Entities

The entity registry is where friendly names, entity ids, and visibility live. These services let Claude fix the light.shelly_1pm_9a4c2f mess at scale: rename in bulk, assign sane entity ids, disable noisy diagnostics, hide what dashboards shouldn’t show, and sweep out registry entries whose integration is long gone. Since 2.11 they also change what a device shows as — a contact sensor as a door, a smart plug as a fan or a light, a sensor’s decimals and unit.

change_entity_id does not rewrite automations, scripts, or dashboards that reference the old id. Run find_orphaned_references afterwards to catch anything left pointing at the old name — Claude does this automatically when you ask it to rename things.

Rename entity

brain.rename_entity

Set the friendly name override of one or more entities.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`entity_id`	entity (list)	yes	Entities to rename.
`name`	text	yes	The new friendly name.

service: brain.rename_entity
data:
  entity_id:
    - light.shelly_1pm_abc123
  name: Kitchen Ceiling

🗣️ “Rename light.shelly_1pm_abc123 to ‘Kitchen Ceiling’.”

Change entity ID

brain.change_entity_id

Change an entity’s ID (e.g. light.shelly_abc123 to light.kitchen_ceiling). Automations and dashboards referencing the old ID must be updated separately.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`entity_id`	entity	yes	The current entity ID.
`new_entity_id`	text	yes	The new entity ID, same domain.

service: brain.change_entity_id
data:
  entity_id: light.shelly_1pm_abc123
  new_entity_id: light.kitchen_ceiling

🗣️ “Give that Shelly a sane entity id: light.kitchen_ceiling.”

Enable entity

brain.enable_entity

Enable one or more disabled entities. Takes effect after the owning integration reloads.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`entity_id`	entity (list)	yes	Entities to enable.

service: brain.enable_entity
data:
  entity_id:
    - sensor.zigbee_router_lqi

🗣️ “Re-enable the LQI diagnostic sensor.”

Disable entity

brain.disable_entity

Disable one or more entities. They stop updating and are removed from the UI.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`entity_id`	entity (list)	yes	Entities to disable.

service: brain.disable_entity
data:
  entity_id:
    - sensor.noisy_diagnostic

🗣️ “Disable that diagnostic sensor that spams the recorder.”

Hide entity

brain.hide_entity

Hide one or more entities from auto-generated dashboards and voice assistants. They keep working.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`entity_id`	entity (list)	yes	Entities to hide.

service: brain.hide_entity
data:
  entity_id:
    - switch.washing_machine_child_lock

🗣️ “Hide the child-lock switch from dashboards but keep it working.”

Unhide entity

brain.unhide_entity

Unhide one or more hidden entities.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`entity_id`	entity (list)	yes	Entities to unhide.

service: brain.unhide_entity
data:
  entity_id:
    - switch.washing_machine_child_lock

🗣️ “Show the child-lock switch again.”

Set entity aliases

brain.set_entity_aliases

Replace an entity’s voice-assistant aliases — the alternative names Assist listens for.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`entity_id`	entity	yes	The entity to update.
`aliases`	text (list)	yes	The full new list of aliases.

service: brain.set_entity_aliases
data:
  entity_id: light.office_desk_lamp
  aliases: ["the beacon", "desk light"]

🗣️ “We call the office lamp ‘the beacon’ — make voice understand that.”

Set entity icon

brain.set_entity_icon

Set an icon override on one or more entities. Omit the icon to clear the override and return to the default.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`entity_id`	entity (list)	yes	Entities to update.
`icon`	icon	no	The icon to set. Omit to clear the override.

service: brain.set_entity_icon
data:
  entity_id:
    - switch.bedroom_fan
  icon: mdi:ceiling-fan

🗣️ “That fan shows as a generic switch — give it a fan icon.”

Delete orphaned entities

brain.delete_orphaned_entities

Remove registry entries for entities whose integration no longer provides them (state shows as ‘restored’). Runs as a dry run by default and returns the list of affected entities as response data. Optionally scoped to specific entities: each one is re-verified as orphaned, and anything still alive is skipped and reported, never deleted.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`dry_run`	boolean	no	When on (default), only report what would be removed.
`entity_id`	entity (list)	no	Restrict the cleanup to these entities. Each is re-verified as orphaned; anything still provided by an integration is skipped and reported in skipped_not_orphaned. Omit to target every orphan.

# Report only — nothing is deleted
service: brain.delete_orphaned_entities
response_variable: orphans

# Delete only the ones you reviewed; live entities are skipped, never deleted
service: brain.delete_orphaned_entities
data:
  dry_run: false
  entity_id:
    - sensor.old_hub_battery
    - sensor.old_hub_signal

🗣️ “Are there any dead entities left over from integrations I removed? Clean them up.”

What a device shows as

New in brAIn 2.11. Every entity in Home Assistant has a Show as setting in its own settings dialog; these four services change it, so you can ask in the chat or the terminal — “show the back door sensor as a door”, “show the fan plug as a fan”, “show the outdoor temperature in °F with one decimal” — and an automation can call them too.

Service	What it changes	Undo
`brain.set_device_class`	The Show as type of a binary sensor, cover, switch, valve and a few more	`device_class` left empty
`brain.show_switch_as`	A switch shown as a light, fan, lock, cover, siren or valve	`brain.stop_showing_switch_as`
`brain.stop_showing_switch_as`	Removes that helper, so the switch is a switch again	—
`brain.set_sensor_display`	A sensor’s decimal places and, where it converts, its unit	the field set to `null`

The rules that hold for all four:

Admin-only, and checked like any other change. From the chat and the terminal they go through protected entities and the action gate. A voice agent at the Voice assistant level cannot use them, and neither can scheduled cards or any other unattended run.
Protected holds across a switch and its stand-in. A switch shown as something else counts as protected if either the switch or the entity standing in for it is on your protected list — showing it as another type, or going back, is refused. While you have a protected list, brAIn also refuses when it cannot read which entity stands in for which.
Checked against your Home Assistant. A type or unit is checked against what your Home Assistant offers, and a wrong one is refused with the list of what it would take.
A sensor’s or a number’s device class is never changed. It decides the unit and the long-term statistics, and Home Assistant’s own settings do not offer it either. Change its unit or precision with set_sensor_display instead.

