Reactor (Multi-System/Multi-Hub) Announcements

[toggledbits]

Reactor STABLE Update

The stable branch of Reactor is now updated to build 25139. Please scroll back and see the changes and advisories listed for builds here since the previous stable branch build (which was 24257, 13-Sep-2024), or whatever build you are currently running.

ALL USERS: It's always recommended to back up your Reactor system before upgrading.

IMPORTANT: Bare-metal users (only) need to do the following:

• Update dependent packages by executing npm run deps in the Reactor install directory.
• Reactor no longer supports nodejs versions before 20. If you are running on an earlier version, please upgrade nodejs before upgrading to this build, and make sure your current environment is working. Once you are sure Reactor is happy on the upgraded nodejs, then and only then should you upgrade Reactor to this new stable build. An even-numbered LTS (Long-Term Support) version of nodejs is recommended; the current LTS version is 22.
• If you are running extension controllers like ZWaveJSController or MQTTController in your configuration, you will need to upgrade those to their respective latest versions.

[toggledbits]

Reactor build 25208

• Status page: fix an issue placing the widget adder tool the first time (i.e. on a new browser or after flushing cache/cookies).
• HTTP Request action now offers storage of the query response in "advanced form." This is a structure (object) that includes the response body as well as the response status, messages, and response headers. The simple form (store body or null) is the default and all existing HTTP Request actions will use the simple form response unless/until modified.
• Telegram notifications now support photo and video messages. To send a photo or video message, select the appropriate Message Format and place the URL or filename in the Message field. Telegram's limits for file type and size must be observed (refer to Telegram's documentation).
• HassController: Configuration for filter_entity now accepts regular expressions to match to entity IDs (i.e. it can now do pattern matching, not just match exact strings). Specify regular expressions in /regexp/flags form (e.g. /^update./i to match IDs that begin with update., case insensitive; flags are optional, and the only flag supported right now is i for case-insensitive matching).
• HassController will requery for service data if the lookup of service data from the startup query does not have the needed info. This can occur when an integration is not fully up and running when HA restarts -- HA will only report on services for fully running integrations at the time. The requery updates the service data for integrations that start later.
• HassController remove old entity mapping configuration that was preventing a mutable attribute (dimming.step) from being changed by the user permanently.
• Expressions: new geodist() extension function to compute Great Circle Distance between two points (presumably on Earth). See docs for details. Example: kilometers = geodist( lat1, lon1, lat2, lon2 )
• HassController: Bless Hass to 2025.7.3

[toggledbits]

Reactor build 25304

BARE-METAL USERS: It is recommended that you update package dependencies when installing all Reactor updates. After unpacking the Reactor archive, remove any existing package-lock.json file from your Reactor install directory, and then run npm run deps to update package dependencies.

ALL USERS: If you are using extension Controllers (like ZWaveJSController) please update them to the latest versions as well. Please refer to the CHANGELOG files for each for information on specific changes. Also don't forget to update any dependent packages for those extensions — dependent packages are maintained separately from Reactor itself and must be updated individually.

