Getting Started: Quick Start

Walk through creating your first assignee user, approver user, and chore to understand the basic ChoreOps workflow.

Note

This guide covers the minimum steps to get started. For complete configuration options, see the entity-specific guides linked below.

Note

Permissions quick note:

• Assignees can claim chores and redeem rewards
• Approvers/Admins approve and disapprove chores/rewards
• Kiosk Mode is for shared-device convenience on assignee actions (claim/redeem), not full approval delegation

For complete permission rules and kiosk details, see Advanced: Access Control.

Warning

Before you test claim or redeem buttons, decide how the dashboard will be used:

• If each person uses their own Home Assistant account, link that ChoreOps user to the matching Home Assistant User field.
• If you use a shared wall tablet or family dashboard session, enable Kiosk Mode for assignee claim and redeem convenience.

If you skip both, claim or redeem button presses may show visible authorization or claiming errors in the UI. See Advanced: Access Control and Frequently asked questions (FAQ).

---

What You'll Do

Tip

Order Matters: Always create your Assignee Users (Kids) first, then create your Approver Users (Parents). This allows you to immediately select which assignees the approver is responsible for during the creation process. If you create the approver first, you'll have to go back and edit them later to add the association.

By the end of this guide, you'll have:

• ✅ Created your first assignee user
• ✅ Created your first approver user
• ✅ Created your first chore
• ✅ Tested the claim-approve-points workflow

Time required: ~10 minutes

---

Step 1: Create Your First Assignee User

Assignee users earn points by completing chores.

Tip

If this user will press claim or redeem buttons from a personal device, set the optional Home Assistant User link now. If this user will mainly use a shared tablet, review Advanced: Access Control before deciding whether to enable Kiosk Mode instead.

Required field:

• Name: Enter the user's name (e.g., "Sarah")

All other fields are optional. Click Submit to continue.

Navigation: Settings → Devices & Services → Integrations → ChoreOps → Configure → Manage User → Add

For complete user configuration options (Home Assistant user linking, notifications, role capabilities, etc.), see Users Guide.

---

Step 2: Create Your First Approver User

Approver users approve chores and manage assigned users.

Required field:

• Name: Enter the approver's name (e.g., "Mom")

Important field:

• Associated Users: Select which users this approver can manage (select "Sarah")

All other fields are optional. Click Submit to continue.

Navigation: Settings → Devices & Services → Integrations → ChoreOps → Configure → Manage User → Add

For complete approver/admin capability options, see Users Guide.

---

Step 3: Create Your First Chore

Let's create a simple chore to test the workflow.

Required fields:

• Name: "Make Bed"
• Default Points: 10
• Assigned Users: Select "Sarah"

Recommended settings (for testing):

• Recurring Frequency: Select "Daily"

All other fields can use default values. Click Submit to continue.

Navigation: Settings → Devices & Services → Integrations → ChoreOps → Configure → Manage Chore → Add Chore

For complete chore configuration options (recurrence patterns, approval settings, overdue handling, etc.), see Chores Guide.

---

Step 4: Test the Chore Workflow

View Entities Created

Developer Tools → States

Search for your assignee name (for example, Sarah) to see the entities created.

• Points sensor: Shows the current points balance
• Chore status sensor: Shows chore state (pending, claimed, approved, overdue) and statistics
• Chore buttons: Claim, approve, and disapprove buttons

Note

If pressing a claim button now shows an authorization or claiming error in the Home Assistant UI, that is usually an access-control configuration issue rather than a broken button. Check Advanced: Access Control first, then review Frequently asked questions (FAQ) for the quick troubleshooting path.

Tip

Do not rely on hardcoded entity IDs. Home Assistant generates entity IDs from your names and existing registry state. Always copy the exact entity IDs from Developer Tools.

For a complete list of all entity types, see Entities Overview.

Understanding the Workflow

Here's the basic chore cycle:

1. Chore Created → Status: pending
   ↓
2. Assignee user claims → Status: claimed
   ↓
3. Approver user approves → Status: approved (points awarded)
   ↓
4. Approval Reset Time (e.g., midnight) → Status: pending (cycle repeats)

Key points:

• Points are awarded when an approver user approves
• Approved chores reset to pending based on their approval reset schedule (default: At Midnight (Once), meaning the chore can be completed once per approval cycle)
• When the approval reset occurs, recurring chores are rescheduled to their next due date based on recurrence settings
• Users can receive notifications when chores are acted on (if configured)

---

Claim the Chore

Developer Tools → Actions

Call the button press service using the real claim button entity ID you found in States:

action: button.press
target:
  entity_id: <claim_button_entity_id>

Check the chore status sensor - state should now be claimed.

Approve the Chore

Developer Tools → Actions

Call the button press service using the real approval button entity ID:

action: button.press
target:
  entity_id: <approval_button_entity_id>

Check the status sensor - state should now be approved.

Check Points Awarded

Developer Tools → States

Find the assignee points sensor - it should now show 10 points.

Optional: Find button IDs from status attributes

If you are unsure which button belongs to which chore, open the chore status sensor and check for button pointer attributes (for example claim_button_eid, approve_button_eid).

For full state and attribute contracts, see Technical: Chores.

---

Using a Dashboard

Instead of using Developer Tools, you'll want a user-friendly dashboard for everyday use.

This integration handles all the backend work - it creates all the entities you need (sensors, buttons, etc.) so you can display them however you like. You have complete creative freedom to:

• Build custom Lovelace cards using the entities from Entities Overview
• Create your own dashboard layouts that match your family's needs
• Use any Home Assistant dashboard features (conditional cards, badges, graphs, etc.)
• Integrate with other integrations and automations

However, the quickest way to see everything is to use the Auto-Populating Dashboard. This pre-built UI automatically displays all your users, chores, rewards, and badges with no manual entity configuration - just add the dashboard YAML and it works immediately.

See the Dashboard Wiki for installation instructions, or explore the Entities Overview to build your own custom interface.

---

What's Next?

Now that you understand the basics, explore:

• Users Guide - User management, notifications, and approval capabilities
• Chores Guide - Recurrence patterns, approval settings, overdue handling, shared chores
• Entities Overview - Complete list of all sensors and buttons created
• Rewards Guide - Let users spend their points
• Badges Guide - Compare cumulative vs periodic badges, then configure the right fit
• Auto-Populating Dashboard - Pre-built dashboard UI

---

Remember: This guide shows the minimum required fields. Each entity type has many more configuration options available in the full guides linked above.