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Getting started

Three short steps stand between a fresh install and a working dashboard.

Two things to do in Home Assistant first

Neither is required, and both make a large difference to what HKI 7 can build for you:

  • Assign your devices to areas (Settings → Areas, labels & zones). Areas become rooms. Without them, auto-generation has nothing to group by and you get no room screens.
  • Configure the Energy dashboard (Settings → Dashboards → Energy), if you track energy. HKI 7 can import those preferences in one step instead of asking you to name every sensor by hand.

  • 1. Install HKI 7

    What you need, where to get the app, and how to look around without a server at all.

    Install HKI 7

  • 2. Connect to Home Assistant

    Discovery, signing in, naming the device, and setting up local and remote access.

    Connect

  • 3. Your first dashboard

    Auto-generate one, start empty, restore a backup, or import a dashboard your family admin shared with you.

    First dashboard

  • Then: learn the gestures

    Five gestures get you everywhere. The app teaches them on first launch, and they are written down here too.

    Gestures

What onboarding asks you

The first launch walks through the whole thing in order, and every choice can be changed later in Settings:

  1. Welcome — start setup, or open the demo home.
  2. Find your server — HKI 7 scans your local network first; you can always type an address.
  3. Sign in — Home Assistant's own login page, in a browser tab.
  4. Name this device — how this phone or tablet appears in Home Assistant.
  5. Choose a dashboard — auto-generate, start empty, restore a backup, or import from family.
  6. Permissions — notifications, background location and unrestricted background usage. All three are optional.

Nothing here is permanent

Onboarding only picks your starting point. The server list, the device name, the dashboard and every permission can be changed afterwards from Settings.