Dwains Dashboard 3: auto-generating Home Assistant UI now in feature freeze

Dwains Dashboard generates a Lovelace UI from minimal configuration without per-entity card setup

Dwains Dashboard addresses a specific friction point in Home Assistant. Setting up a Lovelace interface by hand requires writing YAML for each entity you want to display, selecting card types and updating the configuration whenever devices change. Dwains Dashboard's premise is that the UI should assemble itself from minimal configuration input, producing a layout that functions on desktop browsers, tablets and phones.

The project started at the end of summer 2019. Its author, Dwain, describes himself as a web development company owner who wanted to give something back to the Home Assistant community. He asked why no one had built a dashboard that builds itself automatically, then built one. The repository reflects its design as a custom component: a custom_components/ directory sits at the top level alongside hacs.json, which qualifies it for the HACS default store.

One phrase in the GitHub repository description is worth reading twice. The full text reads: "An fully auto generating Home Assistant UI dashboard for desktop, tablet and mobile by Dwains for desktop, tablet, mobile." The words "for desktop, tablet and mobile" appear twice in the same sentence, with identical wording both times.

The DD3 source code reached the repository in June 2026, seven years after the project launched

The opening announcement in the README carries a detail that changes how the repository history reads: "the DD3 source files are now available in this repository." Since the project launched in 2019 and has been public throughout, users installed and ran Dwains Dashboard for years while the source code was not present in the repository. Installation through HACS distributed the component across that period, but the underlying code was not inspectable from the repository.

Version 3.10.1 arrived on 2026-09-04 with the source availability announcement, and that date is also the date of the last push to the repository.

Whether the source now in the repository matches exactly what HACS distributed before June 2026 is not addressed in the announcement. There is no documentation comparing the newly available source to what HACS had been installing. A developer reviewing DD3 now has access to the component internals for the first time from this repository, but without documentation of how the source evolved before it appeared here.

HACS is the install path, and the three-step guide lives at an external documentation URL

Installation follows three steps documented at dwainscheeren.github.io/dwains-lovelace-dashboard/v3/information/installation.html, which is where the full process lives rather than in the repository README. HACS lists Dwains Dashboard as a default integration, meaning it appears in HACS search results without requiring a custom repository entry.

GitHub classifies the licence as "Other," and the EXTRA LICENSE INFORMATION section adds one explicit restriction: "You are not allowed without my permission to resell, re-distribute or sell my dashboard."

Anyone upgrading from an earlier Dwains Dashboard installation needs a different path. A migration guide at dwainscheeren.github.io/dwains-lovelace-dashboard/v3/information/migrate-v2-to-v3.html covers that case, and the standard three-step install does not apply to those users. The two paths are separate documents at the same documentation site.

Active feature development transferred to Dwains Dashboard Next in June 2026

DD3 is described in the opening announcement as "no longer under active feature development" and as a project that "will slowly be phased out." Active development has moved to a separate project, Dwains Dashboard Next, at github.com/dwainscheeren/dwains-dashboard-next. DD Next is described as "still in alpha" at the time the announcement was written.

Feature requests are directed to DD Next, not to DD3. New requests "should be considered for Dwains Dashboard Next instead of DD 3.*," which removes feature development from the DD3 tracker entirely.

For an existing DD3 setup, the freeze does not remove any current functionality. For a new installation, it means the generation behaviour available today is the final state of DD3. Neither repository gives a timeline for when DD3 will stop working or when DD Next will be ready for production use.

No documented path connects a DD3 installation to Dwains Dashboard Next

Dwains Dashboard Next lives at a separate GitHub repository, is in alpha, and the DD3 repository contains no migration guide for users who want to move forward. Nothing in either repository documents configuration compatibility or a data transfer format between the two.

The gap between the two projects is real. DD3 has years of community use behind it. DD Next is a new project at an early stage with no documented migration path from DD3. Those two states are not bridged by any tool, script or configuration converter in either repository.

For someone who installs DD3 now and plans to adopt DD Next later, the upgrade path does not yet exist in documented form. The only guidance pointing toward DD Next is the instruction to file feature requests there, which addresses developer workflow rather than an end-user transition.

The issue tracker was reset in June 2026 and new bug reports require a retest step

The June 2026 announcement stated that "existing older issues have been closed as part of a tracker cleanup." Anyone who had an open issue before that date would find it closed, regardless of whether it had been resolved. The reset accompanied the source availability announcement and the feature freeze.

New bug reports follow a two-step process: retest against the current DD3 build first, then open a new issue only if the bug is still reproducible. That requirement filters out issues already resolved by the June 2026 update before they reach the tracker. A bug that only appeared on an earlier installation does not qualify under this policy.

Feature requests are not accepted on the DD3 tracker at all. All new feature requests are directed to Dwains Dashboard Next. The DD3 tracker now operates as a bug-only queue with a retest requirement on every submission.

Support comes from a Discord server and a Home Assistant community forum thread

Two support channels are named in the project. The first is the Home Assistant community forum at community.home-assistant.io/t/dwains-theme-an-auto-generating-lovelace-ui-theme/168593. The second is a Discord server called "Home Assistant Addicts" at discord.gg/7yt64uX. Both are community spaces without a staffed support queue.

Dwains Dashboard was built by one person alongside a full-time job. The project description says directly: "I built Dwains Dashboard as a free, open-source project in my spare time alongside my job." No response time commitment is given for either channel, and no escalation path is documented.

A YouTube channel at youtube.com/channel/UCb2GBaLC4d0rVn9pZbYbQ9A is also linked, with a note that more videos will be posted there. Donation links to Buy Me a Coffee and PayPal appear alongside the support information, describing financial contributions as a way to support what the author calls a project built in gratitude to the community.

Editorial conclusion

DD3 is worth keeping if it is already installed and working, since the project still accepts bug reports. Skip it for a new installation where active feature development is a requirement: the README states DD3 is being phased out and all feature requests now go to Dwains Dashboard Next, which remains in alpha. Before adopting DD3, visit the installation documentation at dwainscheeren.github.io/dwains-lovelace-dashboard/v3/information/installation.html to confirm the three documented steps match your Home Assistant setup.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. dwainscheeren/dwains-lovelace-dashboard on GitHub
2. Issues
3. README
4. Releases