• Rules: POTENTIALLY BREAKING CHANGE the evaluation mechanism for rule-based (local) variables has been changed. Users with rules that rely on specific nuances (or bugs) in the old behavior/mechanism may find their variables and rules do not work as expected. However, most users should find that the new mechanism aligns well with their expectations. See the docs for Variables & Expressions - Overview for a complete description.
• The "Force re-evaluation of expressions and conditions" option available in the Set Variable action of Rule Reactions (SET & RESET) has been removed. When a rule-based variable is used in a trigger, and the variable's value changes, the Rule will now re-evaluate itself automatically. This is part of the above changes.
• Rule Reactions (SET & RESET) now have a "Wait for completion" option. When set, the rule will wait for its Reaction to finish before allowing itself to be re-evaluated. When not set (the default), the Rule will not wait and the Reaction runs asynchronously, and therefore a change to the rule state during the Reaction's execution could cause the Reaction to be pre-empted (stopped before completion).
• Rules: fix handling of some very old rule conditions where the changes operator was stored in an older structure (i.e. handling the legacy structure had a bug).
• A new alarm( interval_seconds ) function has been added; it can be used in global expressions (only) to cause periodic re-evaluation of the expression. This is particularly useful for expressions that don't have dependencies on other variables or entities/objects. A running timer can be cancelled by specifying an interval of zero (0).
• Expressions: fix an error in which the sort() function would sort the array in place rather than returning a new, sorted array (this was in conflict with its specification and intended operation, and apparently existed for a long time).
• UI/Expression Editor: button coordination in expressions editing has been improved, and the highlighting of error messages has been improved.
• HTTP API: A new endpoint /api/v1/variable/:name/update has been added to force re-evaluation of a global variable's expression and, if changed, set its new value. See docs
• HassController HA made a breaking change in 2025.9 (pull 150721) that wasn't declared in their general release notes, affecting the media_player.play_media service. This service also has a new field and selector type, and two fields previously declared have been removed.
• HassController now has ability to filter out entities (i.e. not import entities from HA into Reactor) based on source (integration). see docs
• HassController now supports binding of events directly to Reactions. This is in addition to the existing ability to bind events to entity attributes. Previously, if the user's goal was to run a Reaction in response to an event from HA, the user would need to first bind the event to a new entity and attribute, and then create a Rule triggered by that entity/attribute to launch the Reaction. Now, the Reaction can be launched directly on receipt of the event. See docs.
• DynamicGroupController: A configured group can be disabled by adding enabled: false to its configuration. The boolean value false is the only value that will be honored to disable the group (e.g. null and the number 0, while falsy values, will not be honored).
• Resolve an issue where some Controller subclass' system entities could lose track of their default primary attribute when unserialized (reloaded from storage at startup).
• UI: The rule search tool on the Rule Set left navigation offcanvas also finds Rule IDs that match the entered text (i.e. you can search by name and ID).
• UI: Fix an error that was thrown when using search on the Rule Sets navigation offcanvas list and some existing Reaction had no name.
• UI/Entities: Refresh all displayed entities when a structure event is received from the API (such as when reconnecting after a restart), to ensure the data displayed is the most current.
• UI/Expressions: page will now refresh all expression values when a structure event is received (e.g. after a restart of Reactor), as the Engine start and update of global variables often occurs before clients reconnect to the service, so clients can easily miss the update events from those objects.
• UI/Client API: fix an issue where a group entity could be assigned the wrong entity class.
• UI/Rules: Fix column not wrapping on large value for Rule-based expressions (rule detail card).
• UI/Reaction Editor: the single-action try button (for Entity Actions) now correctly omits optional fields that contain no data, rather than sending blank data and expecting the Controller instance to sort it out.
• UI/Entity Picker: click handler now covers an empty area when no entity has been selected.
• UI/modal dialogs: the ESC key will now dismiss most dialogs; if the dialog is a confirmation, the dismissal is equivalent to hitting "Cancel".
• Pushover Notifier: remove extraneous debug message.
• Developers of Controller subclasses: the Controller method removeControllerGroup() is now deprecated. To replace its functionality, you should now set the class static property createControllerGroup to false. See docs. The old method will continue to be available until October 2026, but will generate a warning to the log, unless the class property is also set, in which case the warning is reduced to informational level (i.e. you can do both for compatibility until next year).
• Tools: added a new trivial backup script.
• Docker images: now built with nodejs LTS (22.20 as of this entry) on Alpine 3.21
• HassController: Bless Hass to 2025.10.4

[toggledbits]

Reactor build 25308

IMPORTANT: This build addresses two issues in 25304 only. If you are not experiencing these two issues (described below), you do not need to upgrade to this build.

• Expressions: Fix an error thrown when defining a function in a global expression.
• Reactions: fix an issue causing a disabled group to execute anyway.

Additional changes:

• Engine: It is now possible to create constants and functions for use in expressions system-wide that are not defined using global variables. see docs
• UI/Rules: Rule search field on offcanvas now also searches reactions by ID (parity with behavior for rules).
• Rule/Date-Time Condition: work around an anomaly in nodejs v24 (and maybe other versions) that would cause a between condition spanning a DST change to throttle the parent rule.

[toggledbits]

Reactor build 25310

IMPORTANT: This build was patched and re-released to address a compatibility issue for Home Assistant 2025.11. If you pulled this release before 1pm Eastern Standard Time (18:00 UTC) on Friday Nov 7, please re-pull/re-install this build to get those fixes.

