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Getting Started

This guide walks you through setting up TaskMate for the first time after installation.

The Children tab after first setup

Prefer a guided start? The Setup Wizard opens by itself the first time you open the panel, and sets up children, age-suitable chores and starter rewards in one go.

Step 1 — Add the Integration

  1. Go to Settings → Devices & Services
  2. Click + Add Integration
  3. Search for TaskMate and select it
  4. You will be asked to choose:
  5. Points Currency Name — what you want to call the points (Stars, Coins, Bucks, Tokens, etc.)
  6. Points Icon — the MDI icon used throughout the UI (default: mdi:star)
  7. Click Submit

You can change the currency name and icon later in Settings.

Step 2 — Open the TaskMate Panel

After setup, TaskMate appears in the Home Assistant sidebar. Everything is managed from there.

The panel is organised into three groups:

Group Contains
Today Activity (approvals and recent events) and Insights
Manage Children, Chores, Rewards, Penalties, Bonuses, Groups, Quests, Challenges, Badges, Templates
System Notifications, Audit, Settings

Older versions of TaskMate were configured through Settings → Devices & Services → TaskMate → Configure. That menu is gone; the panel replaced it.

Step 3 — Add Your Children

  1. Go to Children
  2. Click + Add child
  3. Enter the child's name and pick an avatar
  4. Save

Repeat for each child. Each child gets their own: - Points balance - Streak counter - Chore completion history - Custom chore order

Step 4 — Create Some Chores

  1. Go to Chores
  2. Click + Add chore (or Bulk add to create several at once, or Create from template to start from a built-in pack)
  3. Fill in the fields:
  4. Name — e.g. "Make Bed"
  5. Points — how many points completing this chore earns
  6. Time of day — Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Night, or Anytime
  7. Schedule — specific days, a recurring interval, or a one-shot task
  8. Requires approval — whether a parent must approve before points are awarded
  9. Save

Further options — dependencies, weather conditions, visibility, bonus sub-tasks, scheduled changes — live under the Advanced sections of the same dialog.

Tip: Start with 3–5 chores. You can add more any time.

See Chores for a full explanation of every field.

Step 5 — Create a Reward

  1. Go to Rewards
  2. Click + Add reward
  3. Enter a name and choose an icon
  4. Set the points cost
  5. Optionally make it a jackpot so assigned children pool their points toward a shared goal
  6. Save

See Rewards for jackpot rewards, spending caps and the claim approval flow.

Step 6 — Add Cards to Your Dashboard

  1. Edit your Lovelace dashboard
  2. Click + Add Card
  3. Search for "taskmate" — you'll see all 21 cards listed
  4. Add the Child Card for your child's view — configure it with:
  5. Entity: sensor.taskmate_overview
  6. Child: select the child
  7. Add the Parent Dashboard Card for the parent view

Tip: Create two separate dashboards — one for kids (Child Card + Rewards Card) and one for parents (Parent Dashboard Card).

See Dashboard Cards for full configuration options for all cards.

Step 7 — Test It

  1. Open the child card on your dashboard
  2. Tap a chore to complete it
  3. If the chore requires approval, go to the parent dashboard and approve it
  4. Watch the points balance update

Finding IDs

Many card options and service calls require a child_id or reward_id. The easiest way to find these:

  1. Go to Developer Tools → States
  2. Find sensor.taskmate_overview
  3. Expand the entity attributes
  4. Look in the children array for id values
  5. Look in the rewards array for reward IDs

IDs are 8-character alphanumeric strings, e.g. a8c8376a.

Kids' Dashboard (Sections View)

Section Cards
Chores Child Card (Morning), Child Card (Afternoon), Child Card (Evening)
Rewards & Progress Rewards Card, Streak Card

Parents' Dashboard (Sections View)

Section Cards
At a Glance Overview Card, Parent Dashboard Card
Points Management Points Card, Approvals Card
History & Stats Activity Card, Weekly Card, Leaderboard Card

Tip: Use Section view for both dashboards — it groups related cards visually and handles responsive layout automatically.