Home Assistant Graphs and Visualization

Create informative graphs and charts for sensor data visualization in Home Assistant dashboards.

Quick Start

This skill covers four main graphing solutions:

• History Graph (native): Simple sensor history with automatic long-term statistics
• Statistics Graph (native): Long-term trend analysis with aggregations
• Mini-Graph-Card (HACS): Popular, lightweight graphs with customization
• ApexCharts Card (HACS): Advanced publication-quality charts with annotations

Basic Examples

History Graph (Native):

type: history-graph
entities:
  - entity: sensor.temperature
    name: Living Room
  - entity: sensor.humidity
hours_to_show: 24

ApexCharts (HACS) - VALIDATED CONFIG:

CRITICAL: The span.end field must be one of: "minute", "hour", "day", "week", "month", "year", "isoWeek"

type: custom:apexcharts-card
header:
  show: true
  title: 24 Hour History
  show_states: true
graph_span: 24h
span:
  end: hour  # REQUIRED: minute/hour/day/week/month/year/isoWeek
yaxis:
  - min: 0
    max: 50
    decimals: 1
apex_config:
  chart:
    height: 200
  xaxis:
    type: datetime
    labels:
      datetimeFormatter:
        hour: "HH:mm"
  legend:
    show: true
series:
  - entity: sensor.temperature
    name: Temperature
    color: "#e74c3c"
    stroke_width: 2

Common ApexCharts Errors:

• ❌ WRONG: "span": {"end": "now"} → Causes parsing error
• ✅ CORRECT: "span": {"end": "hour"} → Valid value

Graph Selection Decision Tree

START
│
├─ Need simple sensor history (last 24-48h)?
│  └─ YES → Use history-graph (native)
│
├─ Need long-term trends (weeks/months)?
│  └─ YES → Use statistics-graph (native)
│
├─ Need minimalist design with moderate customization?
│  └─ YES → Use mini-graph-card (HACS)
│
└─ Need advanced features (annotations, comparisons, multi-axis)?
   └─ YES → Use apexcharts-card (HACS)

Comparison Matrix

History Graph Card (Native)

Best for: Simple sensor history visualization (recent data)

Basic Configuration

type: history-graph
entities:
  - entity: sensor.temperature_living_room
    name: Living Room
  - entity: sensor.temperature_bedroom
    name: Bedroom
hours_to_show: 24
refresh_interval: 0  # Default: auto-refresh

Key Features

• Displays sensor history from recorder database
• Automatically switches to long-term statistics for older data
• Bold line = recorder data, thin line = statistics
• If hours_to_show > recorder retention: uses long-term statistics

Performance Note: History graphs are very fast because they use HA's built-in recorder data.

Statistics Graph Card (Native)

Best for: Long-term trend analysis (weeks, months, years)

Basic Configuration

type: statistics-graph
entities:
  - sensor.energy_daily
stat_types:
  - mean
  - min
  - max
period:
  calendar:
    period: month
chart_type: line

See references/reference.md for stat types and period options.

Mini-Graph-Card (HACS)

Installation: HACS → Frontend → Search "mini-graph-card"

Best for: Minimalist design, lightweight, moderate customization

Basic Temperature Graph

type: custom:mini-graph-card
entities:
  - sensor.temperature_bedroom
  - sensor.temperature_living_room
name: Temperature Comparison
hours_to_show: 24
points_per_hour: 2
line_width: 2
font_size: 75

Multiple Entities with Colors

type: custom:mini-graph-card
entities:
  - entity: sensor.temperature
    name: Temp
    color: '#e74c3c'
  - entity: sensor.humidity
    name: Humidity
    color: '#3498db'
    y_axis: secondary
show:
  labels: true
  legend: true
  name: true
  state: true

See references/reference.md for complete configuration options and examples/examples.md for more patterns.

