Dashboards: HA 2026.8 Lovelace wiring + validation

config/configuration.yaml

@@ -35,10 +35,10 @@ lovelace:
     lovelace:
       mode: yaml
       title: "Overview"
-      icon: mdi:home
+      icon: mdi:view-dashboard
       show_in_sidebar: true
       require_admin: false
-      filename: dashboards/overview/dashboard.yaml
+      filename: ui-lovelace.yaml
     dashboard-infrastructure:
       mode: yaml
       title: "Infrastructure"

config/dashboards/README.md

@@ -46,7 +46,12 @@ This folder holds YAML-managed Home Assistant Lovelace dashboards and UI resourc
 This folder is referenced from `config/configuration.yaml` via:
 - `lovelace.resource_mode: yaml`
 - `lovelace.resources: !include dashboards/resources.yaml`
-- `lovelace.dashboards: ... filename: dashboards/<dashboard>/dashboard.yaml`
+- `lovelace.dashboards: ...`
+  - Default Overview YAML dashboard: `lovelace.dashboards.lovelace.filename: ui-lovelace.yaml`
+  - Additional YAML dashboards: `filename: dashboards/<dashboard>/dashboard.yaml`
+
+Note:
+- Do not use legacy `lovelace.mode: yaml` (removed in Home Assistant 2026.8).
 
 Lovelace resources are loaded from:
 - `config/dashboards/resources.yaml` (referenced by `lovelace.resources`)

config/dashboards/SCRATCHPAD.md

@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 # Dashboards Scratchpad
 
-## Current Working Items
+Current working items:
+- Keep YAML dashboards rendering (no missing includes/resources).
+- Validate dashboards before restarting Home Assistant.
 
-- (empty)
+Patterns/notes:
+- If a view looks like a centered skinny column, avoid `max_columns: 1`. Prefer `max_columns: 4` with a single section/card using `columns: 1`.
 
-## Patterns / Notes
-
-- (empty)

config/dashboards/overview/partials/home_sections.yaml

@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@
     entity: camera.birdseye
     tap_action:
       action: navigate
-      navigation_path: /lovelace/camera
+      navigation_path: /lovelace/cameras
   - type: vertical-stack
     cards:
     - type: weather-forecast

tools/ha_ui_smoke.ps1

@@ -35,10 +35,14 @@ function Get-EffectiveUrlAndStatus {
 
 $targets = @(
   '/',
+  '/lovelace',
+  '/lovelace/cameras',
   '/profile',
   '/dashboard-infrastructure',
+  '/dashboard-infrastructure/home',
+  '/dashboard-infrastructure/activity',
   '/dashboard-infrastructure/docker',
-  '/dashboard-infrastructure/mariadb',
+  '/dashboard-infrastructure/vacuum',
   '/dashboard-kiosk'
 )
 
@@ -47,7 +51,7 @@ foreach ($path in $targets) {
   $url = "$BaseUrl$path"
   $r = Get-EffectiveUrlAndStatus -Url $url
 
-  $isLogin = $r.EffectiveUrl -match '/(login|auth/authorize)\b'
+  $isLogin = $r.EffectiveUrl -match '/(login|auth/authorize)\\b'
   $statusOk = $r.StatusCode -ge 200 -and $r.StatusCode -lt 400
 
   if ($isLogin -or -not $statusOk) {

tools/validate_dashboards.ps1

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+param()
+
+Set-StrictMode -Version Latest
+$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
+
+$repoRoot = Split-Path -Parent $PSScriptRoot
+$py = Get-Command py -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+if (-not $py) {
+  throw "Python launcher 'py' not found. Install Python 3 or run tools/validate_dashboards.py with your python."
+}
+
+py -3 "$repoRoot\tools\validate_dashboards.py"
+

