Two related problems with category button bindings.
Problem 1 — the picker hides view binding
Create a view containing only a scene card
Bind the Lights button to that view — works, “Room:” options are offered
Add an aiks-light-card to the same view
Try to re-bind the Lights button — only the individual light card is offered, no view option
Remove the light card — the view option returns
A binding made before the card is added continues working. So view navigation itself is functional; only the picker refuses to offer it.
Problem 2 — bindings lost after refresh
At random intervals the remote displays a message that the views are empty and requires a manual refresh. After that refresh, the previously working category button binding stops working.
Combined with Problem 1, this means the binding cannot be restored without first removing the device card from the view, re-binding, then adding the card back — every time the remote does this.
Expected Behaviour
View binding offered regardless of view contents
Bindings persist across refreshes
Actual Behaviour
View binding hidden when a matching-domain device card is present
Bindings lost after the empty-view refresh, requiring the card-removal workaround to restore
Hi there, regarding the first issue — this is not a bug. It’s working as designed.
In the initial implementation, we allowed the Lights button to bind to either a light device or a dashboard view, with light devices taking priority.
In the case you mentioned, the dashboard contained only scene cards and no actual light devices, so the system correctly offered only the dashboard view option.
However, once a light device is added to that dashboard, the system will prioritize the light device in the binding picker. The dashboard view option is still available — you just need to switch to it manually in the picker.
The refresh issue is separate, though it may be connected to the first. At random intervals the remote shows the views as empty and needs a manual refresh. After that refresh, the Lights and Climate buttons lose their view binding and have to be set again.
Given what you explained about light devices taking priority in the picker, I wonder if the refresh causes the remote to re-discover the dashboard, find the light card, and drop the view binding as a result — since a light device now exists where previously there wasn’t one.
The buttons don’t fall back to the light card though — they just do nothing until re-bound. So if that’s the mechanism, the binding is being discarded rather than reassigned.
This happens entirely on the remote; nothing changes in Home Assistant. Happy to capture more next time it occurs if there’s something specific that would help.
