Problem
There is currently no way for an admin to control which sidebar menu items are visible for a specific user, stored persistently in the database. Non-technical household members (children, elderly family members, guests) are exposed to the full Home Assistant sidebar including dashboards and panels they do not need and should not interact with.
The 2025.12 release introduced new built-in dashboards (Home, area subviews, light/climate/security panels) that cannot be hidden from non-admin users, making this worse. Users report that children can accidentally toggle critical automations or climate controls from dashboards they should never see.
Previous workarounds (the visible: YAML option, custom-sidebar integration) have been broken or are insufficient — they don't persist across devices and are not manageable by admins for other users.
Proposed solution
Allow admins to explicitly configure which sidebar menu items (dashboards, panels) are visible for each user, with the configuration stored server-side in the database.
- Admin-controlled: An admin should be able to go to a user's profile/settings and select which sidebar items that user can see
- Stored in the database: The configuration should persist across all devices for that user
- Applies to built-in dashboards too: Including Home, Energy, Map, History, Log, Developer Tools, etc. — not just custom dashboards
- Simple and restrictive by default for non-admin users: Ideally, an admin could set up a single dashboard for a family member and hide everything else, providing a clean and simplified experience
Context and related issues
Together with #30023, the goal is to allow admins to create a simplified, curated Home Assistant experience for non-technical household members — one default dashboard, no clutter in the sidebar.
Problem
There is currently no way for an admin to control which sidebar menu items are visible for a specific user, stored persistently in the database. Non-technical household members (children, elderly family members, guests) are exposed to the full Home Assistant sidebar including dashboards and panels they do not need and should not interact with.
The 2025.12 release introduced new built-in dashboards (Home, area subviews, light/climate/security panels) that cannot be hidden from non-admin users, making this worse. Users report that children can accidentally toggle critical automations or climate controls from dashboards they should never see.
Previous workarounds (the
visible:YAML option, custom-sidebar integration) have been broken or are insufficient — they don't persist across devices and are not manageable by admins for other users.Proposed solution
Allow admins to explicitly configure which sidebar menu items (dashboards, panels) are visible for each user, with the configuration stored server-side in the database.
Context and related issues
visible:after upgrade to 2026.1.x #29225 — Dashboard blank for new users when usingvisible:after upgrade (open)Together with #30023, the goal is to allow admins to create a simplified, curated Home Assistant experience for non-technical household members — one default dashboard, no clutter in the sidebar.