tools/validate_dashboards.py

@@ -0,0 +1,200 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""
+Fast local validation for YAML-managed Lovelace dashboards.
+
+Goals:
+- Catch missing include targets (most common cause of "Unknown error" in UI).
+- Catch missing dashboard entrypoints referenced by configuration.yaml.
+- Encourage a repeatable workflow before restarting Home Assistant.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import os
+import re
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+RE_INCLUDE = re.compile(r"!\s*(include(?:_dir_(?:list|merge_list|named|merge_named))?)\s+([^\s#]+)")
+RE_TOP_LEVEL_KEY = re.compile(r"^[A-Za-z0-9_]+:\s*$")
+
+
+def repo_root() -> Path:
+    return Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+
+
+def to_local_path(root: Path, config_path: str) -> Path:
+    # Lovelace includes in this repo should use /config/... paths.
+    if config_path.startswith("/config/"):
+        rel = config_path[len("/config/") :]
+        return root / "config" / rel
+    # Allow relative includes (rare). Resolve from repo root.
+    return (root / config_path).resolve()
+
+
+def iter_yaml_files(root: Path) -> list[Path]:
+    return sorted((root / "config" / "dashboards").rglob("*.yaml"))
+
+def extract_top_level_block(text: str, key: str) -> str | None:
+    lines = text.splitlines()
+    start = None
+    for i, line in enumerate(lines):
+        if re.match(rf"^{re.escape(key)}:\s*$", line):
+            start = i
+            break
+    if start is None:
+        return None
+
+    end = len(lines)
+    for j in range(start + 1, len(lines)):
+        line = lines[j]
+        if not line or line.lstrip().startswith("#"):
+            continue
+        if line.startswith(" "):
+            continue
+        if RE_TOP_LEVEL_KEY.match(line):
+            end = j
+            break
+
+    # Return block content excluding the "<key>:" line itself.
+    return "\n".join(lines[start + 1 : end]) + "\n"
+
+
+def validate_headers(yaml_files: list[Path]) -> list[str]:
+    errs: list[str] = []
+    for p in yaml_files:
+        try:
+            head = p.read_text(encoding="utf-8", errors="replace").splitlines()[:3]
+        except OSError as e:
+            errs.append(f"ERROR: cannot read {p}: {e}")
+            continue
+        joined = "\n".join(head)
+        if "######################################################################" not in joined:
+            errs.append(f"ERROR: missing @CCOSTAN header block: {p}")
+    return errs
+
+
+def validate_includes(root: Path, yaml_files: list[Path]) -> list[str]:
+    errs: list[str] = []
+    for p in yaml_files:
+        try:
+            text = p.read_text(encoding="utf-8", errors="replace")
+        except OSError as e:
+            errs.append(f"ERROR: cannot read {p}: {e}")
+            continue
+
+        for m in RE_INCLUDE.finditer(text):
+            tag = m.group(1)
+            target = m.group(2).strip().strip("'\"")
+            local = to_local_path(root, target)
+            if tag.startswith("include_dir_"):
+                if not local.exists():
+                    errs.append(f"ERROR: include dir missing ({tag}): {p} -> {target}")
+                elif not local.is_dir():
+                    errs.append(f"ERROR: include dir is not a directory ({tag}): {p} -> {target}")
+                else:
+                    # For include_dir_list, ensure there is at least one yaml.
+                    if tag == "include_dir_list":
+                        found = list(Path(local).glob("*.yaml"))
+                        if not found:
+                            errs.append(f"ERROR: include_dir_list empty: {p} -> {target}")
+            else:
+                if not local.exists():
+                    errs.append(f"ERROR: include file missing ({tag}): {p} -> {target}")
+                elif not local.is_file():
+                    errs.append(f"ERROR: include file is not a file ({tag}): {p} -> {target}")
+    return errs
+
+
