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Home Assistant MCP Server

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Get Home Assistant Best Practices Skill Guide

ha_get_skill_guide
Read-onlyIdempotent

Fetch bundled Home Assistant best-practices guidance before creating or editing automations, scripts, scenes, helpers, or dashboards. It covers triggers, conditions, actions, and service calls.

Instructions

Get the bundled Home Assistant best-practices skill. The skill is currently not available on this server: the skills directory is missing or its SKILL.md failed to parse. Calls return an error; ask the operator to verify the skills-vendor submodule is initialized.

Use BEFORE: creating or editing automations, scripts, scenes, helpers, or dashboards; writing triggers, conditions, actions, wait_template, or service calls; renaming entities or migrating device_id to entity_id; calling ha_config_set_automation, ha_config_set_script, ha_config_set_helper, ha_config_set_dashboard, or ha_set_entity.

Replaces (and supersedes) the prior tools: ha_list_resources, ha_read_resource, and ha_get_skill_home_assistant_best_practices. If you were going to call any of those, call this instead.

best practices skill skills guide guides reference references documentation docs help tutorial automation script scene helper dashboard ha_list_resources ha_read_resource list_resources read_resource ha_get_skill_home_assistant_best_practices ha_get_skill_home_assistant home_assistant_best_practices

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema
NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
fileNoPath of the file to read, exactly as SKILL.md links it (e.g. 'references/triggers-and-conditions.md'). Omit to read SKILL.md.SKILL.md

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema
NameRequiredDescriptionDefault

No arguments

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

  1. Changed1 schema field changedv8.7.0
    • changedInput schema / properties / file / description
      Previous value: -"Path of the file to read, exactly as SKILL.md links it (e.g. 'references/automation-patterns.md'). Omit to read SKILL.md."New value: +"Path of the file to read, exactly as SKILL.md links it (e.g. 'references/triggers-and-conditions.md'). Omit to read SKILL.md."
  2. Changed5 schema fields changedv8.6.0
    • removedInput schema / properties / file / anyOf
      Removed value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]
    • changedInput schema / properties / file / default
      Previous value: -nullNew value: +"SKILL.md"
    • changedInput schema / properties / file / description
      Previous value: -"Reference file path within the skill, relative to the skill directory (e.g., 'SKILL.md' or 'references/automation-patterns.md'). Requires skill to be set."New value: +"Path of the file to read, exactly as SKILL.md links it (e.g. 'references/automation-patterns.md'). Omit to read SKILL.md."
    • addedInput schema / properties / file / type
      Added value: +"string"
    • removedInput schema / properties / skill
      Removed value: -{
-  "anyOf": [
-    {
-      "type": "string"
-    },
-    {
-      "type": "null"
-    }
-  ],
-  "default": null,
-  "description": "Skill name from the no-args listing (e.g., 'home-assistant-best-practices')."
-}
  3. First observedv7.14.2

TDQS

A4.6/5.0
Behavior5/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Annotations already declare readOnly/idempotent/non-destructive, but the description adds critical context annotations cannot: the skill is currently unavailable, calls return an error, the cause (missing skills directory or unparseable SKILL.md), and a remediation ('ask the operator to verify the skills-vendor submodule'). That is materially valuable behavior disclosure beyond structured fields.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness4/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

Core behavior, usage, and replacement routing are front-loaded and efficiently ordered. The trailing keyword-stuffing block is intentional discoverability metadata but reads as noise and slightly dilutes an otherwise tight structure.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

Given an output schema exists, return values needn't be explained. The description covers what the tool is, its current failure state, when to use it, and which tools it replaces — everything an agent needs to select and invoke it correctly.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters3/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

There is a single optional parameter and the schema description coverage is 100%, so the schema already documents the 'file' path semantics fully. The description adds no parameter-level detail beyond the schema, which is the expected baseline-3 case.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

States a specific verb and resource ('Get the bundled Home Assistant best-practices skill') and immediately distinguishes itself from the deprecated siblings it replaces. An agent can tell exactly what it retrieves and which prior tools it supersedes without opening the schema.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines5/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

Provides explicit when-to-use triggers: 'Use BEFORE' creating/editing automations, scripts, scenes, helpers, dashboards, and before calling specific config tools by name. It also names the alternatives ('Replaces ... ha_list_resources, ha_read_resource ...') with the routing rule 'call this instead.'

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

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