Mini Project: Dashboard Home Pro

You've reached the end of Module 15. In Lesson 1 I said: a custom card doesn't fix a bad dashboard. A custom card improves a good dashboard. Over nine lessons you swapped selected spots for HACS cards, but you didn't tear down the structure from Module 13. Start, Office, Climate, Diagnostics, Technical, the mobile view and desktop are still separate. The automation logic from Module 12 is untouched.

Today you assemble the Dashboard Home Pro mini project: you run the quality checklist, make a backup, fill in documentation for the cards you used, and write down what you're carrying forward. This is a module closing, not a YAML exam. The result should be concrete: you open Home Assistant and have a dashboard that looks better than in Module 13, and you still understand every view.

Plan on roughly sixty minutes, half on the checklist and fixes, half on screenshots, backup, and documentation. Congratulations on getting here. Most people install HACS and end up with chaos. You have a plan and a result.

Module 15's core rule

A custom card doesn't fix a bad dashboard. A custom card improves a good dashboard. Today you check whether you held to that rule through the whole module.

When Dashboard Home Pro is ready

Conditions for passing Module 15

Before you open your backup and documentation, run through six checkpoints. This is a shortened "readiness" list from the module overview, it doesn't replace the full checklist below, but it tells you in a minute whether you're ready to close out the project.

Module 13 vs Dashboard Home Pro

Module 15 doesn't tear down Module 13's structure. It changes the look and convenience of selected elements. Here's a view-by-view comparison.

The custom card rule (a repeat from Lesson 1)

You install an HACS card to solve a problem, not a problem to justify a card. Mushroom, because the temperature tile needed to be bigger. Button Card, because the scene needed tap and hold. ApexCharts, because Climate needed a trend. Auto Entities, because the battery list needed to update itself. Card Mod, because the cards needed to look like one family. Bubble, because you tested a popup, optionally.

If you can't say in one sentence why a card is on a given view, consider removing it before the backup. That's the proof you held to the rule through the whole module.

What the Dashboard Home Pro mini project is made of

Module 15's deliverable isn't "I've got six cards installed from HACS." It's a complete, documented layout with a clear split: what the household sees, what you see, what stayed system-default, what's an experiment.

A review of the Pro layers: what you check, view by view

The mini project isn't one Start screen. It's seven layers that together make up Dashboard Home Pro. Go through them in order before you tick off the checklist. Each layer has a different job and different HACS cards.

If one layer fails the test (say, Office runs too long on the mobile view), fix it before the backup. A backup of a "half-finished" dashboard is a backup of a bug frozen in time.

Start Pro: a final check

Open the Start view on your phone. Within three seconds, the household should know: the office temperature, whether the status LED is visible at a glance, where to tap the evening scene, how to get to Office and Climate.

Check the list from Lesson 2: sensor.office_temperature_esp, sensor.office_humidity_esp, switch.led_status_office, scene.office_evening. The "Today at Home" markdown can stay system-default. That's a deliberate choice from Lesson 1.

Start shouldn't have: input_boolean.hallway_test_mode, timer.hallway_off, script.office_led_signal, scene.office_test. If one of those is there, remove it before documenting. The Card Mod style from Lesson 8 should be consistent, the same rounding as on Office Pro.

Office Pro: the room card

The Office view is the full picture of the room from Lesson 5. The room card combines the Mushroom Template "Office Now" card (Lesson 3), Button Card buttons (Lesson 4), and a consistent Card Mod style (Lesson 8). No timer, no test helper, no diagnostic script.

On desktop you can have more columns. On a phone, the card shouldn't require five screens of scrolling. If Office Pro runs too long on the mobile view, shorten a section or move part of it to a Bubble popup from Lesson 9, but leave the Office view as the main route.

Climate Pro: ApexCharts here only

Climate Pro from Lesson 6 is a 24-hour chart of office temperature and humidity, optionally the living room's Zigbee temperature sensor. A current value sits beside the chart. Zero controls on this view. Climate is for watching a trend, not tapping scenes.

If ApexCharts loads slowly on a phone, that confirms Module 13's rule: no charts on the mobile view. Desktop and a tablet in landscape can have the full Climate view. Phone: a remote control on its own Mobile view.

Diagnostics and Technical Pro: what stays simple

Diagnostics stays an entities card in the Module 12 flow order. Don't add Mushroom or Bubble just because "Module 15 is supposed to be Pro." Diagnostics needs to be readable at 11pm, when something isn't working in the hallway.

Technical Pro from Lesson 7, three Auto Entities lists (batteries, unavailable entities, items needing attention). The ESPHome, Zigbee, and Service sections from Module 13 can stay system-default. A custom card belongs where a list updates itself, not for visual effect for the household.

The script.office_led_signal button, on a Button Card with hold, stays on Diagnostics. An HA restart only on Admin, guarded by a hold or a separate service view.

