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Never send an AI assistant passwords, API keys, access tokens, webhook secrets, or the real contents of secrets.yaml. Treat copied YAML, UI traces, logs, .storage files, and backup archives as sensitive; send only the smallest excerpt needed, with values replaced by descriptive placeholders.
Why Home Assistant configuration needs the same care as a password vault
Home Assistant configuration is generally plain text. The project warns that configuration.yaml can contain passwords and API tokens and that those values must be redacted before sharing. Anyone who receives an unredacted copy may be able to reuse a credential, identify your home network, or learn how your automations work. Read the official guidance in Storing secrets in YAML.
A request for troubleshooting rarely requires your entire installation. The integration name, relevant option keys, Home Assistant version, and exact error message are usually enough. Sending less data reduces both account risk and privacy exposure without making technical help impossible.
Never share these values or files unredacted
Passwords and authentication pairs
Remove every password, including Wi-Fi, database, SMTP, MQTT, VPN, camera, and third-party service credentials. A username by itself may be harmless, but a username next to its password is not. Replace both when they identify a real account, especially if the account has administrator rights.
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API keys, bearer tokens, and refresh tokens
Redact long-lived access tokens, bearer tokens, API keys, OAuth refresh tokens, and integration keys. Treat a token as equivalent to the password it replaces: an assistant does not need to know its character sequence to diagnose whether a YAML key is spelled correctly.
Webhook secrets and signed URLs
Webhook paths, HMAC secrets, and URLs containing embedded credentials can authorize actions or expose private data. Keep the path shape if it helps explain the configuration, but replace the secret portion and remove query parameters that carry authentication.
Values imported from secrets.yaml or another secret store
Do not paste the value behind a !secret reference. Share the reference name or a placeholder instead. Also inspect included YAML files, packages, blueprints, and UI-created automation fields; a secret can be copied into one of those locations even when the main file appears clean.
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Private network and household identifiers
Home Assistant’s cited documentation focuses on credentials, but privacy-conscious redaction should also cover public hostnames, internal IP addresses, external URLs, device names that reveal occupants, camera locations, alarm details, and geolocation clues. Keep a generic shape such as 192.0.2.10 or home.example.invalid when the format matters.
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!secret hides values from ordinary YAML; it does not encrypt them
The !secret tag lets you centralize a password or API key in secrets.yaml rather than repeating it in configuration. Home Assistant’s security checklist states plainly that “Storing secrets in secrets.yaml does not encrypt them.” See Securing your Home Assistant.
That distinction matters when preparing an AI question. A file on disk, a backup, or an administrator-facing interface can still reveal the underlying value. Preserve a line such as api_key: !secret weather_api_key if the reference helps explain the problem, but never include the value assigned to weather_api_key.
Secret values used by automations and scripts may also be visible to administrators in the UI, including YAML source and trace views. A copied trace or screenshot therefore deserves the same inspection as a text file; crop or blur credentials before uploading it.
Backups and .storage are broad data packages, not convenient snippets
Full backups
Home Assistant’s task documentation lists configuration, share, add-ons, ssl, and media among full-backup contents. A single archive can therefore contain far more than the integration you are debugging. Extract a working copy, locate the one relevant file, and inspect it before sharing; do not attach the archive itself.
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On March 26, 2026, Home Assistant announced that SecureTar v3 would become the format for new backups beginning with release 2026.4. The announcement explains that backups commonly include configurations, passwords, API keys, integrations, and automations. Encryption protects an archive while it is stored, but it does not make the contents appropriate to paste into an assistant after decryption or extraction. Check the current backup-encryption documentation for version-specific behavior.
The .storage directory
Home Assistant stores user and authentication details under .storage. Its authentication documentation notes that passwords are hashed and salted, but that is not a reason to publish the directory. Files can contain user names, provider settings, entity registries, integration metadata, and other installation-specific information. Share a hand-written excerpt or a sanitized export instead of any .storage file wholesale. The relevant reference is Authentication providers.
Logs, traces, screenshots, and UI YAML can leak the same secrets
Redaction is not limited to configuration.yaml. Debug logs may print request headers, URLs, payloads, entity names, or a failed authentication value. Automation traces can include rendered service data, and screenshots may show a token in a side panel or browser address bar. Before sharing, search text and visually inspect images for:
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- Complete webhook URLs, signed download links, and query parameters.
- Camera, lock, alarm, garage, or presence data that reveals when people are home.
- Browser tabs, notification previews, account email addresses, and local hostnames.
If a log line is needed, retain the timestamp, component, severity, and error text while replacing the value that appears before or after the error. For an image, crop to the relevant panel rather than relying on a blur that might be reversible or incomplete.
