fix: guard string error values, use shared apply_entity_category for helpers

- apply_entity_category: add isinstance guard before .get() on error
  value, matching pattern in tools_config_helpers.py
- helpers: replace three inline category constructions with shared
  apply_entity_category (create path, config-store-types update,
  standard update), consistent with automations/scripts

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: kingpanther13

src/ha_mcp/tools/tools_config_helpers.py

@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 from ..errors import ErrorCode, create_error_response
 from .helpers import exception_to_structured_error, log_tool_usage, raise_tool_error
 from .util_helpers import (
+    apply_entity_category,
     coerce_bool_param,
     parse_string_list_param,
     wait_for_entity_registered,
@@ -653,8 +654,8 @@ async def ha_config_set_helper(
                         except Exception as e:
                             helper_data["warning"] = f"Helper created but verification failed: {e}"
 
-                    # Update entity registry if area_id, labels, or category specified
-                    if (area_id or labels or category) and entity_id:
+                    # Update entity registry if area_id or labels specified
+                    if (area_id or labels) and entity_id:
                         update_message: dict[str, Any] = {
                             "type": "config/entity_registry/update",
                             "entity_id": entity_id,
@@ -663,24 +664,26 @@ async def ha_config_set_helper(
                             update_message["area_id"] = area_id
                         if labels:
                             update_message["labels"] = labels
-                        if category:
-                            update_message["categories"] = {"helpers": category}
 
                         update_result = await client.send_websocket_message(
                             update_message
                         )
                         if update_result.get("success"):
                             helper_data["area_id"] = area_id
                             helper_data["labels"] = labels
-                            if category:
-                                helper_data["category"] = category
                         else:
                             error_detail = update_result.get("error", {})
                             error_msg = error_detail.get("message", "Unknown error") if isinstance(error_detail, dict) else str(error_detail)
                             helper_data["warning"] = (
                                 f"Helper created but entity registry update failed: {error_msg}"
                             )
 
+                    # Apply category via shared helper (consistent with automations/scripts)
+                    if category and entity_id:
+                        await apply_entity_category(
+                            client, entity_id, category, "helpers", helper_data, "helper"
+                        )
+
                     return {
                         "success": True,
                         "action": "create",
@@ -898,8 +901,8 @@ async def ha_config_set_helper(
                             ))
                         updated_data = result.get("result", {})
 
-                    # Also update entity registry for icon, area, labels, and category
-                    if icon or area_id or labels or category:
+                    # Also update entity registry for icon, area, and labels
+                    if icon or area_id or labels:
                         registry_update: dict[str, Any] = {
                             "type": "config/entity_registry/update",
                             "entity_id": entity_id,
@@ -910,8 +913,6 @@ async def ha_config_set_helper(
                             registry_update["area_id"] = area_id
                         if labels:
                             registry_update["labels"] = labels
-                        if category:
-                            registry_update["categories"] = {"helpers": category}
                         reg_result = await client.send_websocket_message(registry_update)
                         if not reg_result.get("success"):
                             error_detail = reg_result.get("error", {})
@@ -921,6 +922,12 @@ async def ha_config_set_helper(
                                 f"Config updated but entity registry update failed: {error_msg}"
                             )
 
+                    # Apply category via shared helper
+                    if category:
+                        await apply_entity_category(
+                            client, entity_id, category, "helpers", updated_data, "helper"
+                        )
+
                 else:
                     # Standard helpers: entity registry update only
                     update_msg = {
@@ -936,8 +943,6 @@ async def ha_config_set_helper(
                         update_msg["area_id"] = area_id
                     if labels:
                         update_msg["labels"] = labels
-                    if category:
-                        update_msg["categories"] = {"helpers": category}
 
                     result = await client.send_websocket_message(update_msg)
 
@@ -950,6 +955,12 @@ async def ha_config_set_helper(
                             context={"helper_type": helper_type, "entity_id": entity_id},
                         ))
 
+                    # Apply category via shared helper
+                    if category:
+                        await apply_entity_category(
+                            client, entity_id, category, "helpers", updated_data, "helper"
+                        )
+
                 # Wait for entity to reflect the update
                 wait_bool = coerce_bool_param(wait, "wait", default=True)
                 response: dict[str, Any] = {

src/ha_mcp/tools/util_helpers.py

@@ -473,7 +473,8 @@ async def apply_entity_category(
         if ws_result.get("success"):
             result_dict["category"] = category
         else:
-            error_msg = ws_result.get("error", {}).get("message", "Unknown error")
+            error_detail = ws_result.get("error", {})
+            error_msg = error_detail.get("message", "Unknown error") if isinstance(error_detail, dict) else str(error_detail)
             logger.warning(f"Failed to set category for {entity_id}: {error_msg}")
             result_dict["category_warning"] = (
                 f"{entity_type.capitalize()} saved but failed to set category: {error_msg}"