The mobile view and desktop after Module 15

Module 13's rules still apply. The mobile view is a remote control: big Mushroom and Button Card elements, the scene.office_evening scene, temperature, the status LED. Desktop gives context: more cards on Start, the full Office Pro, Climate with ApexCharts.

Test the mobile view in the Home Assistant app on your phone, not a narrow browser window. After Module 15, your partner should use the dashboard more often, not less. If Pro means "more scrolling and less clarity," undo some of the polish.

Module 15's deliverable checklist (extended)

Go through every item in the UI. Only check it off after verifying on phone and on desktop. This is the extended sixteen-point list, the module's core ten points plus the Pro layers and documentation.

Mini project acceptance criteria

You consider Module 15 closed when all the acceptance criteria below are met. This isn't a YAML exam. It's a list of evidence that you held to the rule from Lesson 1.

If one criterion is missing, finish it before the final backup. The backup is a photograph of the state "Module 15 complete," not "Module 15 almost."

A backup after Module 15: a step-by-step procedure

Before you consider the module closed, back up Home Assistant. A pretty dashboard without a backup is an hour of rebuilding YAML after the first HACS card update.

If you have a backup schedule from Module 6, make sure that after Module 15 you also have a fresh manual copy labeled "Dashboard Home Pro complete." Automatic copies don't always carry a readable label in your documentation.

After the backup, don't immediately install fifteen new cards from a forum. You close Module 15 with documentation, not another experiment before saving the state.

A list of the HACS cards used (and what you deliberately skipped)

In Module 15 you installed a card for a problem, not a problem for a card. In your documentation, write down where each card is used. That makes future updates easier.

In the documentation section, also add what you didn't use. That's a deliberate limit, not a knowledge gap.

The HACS dependency list (hacs_cards)

In the mini project's documentation, write down the full list of cards from Module 15. After an HA update, you'll know what to update in HACS before something stops rendering.

hacs_cards:
  mushroom:           # L2-3, L5: Start, Office, Mobile
  button_card:        # L4-5: Start, Office, Diagnostics (hold)
  apexcharts:         # L6: Climate Pro only
  auto_entities:      # L7: Technical Pro
  card_mod:           # L8: Start Pro, Office Pro
  bubble:             # L9, optionally Start (experiment)

repo_github:
  mushroom: piitaya/lovelace-mushroom
  button_card: custom-cards/button-card
  apexcharts: RomRider/apexcharts-card
  auto_entities: thomasloven/lovelace-auto-entities
  card_mod: thomasloven/lovelace-card-mod
  bubble: Clooos/bubble-card

Clear out test debris before the backup

Before the final backup, go through the dashboard and remove anything that snuck in during experiments but doesn't belong in Module 15's deliverable.

A backup labeled "Dashboard Home Pro complete" is a photograph of a clean state. A backup with leftover test cards is frozen clutter for years to come.

A fallback plan after Module 15

When a custom card stops working after an HA update, you don't need to rebuild the whole dashboard from scratch. Every card has a system fallback. Keep this block next to your documentation.

fallback_plan_after_module_15:
  mushroom:
    fallback: tile
    example_entity: sensor.office_temperature_esp
  button_card:
    fallback: button
    example_entity: scene.office_evening
  apexcharts:
    fallback: history-graph
    view: Climate
  auto_entities:
    fallback: entities
    manual_filter: the battery list from M13
  card_mod:
    fallback: remove the card_mod block from the view
    effect: cards work, default theme look
  bubble:
    fallback: remove the popup and trigger
    effect: Office and Climate views from HA's navigation bar

fix_order:
  1: check the card's version in HACS
  2: hard refresh the HA page
  3: apply the fallback from the list above
  4: restore from backup if the YAML is broken

A list: what Module 15 deliberately doesn't use

Online you'll find dozens of "must have" HACS cards. Module 15 deliberately skips them. In the mini project's documentation, write down the list below and add your own items you resisted.

This list is proof of a mature project. More HACS cards doesn't mean a better dashboard. It means more dependencies after the next HA update.

Who sees what after Module 15

Compare this against the documentation from Module 13's Lesson 15. You're adding a Pro layer now, but the role split doesn't change.

A bridge forward: what you're carrying with you

Module 15 closes out Dashboard Home Pro on the Home Assistant app, phone and monitor. Your wall-mounted panel from Module 14 doesn't need anything from this module, it already has its own Fully Kiosk Browser setup, its own Panel user, and its own screen structure. What's worth carrying over is consistency: if the panel's rounding or accent color ever drifts from what you set here in Lesson 8, you'll know exactly which notes to check.