• Expressions: restore ability (lost in 25304) to define a custom function in a global variable/expression and have it be available to other expressions.
• HassController: Bless HA to 2025.11.0

[toggledbits]

Reactor build 25315

NOTE FOR HOME ASSISTANT USERS: Versions of Home Assistant prior to 2025.01 are no longer supported as of this build. They may continue to work, but no effort will be expended to maintain compatibility going forward.

• Rules: New Script condition -- write an expression (simple or complex/compound) that returns a boolean (true/false) or null, just like any other condition. The alarm() function works in it, too! And it holds more secrets... see docs WARNING: This is a "bleeding edge" new feature; it may be subject to breaking changes as it evolves into final form.
• Expressions: Add new print() function to assist troubleshooting of complex expressions.
• HassController: Support for new HA selector/data type in input_datetime entities and other similar.
• HassController: Versions of Home Assistant older than 2025.01 are no longer supported, as support for a number of (their) deprecated features and functions is about to end.
• HassController: Bless HA to 2025.11.1

[CatmanV2]

@toggledbits that looks like a massive leap!

C

[toggledbits]

Reactor build 25321

• alarm() function: has been redefined to return a boolean; true will be returned when the configured interval has completed; false in all other cases. The function previously returned the number of milliseconds remaining in the interval (less useful).
• Fix an issue where modifying a global expression that contains an alarm() call may not reset the timer.
• HassController: Bless HA to 2025.11.2

[toggledbits]

Reactor build 25323

• Rule-based Variables: correct an error handling dependency evaluation of subscoped variables.
• SystemController: prevent spurious exception that could be thrown while shutting down Reactor. It had no effect, but it's preventable and I like my logs error-free.

[toggledbits]

Reactor build 25325

• Rules/Expressions: fix an additional evaluation case from @Crille
• UI: silence an error that could occur during restarts (the shutdown process could stimulate the Set Rules status widget to fire queries at the inoperative host that eventually time out).
• HassController: Bless HA to 2025.11.3

[toggledbits]

Reactor build 25238

• Rules/Date-Time: Fix a regression (in 25315) where a Date-Time between condition that crosses midnight may determine incorrect state if the Rule is reloaded (e.g. by editing it or a Reactor restart) in the period after midnight but before the end time.
• Restarts on Win32 systems can now (finally) do a gradual, organized reload or shutdown.
• HassController: Bless HA to 2025.11.3

This is a "silent" release (it is not advertised in the Status page of Reactor)

[toggledbits]

Reaction build 26011

USERS OF AARCH64-tagged DOCKER IMAGES: Per this earlier post, this build will likely be the last with the aarch64 tag. Please follow the post's guidance for changing to one of the newer tags appropriate for your hardware and OS (32-bit armv7l or 64-bit arm64).

• Reactions UI: Fix update of display after copy in-place.
• Don't store reaction history entries for sub-reactions
• VirtualEntityController: better consistency in time-series configuration; update documentation.
• Fix an error in date display of time range conditions within certain parameters.
• HassController: Bless HA to 2026.1.0

This is a "silent" release (it is not advertised in the Status page of Reactor).

[toggledbits]

Reactor build 26116

PLEASE READ ALL CAUTIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS BELOW!

IMPORTANT: PERSISTENT FORMAT STORAGE CHANGE! I STRONGLY RECOMMEND MAKING AN INTENTIONAL, SEPARATE BACKUP OF YOUR REACTOR STORAGE/DATA BEFORE UPGRADING TO THIS BUILD, AND SAVING IT SAFELY SOMEWHERE FOR A WHILE. The file format and name used to store Reactor system objects and data has changed as of this build. Data files under the storage directory now have a .dval suffix rather than .json. See this post for background. Conversion of your existing files to the new format is automatic and transparent on the first run of this and future builds, so your existing backups will be restorable into the foreseeable future. If you need to see the contents of a file in its native form, a new utility under tools has been provided: dval2json.js. You can run this utility (e.g. node tools/dval2json.js storage/expressions.dval) and it will read the .dval file and output its JSON representation, if possible. However, due to the limitations of standard JSON, some .dval files may not be convertible to JSON by this tool; if that happens, the tool will switch to an alternate output format that is JSON-like enough to be human-readable (but is not parseable as JSON).