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How to create a safe, useful excerpt
- Define the question. Decide whether you need help with syntax, an integration setup, a template, an automation condition, or an error. This determines the smallest relevant file and lines.
- Copy to a separate working document. Never redact the only original. Include the surrounding keys needed to show indentation and nesting, but omit unrelated integrations and files.
- Search the excerpt and included files. Look for terms such as
password,token,secret,api_key,authorization,webhook,cookie,client_secret, andrefresh. Then inspect for long strings and URLs manually; not every credential uses an obvious key name. - Replace values, not structure. Use markers that describe the missing data, such as
YOUR_API_TOKEN,REDACTED_HOSTNAME, orYOUR_PASSWORD. Keep the original key names, list structure, quoting, and indentation so a syntax diagnosis remains possible. - Sanitize related evidence. Apply the same process to included files, trace output, logs, screenshots, and copied UI YAML. Check that a placeholder did not accidentally leave half of a real token in place.
- Add non-sensitive context. State the Home Assistant version if known, the integration or device type, what you expected, what happened, and the exact error message. Mention whether the configuration is YAML-managed or UI-managed.
- Review the final text as a stranger. Ask whether someone could authenticate to a service, locate your home, infer occupancy, or identify a vulnerable device from what remains. If yes, remove or generalize more details.
Illustrative redaction that preserves YAML shape
The following is an illustrative pattern, not a claim that every integration uses these exact options. The keys and nesting remain available for troubleshooting while all operational values are fictitious:
rest:
- authentication: basic
username: "REDACTED_USERNAME"
password: "REDACTED_PASSWORD"
resource: "https://example.invalid/api"
headers:
Authorization: "Bearer REDACTED_TOKEN"For a !secret reference, show the indirection without its contents:
some_integration:
api_key: !secret service_api_key
host: "REDACTED_HOSTNAME"Do not replace every value indiscriminately. Keep a non-sensitive port number, an entity domain such as sensor, a service name, or a boolean when that information is necessary to reproduce the logic.
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| Material you share | Typical usefulness | Risk and required treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Five to twenty relevant YAML lines with placeholders | Usually enough for indentation, schema, and template questions | Lowest practical exposure; inspect every value and URL |
| Sanitized error excerpt plus version and integration name | Best for authentication failures and startup errors | Remove headers, tokens, hostnames, and personal entity names |
| Cropped trace or UI screenshot | Useful when the issue exists only in the visual editor or trace timeline | Crop tabs and sidebars; mask rendered service data and account details |
| Complete configuration directory | Rarely necessary | High exposure; inspect every included file before considering it |
Full backup or .storage archive |
Almost never required for a configuration question | Do not upload wholesale; extract a minimal, sanitized excerpt |
If you already sent an unredacted credential
Assume the credential is compromised rather than relying on an assistant’s retention or deletion behavior. Revoke or rotate the exposed API key, password, token, or webhook secret at the issuing service; update Home Assistant with the replacement; and review that service’s access or audit history for unexpected activity. If the exposed account can administer Home Assistant, change its password, invalidate active sessions where the service supports it, and verify multi-factor authentication.
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Remove the original attachment or conversation when the platform permits it, but do not treat deletion as a substitute for rotation. Search other copies—shared tickets, screenshots, logs, cloud sync folders, and backup extracts—and replace or destroy them.
Secure the installation separately from redacting a support question
Redaction protects what you send; it does not harden the installation itself. Home Assistant recommends strong, unique passwords, multi-factor authentication, keeping the system updated, and backing up sensitive values. A password manager can help generate and store unique credentials, but buying one is not required to sanitize a snippet.
Most Home Assistant tasks can be completed through the UI, while some integrations and advanced features require configuration.yaml. If your task is UI-configurable, do not export YAML merely to ask for help. When remote access is relevant, Home Assistant documents a Cloud option that avoids opening router ports; see Remote access to Home Assistant. Remote-access choice does not change the requirement to redact credentials before sharing.
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A final pre-send checklist
- No real passwords, API keys, bearer or refresh tokens, cookies, webhook secrets, or secret-store values remain.
- Credentials embedded in URLs, headers, traces, logs, screenshots, and UI YAML are replaced.
- Private hostnames, internal addresses, device names, camera locations, and occupancy clues are generalized where unnecessary.
- No complete backup,
.storagedirectory, or full configuration tree is attached. - The excerpt still contains the relevant keys, indentation, integration name, version, and exact error.
- Every placeholder is clearly synthetic and no fragment of the original secret remains.
For background on the configuration file itself, consult Home Assistant’s configuration documentation; for secret handling, use the project’s secrets guide and security checklist.
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