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For useful troubleshooting, send the smallest excerpt that demonstrates the problem, replace private values with descriptive placeholders, and retain only the keys, error text, integration name, and Home Assistant version that the assistant needs.
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Why Home Assistant configuration is sensitive
Home Assistant configuration is stored as readable text. The project’s documentation warns that configuration.yaml is a plain-text file and can contain passwords and API tokens that must be redacted before sharing. See Home Assistant’s “Storing secrets in YAML” documentation.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteA configuration snippet can also reveal how your household is organized: entity names, device locations, camera paths, internal hostnames, external service URLs, and network addresses. Some of those details may not let somebody log in by themselves, but they can identify your home or expose useful information about your network. Share them only when they are necessary, and anonymize them when they are not.
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“The
configuration.yamlfile is a plain-text file, thus it is readable by anyone who has access to the file. The file contains passwords and API tokens which need to be redacted if you want to share your configuration.” — Home Assistant documentation
Information that should never appear in a shared excerpt
| Data | Examples | What to do before sharing |
|---|---|---|
| Authentication credentials | Passwords, usernames paired with passwords, API keys, bearer tokens, long-lived access tokens, refresh tokens, and webhook secrets | Replace the value with a marker such as REDACTED_PASSWORD or YOUR_API_TOKEN. Do not include a working username when it is tied to a credential. |
| Values from secret stores | Entries in secrets.yaml, environment variables copied into YAML, or credentials inserted into an integration’s UI-generated YAML |
Remove the value, not just the filename or key name. Keep the key and surrounding structure if they help diagnose the syntax. |
| Credentials embedded in URLs or headers | URLs containing user:password@host, query-string tokens, Authorization: Bearer ..., or signed webhook URLs |
Strip the credential and replace it with a descriptive placeholder while leaving the URL shape visible. |
| Private network and household identifiers | Internal IP addresses, private hostnames, externally reachable URLs, street-level names, camera locations, or uniquely identifying device labels | Use neutral substitutes such as REDACTED_HOSTNAME, 192.0.2.10, or camera_front where the real value is not needed. This is privacy protection in addition to the credential redaction Home Assistant explicitly requires. |
| Authentication and application data | Files under .storage, user records, tokens, or other internal application state |
Do not attach the directory wholesale. Extract only the setting or error relevant to the question, after removing personal and authentication data. |
| Archives and broad exports | Full configuration directories, diagnostic bundles, and backup archives | Never upload an entire archive when a short excerpt can answer the question. Open a working copy, inspect its contents, and remove unrelated files. |
!secret keeps values out of ordinary YAML; it does not encrypt them
Home Assistant uses the !secret tag to keep a password or API key in secrets.yaml instead of repeating the value in ordinary configuration files. That separation improves organization and reduces accidental display in routine edits, but it is not encryption. Home Assistant’s security guidance states plainly: “Storing secrets in secrets.yaml does not encrypt them.” Read the project’s security recommendations.
Consequently, sharing a file that contains password: !secret router_password is not automatically safe. The value may appear in another included file, an exported UI configuration, a trace, a log, or the secret file itself. Redact both the reference when it reveals unnecessary information and any resolved value that appears elsewhere.
Automation YAML, scripts, traces, and screenshots can reveal the same secrets
Secret values used by automations and scripts can be visible to administrators in Home Assistant’s interface, including YAML source and trace views. A screenshot or copied trace therefore deserves the same review as a file from disk. Inspect text in headers, service data, variables, response payloads, and rendered templates; a token may be printed in an error line even when it is absent from the automation definition.
Logs need review as well. Keep the timestamp, integration name, error code, and a short redacted context, but remove request headers, full response bodies, cookies, authorization strings, and URLs with embedded credentials. If an assistant needs to distinguish a connection failure from an authentication failure, the words “401,” “403,” or “timeout” are usually enough; the working credential is not.
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Backups are broad packages, not harmless troubleshooting files
Home Assistant’s general task documentation lists configuration, share, add-ons, ssl, and media among the contents of a full backup. The backup can therefore include far more than the YAML you intended to discuss. The guidance is at Common tasks for every Home Assistant.
On March 26, 2026, Home Assistant announced that new backups use SecureTar v3 beginning with release 2026.4. The announcement notes that backups commonly contain configurations, passwords, API keys, integrations, and automations. Encryption protects an archive while it is stored, but once you decrypt it or make its contents available to an assistant, the underlying files still contain those secrets. See “Modernizing encryption of Home Assistant backups” for the release-specific details, and check current documentation before following backup or restore procedures.
Do not upload a full backup for a question about one integration. Create a temporary copy, extract the relevant file or lines, redact that copy, and delete the working extract when you are finished.
Why .storage should not be shared wholesale
Home Assistant stores user and authentication-related information under .storage. The authentication providers documentation explains that passwords are hashed and salted. That protects the password representation, but it does not turn the directory into a public diagnostic artifact. Files there may include user details, refresh information, integration state, and identifiers that are irrelevant to your question.
If support requires a particular .storage setting, copy only the necessary object or error context and remove user names, identifiers, tokens, and unrelated entries. Never assume that a hash, identifier, or opaque JSON value is safe simply because you cannot read it at a glance.