BARE-METAL UPGRADE MUST UPDATE DEPENDENCIES! Those of you on bare-metal installs will need to run npm run deps in your Reactor install directory after unpacking the distribution archive. There are new and updated packages required to run this build of Reactor, and it will not start without these updates. Docker users don't need to do anything, as the image is built with all dependencies preloaded.

ERRORS WILL BE LOGGED ON THE FIRST RESTART AFTER UPGRADING TO THIS BUILD. ALLOW THE SYSTEM TO SETTLE A MINUTE, AND THEN RESTART AGAIN. THEN AND ONLY THEN SHOULD YOU BEGIN CHASING/REPORTING ANY ISSUES THAT REMAIN.

• DynamicGroupController now manages rooms across all standard controllers where room information is available from the source hub. Previously, each Controller had to manage rooms on its own (if that data was available from the hub/source), and the room groups were local to that controller. Now, the room information on Vera, Ezlo, Home Assistant (area), Hubitat, and Z-Wave JS (location) will be used to automatically generate shared groups owned by DynamicGroupController. Rooms are associated by name (case insensitive); for example, a "Living Room" room on a Vera and a "Living Room" area in Home Assistant will both use the "Living Room" group automatically created and managed by DynamaicGroupController. This behavior can be turned off on a per-controller basis by setting rooms_as_sys_groups: false in a controller's configuration. By default, this setting is true (on, system-level groups will be created) for all controllers. All standard controllers (Home Assistant, Hubitat, Vera, Ezlo, and Z-Wave JS) have been updated to use the new room group strategy. Refer to the documentation for each Controller for additional details.
• VeraController: Add configuration flag rooms_as_local_groups to enable VeraController's legacy behavior of creating local groups for Vera rooms. In support of the shared groups described above, this setting defaults to false as of this build. Existing local groups will be marked dead for eventual purging unless this setting is changed.
• Expressions: new runReaction() function can be used to launch a Reaction (see docs);
• Reactions UI: Additional fixes to coordination and placement for copy/move;
• Reactions: While actions now have an optional iteration limit — a maximum number of times the loop will run. If the loop hits this limit before its conditions stop it, the loop will stop without error;
• Reactions: While actions now have an enforced once-per-second minimum iteration delay (that is, if you omit a Delay action in the While group, Reactor will provide a one second delay);
• Reactions UI: The display of the While condition on the detail card has been improved;
• DynamicGroupController: new include_attribute selector (see docs);
• Rules: The rule detail display now updates the main constraints' evaluation values continuously. This restores UI functionality lost when fixing an earlier bug that caused unexpected/undesirable re-evaluation of a Rule's triggers when dependent entities or variables in constraints were modified;
• Controller Config: The type config key, previously deprecated, is no longer supported. Use implementation instead. Unless you've ignored prior deprecation warnings, this should not be an issue.
• Rules: The startup scan of rule conditions has been improved to correctly update old conditions using the changes operator with blank operands;
• HubitatController: The room of a device is now stored on the entity attributes.
• HassController: The area and floor properties of a device/entity are now stored on the Reactor entity's attributes.
• HassController: Better support for new "state" selector in service data as of 2026.4.0. The most notable effect is that, where HA offers us data, we will present a list of expected values for a field down to the device/entity level (because not every device may support every possible value for a field). This is not universal yet, but seems to be HA's direction, so as they publish the data on more entities, it should just start working in Reactor Editor fields.
• Entities List: Fix page overflow when attribute has a long value with no natural word breaks (i.e. force wrap).
• Entity: extended attribute values on standard capabilities will now survive refresh of the capability.
• Reaction Editor: Fix presentation issue with gutter in section header.
• Rule Editor: Fix presentation issues with gutters in section headers.
• Reaction Editor: After a data entry validation error, an error was not being cleared after the user fixed the entry.
• Dashboard: the sys_group.visible attribute has been added to control the selection of groups for automatic display on the Dashboard's default group list display (default: true);
• Many documentation tweaks and updates; supply some new/improved images.
• Docker images: Detection of improperly mounted data volume. This will help alert new users in particular to missing/misconfigured data volume binding.
• HassController: Bless HA to 2026.4.3