My advice for smart home beginners: create a clear naming system before building complex automations.
I use Aqara hubs across my setup—including the M3, M100, and M200—and consistent names make a big difference as the system grows. A simple pattern such as Room – Device – Purpose (for example, Hallway – Motion Sensor – Night Light) makes devices easy to find and automations much easier to troubleshoot.
Then start with one low-risk automation, such as hallway lighting, and test it for several days. Keep manual control available, tune the timeout, and add extra conditions only after the basic version is reliable.
A smart home grows quickly. Clear names and small, dependable steps save far more time than starting with one complicated routine.
@jamesfengyuyang Love this approach—good naming is one of those “boring” habits that pays off forever, especially once you’re juggling multiple hubs and dozens of devices.
Your Room – Device – Purpose pattern is spot-on because it maps directly to how automations are typically built (trigger → conditions → actions). In Aqara terms, automations are essentially “if…then…” linkages across sensors/devices, so anything that makes triggers/actions instantly recognizable makes troubleshooting way less painful later on.
Also +1 to your “start with one low-risk automation and harden it” idea. A classic beginner-friendly one is motion → light (hallway/night light) with a simple timeout, then layering in conditions once it’s stable—exactly the kind of incremental build that keeps the whole system reliable.
If you want to take the naming habit even further as the setup grows, one extra trick is to bake in a short tag like (AUTO) vs (MANUAL) or (HK) for things primarily used in Apple Home—makes it easier to spot what’s meant for automations at a glance.
Great advice! I will also add my 3 cents - if you want to find automations and scenes with 1 specific device, then open the device’s page in Aqara Home, click three dots and then “Configure automations”. This option lets you see all automations that use the device.