The foundation is solid. You have organized views, you know which entities belong to the household, you have card documentation and a note on what happened with Bubble. Next, Module 16 turns to the phone itself, presence detection, notifications, and the deeper settings of the Companion app you first set up back in Module 7. You're not starting that from scratch either, the same discipline applies: install a feature because it solves a problem, document it, keep the household's view simple.

In the mini project's documentation, the "what I'm carrying forward" section is a list of open threads and ideas, not a set of instructions for the next module. Fill it in honestly. If Bubble doesn't fit your household, say so. If the Office popup works, write down why. If Card Mod's border-radius is 14px, that's now part of your project's visual language.

Assignment: documentation, screenshots, backup

This is the mini project's final deliverable. Take screenshots, make a backup, and fill in the template. Keep it in your notebook or project folder next to Module 13's documentation.

# Module 15 mini project: Dashboard Home Pro
# Fill in after the checklist. Keep next to Module 13's documentation.

meta:
  completion_date:
  ha_version:
  backup_name:
  backup_date:
  yaml_export_path:

lesson_1_plan:
  what_i_changed:
  what_i_left_untouched:
  matches_the_plan: yes / partially / no

hacs_cards_used:
  Mushroom:
    views:
    entities:
  Button_Card:
    views:
    entities:
  ApexCharts:
    views:
    entities:
  Auto_Entities:
    views:
    filters:
  Card_Mod:
    views:
    rules:  # max 5 from L8
  Bubble_Card:
    status: used / skipped / removed_after_test
    popups:

kept_system_default:
  Diagnostics:
  Technical_sections:
  Start_markdown:
  entities_without_mushroom:

module_13_style:
  theme_name:
  border_radius:
  accent:
  card_mod_views:

household_sees:
  Start_Pro:
  Office_Pro:
  Climate:
  Mobile:
  Bubble_if_kept:

admin_sees:
  Diagnostics:
  Technical_Pro:
  service:

deliberately_hidden:
  helpers:
  timers:
  scripts:
  restart:
  test_scene:
  raw_entities:

not_used:
  - a_second_wall_panel
  - kiosk_mode_here
  - browser_mod
  - other:

notes_for_later:
  bubble_status:
  style_consistency_with_panel:
  ideas_to_revisit:

acceptance_criteria:
  functionality: yes / no
  role_split: yes / no
  pro_look: yes / no
  maintainability: yes / no
  bridge_forward: yes / no

screenshots:
  - Start_Pro.png
  - Office_Pro.png
  - Climate_Pro.png
  - Diagnostics.png
  - Technical_Pro.png
  - Mobile.png
  - Desktop.png

An example of a sensible entry under "Cards used": Mushroom on Start (temperature, humidity), Button Card for the scene and the status LED, ApexCharts on Climate only, Auto Entities on Technical (3 lists), Card Mod on Start and Office (border-radius 14px), Bubble optionally on the Office popup.

Under "Kept system-default": Diagnostics entities from Module 12, markdown on Start, the Service section without a custom card, ESPHome entities without Mushroom.

How many custom cards is too many?

On this course's standard path, Module 15 ends with six HACS cards (Mushroom, Button Card, ApexCharts, Auto Entities, Card Mod, optionally Bubble). That's not a Home Assistant limit. It's a limit of good sense at this stage of learning. If you have more, write down in your documentation what each is for. If you can't answer, consider uninstalling the ones you don't use. Fewer dependencies means fewer surprises after an update.

A Pro dashboard doesn't need to be Pro everywhere. Sometimes the best decision is to leave a system tile or entities card alone. That's also something you write down under "Kept system-default" in the YAML template.

Questions this lesson closes

A real-world example: "I installed everything from HACS and don't know what's where"

A client finishes Module 15 without documentation. He has fifteen custom cards, half unused. After an HA update, Mushroom needs a new version, ApexCharts stops rendering one series. He doesn't know which card is on which view, because he copied YAML from forums without a plan.

This lesson's documentation is a map. You know what's on Start, what's on Technical, what stayed system-default, where the backup is. A fix takes minutes, not a weekend.

You're closing the module differently: with a checklist, a backup, and a clear bridge to what's next.

What can go wrong at the finish line

Module 15 summary

You walked the road from "a custom card doesn't fix a bad dashboard" to a finished Dashboard Home Pro. In Lesson 1 you planned the upgrades. In Lessons 2 through 7 you swapped cards in for specific problems. In Lesson 8 you unified the look. In Lesson 9 you touched Bubble as a taste of the popup pattern. Today you close it all out with documentation and a backup.

Key takeaways

What's next

Module 15 is closed once the checklist has ten checked points, you have a backup, screenshots, and a filled-in documentation template. In Module 16 you turn to the phone itself: presence detection, notifications, and the deeper corners of the Companion app.

Good work. You have a Pro dashboard that you understand, that has a backup, and that the household can still use. That's rare after a first encounter with HACS. Module 16 picks up the story from your pocket.