Invite New User Account

[enflic-kv]

I have been using homeassistant for close to 4 years, both at home and at my work place to automate simple building management system and indoor farming. From all the integration, I noticed that 98% of the new users access the dashboard from the smart phone and only the creator/maintainer uses the browser, which prompted me to think if there should be a more seamless way to add and invite a new user to the platform.

Current flow in creating and inviting a new user

Before inviting, a new user has to be created under Settings -> People -> Add People -> Input Name -> Enable Allow Login -> Input Password. There are a few challenges in this flow

• Less intuitive. It requires a more techie user or a mature user to help a new user to create an account and add it to their smart phone.
• Once the starting password is created and login from the new user smartphone, it is less likely that it will be updated or changed. After a few weeks down the road, the new user will not remember the default password.
• If Nabu Casa subscription is used for remote access, existing user has to first share the link to the new user over an messaging app, only then it can be paste on the new user smart phone using "Enter address manually"

New flow

Instead of putting the load in existing user to create a new user and sharing the remote URL, embedding the nabu casa remote URL with login page/create a new user page in a QR code will help to move HomeAssistant closer to the general public.

• The default "Login/Create a new user" page(when homeassistant is first started) can be use as the landing page.
• With nabu casa subscription active, a QR will be generated and can be shared from existing user to new users.
• Only user with administrative privilege can view and share the QR code
• New user can choose to load the QR code/scan QR code to land in the login/create a new user page

I believe that this feature can help push homeassistant closer to general public and bring more features for cloud subscription.

[bittles]

Really do think this is in the natural evolution of hass. Been using it since 0.6 or so and it’s come light years since then for admin users. I’ve had multiple users and guests I set up users for and (barring one more tech savvy than average guest) every one I’ve just ended up having them hand me their phone and setting them up. They don’t actually use the app, but for presence detection and notifications it’s a great help.

With the recent dashboard improvements, it feels right on the cusp of regular user accessibility. New user onboarding with invite so they can set a username and password would be a nice step towards that.