Card Types
Cards are the controls and information tiles shown on the EspControl screen. Each card type is built for a specific job: some send Home Assistant actions, some display live state, some control local panel hardware, and some open extra pages.
Use this page when you know what you want the panel to do but are not sure which card type to choose.
Choose a Card
| Goal | Use this card | Entity or target |
|---|---|---|
| Toggle a light, switch, fan, helper, or button-style entity | Switch | light, switch, input_boolean, fan, or button |
| Control a light as on/off, brightness, colour temperature, or colour presets | Lights | light |
| Run a scene, script, automation, helper action, or button press | Action | Depends on the selected action |
| Show or control a robot vacuum | Vacuum | vacuum |
| Pick from a Home Assistant select list | Option Select | select or input_select |
| Fire a custom Home Assistant automation event | Trigger | No entity required |
| Call an HTTP URL directly from the panel | Webhook | URL |
| Show a live number, text state, or active/inactive icon | Sensor | sensor, binary_sensor, or text_sensor |
| Show a door or window contact sensor | Doors & Windows | binary_sensor or sensor |
| Show presence, motion, person, or tracker state | Presence | binary_sensor, sensor, text_sensor, person, or tracker helpers |
| Drag to set light brightness or fan speed | Slider | light or fan |
| Use grouped fan controls | Fans | fan |
| Control blinds, shutters, shades, gates, position, or tilt | Cover | cover |
| Open or close a garage door | Garage Door | cover |
| Lock or unlock a door lock | Lock | lock |
| Arm, disarm, or show an alarm panel | Alarm | alarm_control_panel |
| Show local date, time, or date and time | Date & Time | No entity required for clock modes |
| Show another city or timezone | World Clock | No entity required |
| Show current weather or daily high/low temperatures | Weather | weather |
| Show a still image from Home Assistant | Camera | camera or image |
| Control media playback, volume, progress, or now-playing display | Media | media_player |
| Control a thermostat or HVAC entity | Climate | climate |
| Control a built-in relay on the panel itself | Internal Switches | Built-in relay |
| Lock or unlock the touchscreen controls locally | Screen Lock | No entity required |
| Open another page of cards | Subpage | No entity required, optional state entity |
Entity-Based and Local Cards
Most cards use Home Assistant entities. The entity ID is the exact name Home Assistant uses, such as light.kitchen, sensor.outdoor_temperature, or media_player.living_room.
Some cards do not need a Home Assistant entity:
- Trigger sends a custom event that Home Assistant automations can listen for.
- Webhook sends a direct HTTP request.
- Date & Time, World Clock, Screen Lock, and Subpage can work from the panel itself.
- Internal Switches controls built-in relay hardware on supported panels.
Grouped Card Types
Some names in the setup page group several related modes:
| Setup page name | Modes |
|---|---|
| Lights | All Controls, Switch, Brightness, Colour Temperature |
| Fans | Switch, Speed, Oscillation, Direction, Preset |
| Action | Scene, Script, Automation, Button, Helper, Option Select |
| Vacuum | Status, Start / Stop, Dock, Pause / Resume, Spot Clean, Locate, Clean Area |
| Alarm | Combined Control, Arm Away, Arm Home, Arm Night, Arm Vacation, Disarm |
| Date & Time | Clock, Date, Time & Date, World Clock |
| Media | Play/Pause, Previous, Next, Volume, Track Position, Now Playing |
| Cover | Modal, Position, Tilt, Toggle, Open, Close, Stop, Set Position |
| Subpage | Generic, Switch, Lights, Climate, Presence, Media, Alarm, Cover, Garage Door, Lock, Vacuum, Weather, Sensor, Camera / Image |
Permissions
Cards that control Home Assistant need the panel to be allowed to perform Home Assistant actions. If a control card displays correctly but tapping it does nothing, check Enable Actions.
Read-only display cards such as Sensor, Presence, Date & Time, and current Weather state can still show information without sending control actions. Weather forecast modes also need Home Assistant actions permission because the panel asks Home Assistant for forecast data.
Current Capability Reference
For a generated table of card type names, saved type values, supported entity domains, subpage support, picker grouping, options, and visibility status, see the Card Capability Reference.