HomeAssistant’s Blueprints feature is a magic tool that makes smart home configuration simple. Here is a detailed explanation and tutorial based on version 2025.12.2.
1. What is a blueprint? (In plain language)
Think of HomeAssistant automations as cooking:
- In the past (writing automations yourself): you had to write the recipe yourself. Add oil first, put the ingredients in at the right heat, fry for how long, add how much salt. If you had 5 rooms that all needed “person comes in, light turns on”, you had to copy that recipe 5 times, changing the room name each time. Very tedious and easy to get wrong.
- Now (using blueprints): a blueprint is a “pre-made meal kit” or a “fill-in-the-blank form”. The experts have already written the complex logic (the recipe) and left a few blanks for you to fill in.
- You only need to fill in: which sensor (the person), which light (the light), and how long it stays on (the time).
- Click “Save” once, and a dish (an automation) is ready.
- The same blueprint can be used in the living room, bedroom or bathroom; you can generate as many automations as you want.
2. A beginner-friendly step-by-step tutorial: using the built-in “motion-activated light” as an example
Preparation:
- Make sure you already have a motion sensor (such as a human presence sensor) and a light integrated in HA.
- Version check: this tutorial is verified on Home Assistant 2025.12.2.
Step 1: Find the blueprints panel
- Click Settings in the left sidebar.
- Click Automations & Scenes.
- In the top tabs, click Blueprints.
- New in 2025.12: you will notice a number may appear to the right of each blueprint name. It indicates how many automations currently use that blueprint (if it is new and unused, it is 0).
Step 2: Choose a blueprint
Home Assistant ships with two official blueprints. We will use the most classic one, Motion-activated Light.
- Find Motion-activated Light in the list.
- Click the Create Automation button to its right.
Step 3: Fill in the “blanks”
The system will jump to a new page, which is the blueprint configuration page. You do not need to write code; you only need to select on the interface:
- Name:
- Give this automation a name, for example “Living room motion light”.
Motion Sensor:
- Click the dropdown and select the motion sensor in your home (the entity ID usually starts with binary_sensor.).
- Note: this is the first “blank” the blueprint prepared.
Light:
- Click the dropdown and select an Area, Device or Entity.
- It is recommended to select Pick entity, then check the light you want to control.
- Note: this is the second “blank” the blueprint prepared.
Wait time:
- This is a number slider or input box. Enter 120.
- It means: if the sensor no longer detects anyone, wait another 120 seconds and then turn the light off.
Step 4: Save and verify
- Click the Save button in the bottom right corner.
- At this point the system will automatically generate an automation for you.
- Verify the result:
- Walk in front of the sensor and wave; see whether the light turns on automatically.
- Leave and stay still for the configured time (for example 120 seconds); see whether the light turns off automatically.
3. Advanced: how to use someone else’s blueprint (importing blueprints)
The built-in blueprints are fairly basic. The real power comes from community blueprints (for example, ones supporting dimming, sunrise/sunset conditions or remote control).
Import steps:
- Find a blueprint shared by an expert online (for example on the Home Assistant community forum).
- Copy the GitHub link provided in the post (usually ending in .yaml).
- Go back to the HA Settings > Automations & Scenes > Blueprints page.
- Click the Import Blueprint button in the bottom right corner.
- Paste the link you just copied into the dialog and click Preview.
- After confirming it is correct, click Import.
- Now the new blueprint will appear in your list, and you can use it by clicking “Create Automation” just like in the tutorial above.
Summary
- Blueprint = template.
- Automation = the actual task generated after filling in the template.
- In version 2025.12, HA improved the interface so you can see blueprint usage more intuitively, but the core workflow is still the same three steps: choose a blueprint -> fill in the blanks -> save.