A fan cannot become a light — but the plug it runs off can

Only a switch can be shown as another kind of device. A ceiling fan that arrives from an integration as a fan entity cannot be turned into a light, and brAIn says so. If the fan or lamp runs off a smart plug, show the plug’s switch as what you want with brain.show_switch_as — that is Home Assistant’s own Change device type of a switch helper.

Set device class

brain.set_device_class

Change what kind of device an entity is shown as — a binary sensor as a door, window, garage door, motion, moisture or smoke sensor; a cover as a garage door, blind, shutter, curtain or gate; a switch as an outlet. Returns, per entity, the device class now in effect, the override stored, and the integration’s original.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`entity_id`	entity (list)	yes	Entities to change: `binary_sensor`, `button`, `cover`, `event`, `humidifier`, `media_player`, `switch`, `update` or `valve`.
`device_class`	text	no	What to show it as, e.g. `door`, `window`, `moisture`, `garage`, `outlet`. Leave empty to give back the integration’s own.
`confirm_safety`	boolean	no	Needed to take a smoke, gas, carbon monoxide or leak sensor out of that class. Default off.

# A contact sensor on the back door, shown as a door
service: brain.set_device_class
data:
  entity_id:
    - binary_sensor.back_door_contact
  device_class: door
response_variable: result

# Back to what the integration reports
service: brain.set_device_class
data:
  entity_id:
    - binary_sensor.back_door_contact

🗣️ “The back door sensor shows as ‘opening’ — show it as a door.”

Smoke, gas, carbon monoxide and leak sensors keep their type unless you say yes. brAIn’s safety lane — a critical card sent straight away, through quiet hours — goes by that type, so showing a smoke detector as a door would quietly stop its alerts. brAIn asks you first, and the service refuses the change without confirm_safety: true. Making a sensor one of those types goes through, and the answer says that its alerts now go through quiet hours.

A template binary sensor made in Home Assistant’s UI keeps the type set in its helper. Change it in Settings → Devices & services → Helpers → the helper → Template options. brAIn will not add an override there, because Home Assistant hides that setting for those sensors and an override would mask every later change; it can still clear one that is already there. A template sensor written in YAML takes an override as usual.

Show switch as

brain.show_switch_as

Show a switch — a smart plug running a fan or a lamp — as a light, fan, lock, cover, siren or valve, through Home Assistant’s own Change device type of a switch helper (switch_as_x). The new entity takes the switch’s place in dashboards and voice; the original switch is hidden and keeps working. A switch already shown as something else is moved to the new type. Returns the new entity’s id.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`entity_id`	entity	yes	The switch to show as something else, or the entity it is already shown as.
`target_domain`	select	yes	`cover`, `fan`, `light`, `lock`, `siren` or `valve` — checked against what your Home Assistant offers.
`invert`	boolean	no	Invert the state (cover, lock and valve only; Home Assistant 2024.2 or newer).

# The plug the bedroom fan runs off, shown as a fan
service: brain.show_switch_as
data:
  entity_id: switch.bedroom_fan_plug
  target_domain: fan
response_variable: shown   # shown.entity_id is the new fan entity

# A plug running a floor lamp, shown as a light
service: brain.show_switch_as
data:
  entity_id: switch.lounge_lamp_plug
  target_domain: light

🗣️ “The lounge lamp is on a smart plug — make it show up as a light.”

Stop showing switch as

brain.stop_showing_switch_as

Undo show_switch_as: remove the helper so the switch shows as a switch again and is no longer hidden. Takes the switch or the entity it is shown as. The answer lists the automations, scripts and scenes that used the entity going away — run it with dry_run: true first to see that list without changing anything.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`entity_id`	entity	yes	The switch, or the light/fan/lock/cover/siren/valve it is shown as.
`dry_run`	boolean	no	When on, only report what would change. Default off.

# See what would break first
service: brain.stop_showing_switch_as
data:
  entity_id: fan.bedroom_fan_plug
  dry_run: true
response_variable: preview

🗣️ “Stop showing the bedroom plug as a fan — but tell me what uses it first.”

Set sensor display

brain.set_sensor_display

Change how a sensor is shown: its display precision (decimal places) and, where Home Assistant can convert it, its unit. Only the fields you name change; null puts back the integration’s own. A unit is checked against the units Home Assistant can convert that sensor to — it converts only sensors whose device class has a converter (temperature, energy, power, pressure, …), and the refusal lists the units it can.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`entity_id`	entity (list)	yes	Sensors to change.
`display_precision`	number	no	Decimal places to show, 0 to 6.
`unit_of_measurement`	text	no	The unit to show it in, e.g. `°F` or `kWh`.

# Outdoor temperature in °F, one decimal
service: brain.set_sensor_display
data:
  entity_id:
    - sensor.outdoor_temperature
  unit_of_measurement: "°F"
  display_precision: 1

# Solar power in kW instead of W
service: brain.set_sensor_display
data:
  entity_id:
    - sensor.solar_power
  unit_of_measurement: kW

🗣️ “Show the solar output in kilowatts with two decimals.”