Feature Reuse

Reuse: tab defaults and tab templates

Stop repeating yourself across tabs.

tab_defaults

Keys applied to every tab, including tabs made by auto_tabs. A tab's own keys win; styles maps are merged.

type: custom:tabdeck-card
tab_defaults:
  accent: "#e91e63"
  badge_format: { precision: 0, max: 99 }
  hold_action: { action: more-info }
  styles: { --tabdeck-tab-font-size: 15px }
tabs:
  - name: Lights
    badge: { count: light.*, state: "on" }
    card: { ... }
  - name: Climate
    accent: orange            # overrides the default
    card: { ... }

tab_defaults never sets a tab's name or card.

tab_templates + use

Name a tab blueprint once, then fill it in per tab. Inside a blueprint, {{ item.<var> }} is replaced from the tab's vars (the same placeholders as auto_tabs; anything else in {{ }} is passed to Home Assistant as a normal template):

type: custom:tabdeck-card
tab_templates:
  room:
    icon: mdi:sofa
    badge: { count: "light.{{ item.area }}_*", state: "on" }
    card:
      type: area
      area: "{{ item.area }}"
tabs:
  - name: Kitchen
    use: room
    vars: { area: kitchen }
  - name: Lounge
    use: room
    icon: mdi:television      # the tab's own keys win over the template
    vars: { area: lounge }

• A placeholder that is the whole value keeps its type (show_camera: "{{ item.camera }}" with camera: true gives true); a missing var becomes an empty string.
• Order: tab_defaults, then the template, then the tab's own keys.
• An unknown template name leaves the tab as written.

In the visual editor

Both stay in your YAML as written. The editor shows each tab's own keys and keeps use, vars, tab_defaults and tab_templates untouched when you edit other fields. Tabs filled from a template show the template's card only on the dashboard.