+def validate_configuration_wiring(root: Path) -> list[str]:
+    errs: list[str] = []
+    cfg = root / "config" / "configuration.yaml"
+    if not cfg.exists():
+        return [f"ERROR: missing {cfg}"]
+
+    text = cfg.read_text(encoding="utf-8", errors="replace")
+    if "\nlovelace:" not in text:
+        errs.append("ERROR: config/configuration.yaml missing `lovelace:` block (YAML dashboards wiring).")
+    lovelace_block = extract_top_level_block(text, "lovelace")
+    if lovelace_block is None:
+        errs.append("ERROR: config/configuration.yaml missing `lovelace:` block (YAML dashboards wiring).")
+        return errs
+
+    # Legacy (pre-2026.8) style was `lovelace: { mode: yaml }`. This must not exist.
+    if re.search(r"(?m)^\s{2}mode:\s*yaml\s*$", lovelace_block):
+        errs.append(
+            "ERROR: config/configuration.yaml uses legacy `lovelace.mode: yaml` (removed in HA 2026.8). "
+            "Define the YAML Overview as a `lovelace.dashboards.lovelace` entry instead."
+        )
+
+    # New (2026.8+) style: YAML Overview is declared as a dashboard pointing at ui-lovelace.yaml.
+    ll_lines = lovelace_block.splitlines()
+    dash_i = next((i for i, l in enumerate(ll_lines) if re.match(r"^\s{2}dashboards:\s*$", l)), None)
+    if dash_i is None:
+        errs.append("ERROR: config/configuration.yaml missing `lovelace.dashboards:` block.")
+    else:
+        lov_i = next((i for i in range(dash_i + 1, len(ll_lines)) if re.match(r"^\s{4}lovelace:\s*$", ll_lines[i])), None)
+        if lov_i is None:
+            errs.append("ERROR: config/configuration.yaml missing `lovelace.dashboards.lovelace:` entry.")
+        else:
+            entry: list[str] = []
+            for j in range(lov_i + 1, len(ll_lines)):
+                line = ll_lines[j]
+                if not line or line.lstrip().startswith("#"):
+                    entry.append(line)
+                    continue
+                # Next dashboard entry (same indent) or end of dashboards block.
+                if re.match(r"^\s{4}[A-Za-z0-9_-]+:\s*$", line):
+                    break
+                if re.match(r"^\s{2}[A-Za-z0-9_-]+:\s*$", line):
+                    break
+                entry.append(line)
+
+            entry_text = "\n".join(entry) + "\n"
+            if not re.search(r"(?m)^\s{6}mode:\s*yaml\s*$", entry_text):
+                errs.append("ERROR: config/configuration.yaml missing `lovelace.dashboards.lovelace.mode: yaml`.")
+            if not re.search(r"(?m)^\s{6}filename:\s*ui-lovelace\.yaml\s*$", entry_text):
+                errs.append("ERROR: config/configuration.yaml missing `lovelace.dashboards.lovelace.filename: ui-lovelace.yaml`.")
+
+    ui = root / "config" / "ui-lovelace.yaml"
+    if not ui.exists():
+        errs.append("ERROR: missing config/ui-lovelace.yaml (YAML Overview entrypoint).")
+
+    required_paths = [
+        root / "config" / "dashboards" / "resources.yaml",
+        root / "config" / "dashboards" / "overview" / "dashboard.yaml",
+        root / "config" / "dashboards" / "infrastructure" / "dashboard.yaml",
+        root / "config" / "dashboards" / "kiosk" / "dashboard.yaml",
+    ]
+    for rp in required_paths:
+        if not rp.exists():
+            errs.append(f"ERROR: missing required dashboard file: {rp}")
+    return errs
+
+
+def main() -> int:
+    root = repo_root()
+    dashboards_dir = root / "config" / "dashboards"
+    if not dashboards_dir.exists():
+        print(f"ERROR: missing dashboards dir: {dashboards_dir}")
+        return 2
+
+    yaml_files = iter_yaml_files(root)
+    errs: list[str] = []
+    errs.extend(validate_configuration_wiring(root))
+    errs.extend(validate_headers(yaml_files))
+    errs.extend(validate_includes(root, yaml_files))
+
+    if errs:
+        for e in errs:
+            print(e)
+        print(f"FAIL ({len(errs)} issues)")
+        return 2
+
+    print(f"OK: validated {len(yaml_files)} dashboard YAML files")
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    raise SystemExit(main())