Do I Need To Document My Smart Home Setup

If you ever need to troubleshoot, upgrade, or hand it over your smart home to someone else, will you remember how it all fits together? That’s where documentation comes in handy. While it might sound tedious (because it is), keeping track of your setup can save you time and frustration later.

Is Documentation Really Necessary

It depends on your setup. If you’re only using a small number of smart devices and a voice assistant and \ or smart, then no, you probably don’t need to create a document. Also, if you have a large number of devices, but only use simple automations that are all controlled by a single smart home system, then documentation is less important

But if you’ve got:

• Loads of devices from different brands
• Custom automations
• Scenes or routines running across platforms
• Smart hubs like Home Assistant, Hubitat, or SmartThings
• Network and VLAN configuration for smart devices

Then documenting your setup is probably going to be of benefit at some point

Is a Backup Enough

Backing up your system configuration (like Home Assistant or your hub’s export file) is essential. But it’s not the whole picture. Backups help restore your system to a working state, but they don’t tell you why you set things up the way you did, or how devices are connected.

Backups are like a safety net. Documentation is the user manual.

Guide to Documenting Your Smart Home

Keep it simple. You don’t need a long technical manual, just aim for something that you (or someone else) could follow in future. A basic spreadsheet will do and to save time use screen shots

From my personal experience, the most important things to document are:

• Workarounds you’ve had to implement
• Complex automations
• Security Information: Keys, Passwords, Certificates

Other areas to consider documenting (if you have the time) are:

Device Inventory
List all devices, grouped by room or category

Platform Overview
Summarise each system or platform

Automations & Scenes
List your main automations or routines and what triggers them. Keep it simple.

Network and Infrastructure
Note any relevant networking setup:

Accounts and Integrations
Record login info (store passwords securely) and integration links:

Maintenance Notes
Log things that might be useful later, Known bugs or quirks, To-dos

Final Thoughts

Documenting your smart home is not glamorous, but it’s a smart move. It helps with troubleshooting when problems occur and gives you a nice warm feeling inside 🙂