outages_24h

Short Wi-Fi dropouts in the rolling last 24 hours. Counts loss of the panel's active Wi-Fi connection only — Home Assistant or broker outages are never counted. If the panel had to cap what it stores, the sensor's is_lower_bound attribute says the value is a floor.