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A safe redaction workflow before asking for help
- Define the exact problem. Write down the integration, expected behavior, actual behavior, error message, and the Home Assistant version. This prevents you from exporting the whole installation to answer a narrow question.
- Collect the smallest source. Select the relevant YAML block, one automation, a short log window, or the specific UI error. Most configuration can be managed in the interface; consult The configuration.yaml file only when the feature actually requires YAML.
- Expand included files mentally and literally. Follow
!include,!secret, packages, templates, and environment substitutions. Search the selected excerpt and every included file for password, token, key, secret, authorization, bearer, webhook, cookie, and URL fields. - Replace values while preserving the shape. Keep option names, indentation, list structure, and data types. Replace a string with a clearly typed marker, a number with a safe example number when the exact value is irrelevant, and a hostname with a neutral name.
- Inspect generated views. Review automation traces, YAML source panels, screenshots, copied diagnostics, and logs separately. A value rendered by the UI can be sensitive even when the original file uses
!secret. - Check the final text as a recipient would. Search again for long random strings, email addresses, internal domains, IP addresses, signed URLs, and anything that identifies your household. Make sure no archive, attachment, or hidden screenshot layer contains the original.
- Send context without credentials. Include the integration name, relevant keys, exact error text, reproduction steps, and version. State which values were redacted so the assistant does not mistake placeholders for literal settings.
Illustrative redacted YAML
The following keeps the structure needed to discuss an HTTP integration without exposing a real account or token. It is an example, not a claim that every integration uses these exact options.
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rest:
- authentication: basic
username: "REDACTED_USERNAME"
password: "REDACTED_PASSWORD"
resource: "https://example.invalid/api"
headers:
Authorization: "Bearer REDACTED_TOKEN"
Do not replace a secret with an empty value if the assistant needs to reason about quoting, indentation, or data type. A descriptive marker shows that a value exists while making clear that it is not the real credential.
What useful context you can share
- Version and installation type: provide the Home Assistant version, operating system or installation method, and the integration version when known. These details help account for changed options without identifying your home.
- Configuration shape: include the integration name, relevant option keys, indentation, list structure, and whether the setting came from YAML or the UI.
- Sanitized errors: retain error classes, status codes, timestamps when relevant, and the sequence of events. Remove request contents, tokens, cookies, and personal data.
- Reproduction steps: explain what you click or trigger, what you expected, and what happened instead. This is often more diagnostic than additional configuration.
- Neutral names: rename devices and entities consistently, such as
light_living_roomtolight_room_a, if their real names disclose locations.
Choose the smallest sharing method that answers the question
| Method | Exposure | When it is appropriate |
|---|---|---|
| Short, redacted excerpt | Lowest; only selected keys and sanitized context | Default choice for syntax, integration, and automation questions. |
| Redacted log or trace segment | Moderate; may include rendered values unless reviewed line by line | Useful for timing, status-code, and runtime failures after headers and payloads are removed. |
| Single extracted file from a working copy | Higher; includes adjacent settings that may be overlooked | Use only when the issue spans several related sections and you have searched the entire file. |
| Full configuration directory or backup | Highest; may include credentials, add-ons, media, SSL data, and user information | Generally inappropriate for an AI question. Provide it only through a controlled support process that explicitly requires it, after following that process’s privacy rules. |
If you already shared a real secret
- Assume the credential is exposed. Do not rely on deleting the message or editing the visible text to make a copied value safe.
- Revoke or rotate it at the issuing service. Replace API keys, long-lived tokens, refresh tokens, webhook secrets, and integration passwords. Update Home Assistant only after the new value is active.
- Review access logs where the service provides them. Look for unexpected sign-ins, token use, webhook calls, or configuration changes.
- Remove the original from your working copies. Check downloads, screenshots, exported traces, temporary archives, and shared folders, not only the message in which you pasted it.
- Harden the account and installation. Home Assistant recommends strong, unique passwords, multi-factor authentication, keeping the system current, and maintaining protected backups. Those measures reduce future impact but do not undo a credential that has already been disclosed.
Account security is separate from redaction
Use a strong, unique Home Assistant password and enable multi-factor authentication where available. A password manager can help create and store unique credentials, as recommended in Home Assistant’s security guidance, but owning one does not make it acceptable to paste the stored values into an assistant. Keep secret backups protected and maintain the Home Assistant installation and integrations up to date.
Remote access choices do not change the redaction rule. Whether you connect locally or through a remote-access service, configuration copied into a conversation should contain placeholders rather than working credentials. Home Assistant’s remote-access documentation is available at Remote access to Home Assistant if you need connection guidance separate from this privacy question.
A final pre-send checklist
- No passwords, API keys, bearer or refresh tokens, webhook secrets, cookies, or signed URLs remain.
- No real values from
secrets.yamlor resolved!secretreferences appear in the excerpt. - Automation traces, screenshots, logs, and UI-generated YAML have been inspected, not assumed safe.
.storagedirectories and backup archives have not been attached wholesale.- Private hostnames, external URLs, internal addresses, and household labels are anonymized unless essential.
- The excerpt includes only the keys, error, reproduction steps, and version needed to answer the question.
If a problem can be explained with ten sanitized lines, sending a ten-line excerpt is safer and usually clearer than exporting the installation that produced it.
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