So...
The sound of an action closing will give away your position but a mini spotlight won't?
Half joking. I get the idea behind the light. I have a bright light within reach, hard to attach a light to my LCR snubby.
I do agree that it is a bad idea to rack in a round once your are in that situation though. One already in the chamber also gives you an extra shot. I've seen people forget to cycle a pump while duck hunting, so I would imagine it is easy to forget in a life or death situation as well.
You can find rounds specically designed for home defense shotguns, or skeet shooting loads are pretty mild. But mild means less energy downrange.
There is no perfect home defense weapon. Shotguns are good but remember they are "long guns". There are instances and situations where a long gun will be unusable or ineffective, ARs included, the most obvious being if you lose use of one hand or arm; another is if for some reason you end up too dang close.
A good double action revolver is a stupidly simple (to operate) and reliable machine. A 357 Magnum handgun will also fire 38spc, for those that don't know, and 38spc is a mild shooting round. The +P is a happy medium. The extra weight of the larger frame of the 357 will also help when shooting the lighter loads. A spurless (hammerless or shrouded hammer) revolver has some advantages as well. You've seen Lethal Weapon, how Murtaugh used his hand to stop the hammer on his revolver...can't do that with a spurless. Only 5, 6, or 7 shots though, slower reloads...so on and so forth.
Just wanna mention this little guy...
https://stdgun.com/s333-thunderstruck/Anyone fired one?