ApexCharts Card (HACS) - VALIDATED CONFIGURATIONS

Installation: HACS → Frontend → Search "apexcharts-card"

Best for: Advanced visualizations, publication-quality charts, complex comparisons

CRITICAL: Valid Span Configuration

Always use one of these valid values for span.end:

span:
  end: minute   # Start of current minute
  end: hour     # Start of current hour (RECOMMENDED)
  end: day      # Start of current day
  end: week     # Start of current week
  end: month    # Start of current month
  end: year     # Start of current year
  end: isoWeek  # Start of ISO week (Monday)

Never use: "now" or other string values - these cause errors.

Basic Time Series (VALIDATED)

type: custom:apexcharts-card
header:
  show: true
  title: Temperature History
  show_states: true
graph_span: 24h
span:
  end: hour  # REQUIRED
yaxis:
  - min: 0
    max: 50
    decimals: 1
apex_config:
  chart:
    height: 200
  xaxis:
    type: datetime
    labels:
      datetimeFormatter:
        hour: "HH:mm"
  legend:
    show: true
series:
  - entity: sensor.temperature_living_room
    name: Living Room
    color: "#e74c3c"
    stroke_width: 2
  - entity: sensor.temperature_bedroom
    name: Bedroom
    color: "#3498db"
    stroke_width: 2

Multi-Sensor with Dual Y-Axis (VALIDATED)

type: custom:apexcharts-card
header:
  show: true
  title: Temperature & Humidity
  show_states: true
graph_span: 24h
span:
  end: hour
yaxis:
  - id: temp
    min: 0
    max: 50
    decimals: 1
  - id: humidity
    opposite: true
    min: 0
    max: 100
apex_config:
  chart:
    height: 250
  xaxis:
    type: datetime
    labels:
      datetimeFormatter:
        hour: "HH:mm"
series:
  - entity: sensor.temperature
    name: Temperature
    yaxis_id: temp
    color: '#e74c3c'
    stroke_width: 2
  - entity: sensor.humidity
    name: Humidity
    yaxis_id: humidity
    color: '#3498db'
    stroke_width: 2

Supporting Files

• examples/examples.md - Comprehensive real-world examples (climate dashboards, air quality, energy usage, multi-room comparisons, annotations, area charts)
• references/reference.md - Technical depth (performance optimization, advanced ApexCharts configuration, troubleshooting, best practices, official documentation)

Best Practices

1. Choose the Right Graph Type

   • Line: Continuous data (temperature, humidity)
   • Bar/Column: Discrete data (daily energy, events)
   • Area: Cumulative data (solar production, rainfall)

2. Use Meaningful Colors

   • Red: High temperatures, alerts, energy consumption
   • Blue: Low temperatures, water, humidity
   • Green: Normal values, success, efficiency
   • Orange: Warnings, moderate values

3. Show Current State

   yamlCopy

   header:
     show_states: true  # Shows current value in header
   

4. Use Appropriate Time Ranges

   • Real-time monitoring: 1-6 hours
   • Daily patterns: 24 hours
   • Weekly trends: 7 days
   • Monthly analysis: 30 days
   • Long-term: statistics-graph

Common Issues

ApexCharts Span Error

Error: "Invalid value for span.end"

Solution: Change span.end to one of: minute, hour, day, week, month, year, isoWeek

# WRONG
span:
  end: now  # ❌ Causes error

# CORRECT
span:
  end: hour  # ✅ Valid value

No Data Showing

• Verify entity exists (Developer Tools → States)
• Check recorder retention period
• Ensure sensor has state_class: measurement
• Check long-term statistics (Developer Tools → Statistics)

See references/reference.md for complete troubleshooting guide.

Notes

• History graphs automatically switch to long-term statistics for older data
• ApexCharts span.end MUST use valid enum values (hour/day/week/month/year)
• Mini-graph-card points_per_hour controls performance (lower = faster)
• Statistics graphs are best for long-term trends (weeks/months)
• Custom cards require HACS installation and HA restart