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  4. Let's talk about MSR-provided Virtual Devices... NOT!
[Reactor] Variables not updating correctly in latest-25201-2aa18550
therealdbT
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Multi-System Reactor
Handling Dead Entities and Renamed Entities
PablaP
Hello all.. been a minute! I recently rebuilt my Z wave network and migrated to a new z wave stick. In order to prevent any downtime I kept my original z wave network up and ran a docker version of Z Wave JS UI with my new controller. This way I could add device by device without having any devices down. I finally moved all the devices over to my new stick today. The final step was to migrate everything from my Docker instance of Z Wave JS UI to the HA add-on of Z Wave JS UI. However during this migration some of the names didn't populate correctly which I later managed to import back into Z Wave JS UI. The issue was in Reactor it is stuck on the default names and the entities are not updating. I removed the controller from Reactor, restarted, hard refreshed, and added the controller back however the new entity names have not updated. Also it seems like the old entities from my previous instance of Z Wave JS UI are lingering and not being marked as dead (I believe a certain amount of time needs to lapse before they're marked as dead in Reactor). My goal is to basically purge all the entities for the 'ZWaveJS' controller in Reactor so it can pull all the updated entity names and only the entities that exist in Z Wave JS UI. I cannot find a quick way to do this, I know entities can be deleted one by one, but with over 100 entities this would take long I am guessing that if I added the controller with a new name in in the Reactor config it would pull the updated entities and names but I think that would break my rules since the entity IDs would change (I made sure to name all the entities the exact same as they were previously to prevent this issue).
Multi-System Reactor
Strange behavior for MQTT templates using payload and attributes
therealdbT
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Multi-System Reactor
[MSR] reactor-mqtt-contrib package for additional MQTT templates
therealdbT
I'm slowly migrating all my stuff to MQTT under MSR, so I have a central place to integrate everything (and, in a not-so-distant future, to remove virtual devices from my Vera and leave it running zwave only). Anyway, here's my reactor-mqtt-contrib package: https://github.com/dbochicchio/reactor-mqtt-contrib Simply download yaml files (everything or just the ones you need) and you're good to go. I have mapped my most useful devices, but I'll add others soon. Feel free to ask for specific templates, since I've worked a lot in the last weeks to understand and operate them. The templates are supporting both init and query, so you have always up-to-date devices at startup, and the ability to poll them. Online status is supported as well, so you can get disconnected devices with a simple expression. Many-many thanks to @toggledbits for its dedication, support, and patience with me and my requests
Multi-System Reactor
HA 2025.9.4 Supported Yet?
CatmanV2C
Tangentially did I miss 2025.9.4 getting blessed in MSR? I've been holding off Cheers C
Multi-System Reactor
The reaction stopped working (Google Nest max playing a video)
F
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Multi-System Reactor
Rule Set UI bug - RESOLVED
3
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Multi-System Reactor
[Reactor] Copy&Paste of Rules
therealdbT
I don't know if I'm the only one, but managing more than one Reactor installs, the need to have some sort of copy&paste for rules has grown on me. While I understand the technical challenges, I'm wondering if a "god mode" where I could copy the raw JSON rule and paste it into another rule could be an advanced, flag only feature that could benefit power users. I know I can copy the JSON file and proceed, but I must stop Reactor and when doing maintenance, it's more clicks to do. Just an idea
Multi-System Reactor
[Reactor] Help with screne controller cycling logic
therealdbT
I’ve added a couple of Shelly Wave i4 as scene controllers and I’m planning to add more, since I can just use standard buttons instead of battery-powered scene controllers, which also looks better aesthetically. That said, I’m struggling to figure out how to write a simple rule that cycles between states every time I press a button. Example: Light 1 ON → OFF, then Light 2 ON → OFF. The part I can’t get right is handling the case where Light 1 or Light 2 might already be ON independently of the rule. Maybe it’s just too much sun and relaxation clouding my brain, but any hint would be appreciated.
Multi-System Reactor
Stop the MSR by an external switch on Hubitat.
wmarcolinW
Use case: When performing home maintenance, such as air conditioning, I want all rules involving air conditioning to be disabled. To do this, to day, I have a virtual switch that I placed within all rules involving air conditioning, meaning that if I turn it off, none of them work. Then another situation: the water pump system and garden irrigation, another switch. In short, I had to create several virtual switches in Hubitat to disable rules in MSR. Unfortunately, however, I was unable to cover all scenarios, so I wondered if it would be possible for MSR to support a virtual MSR switch, which, when configured in the reactor settings, would function as a general on/off switch for MSR. If it is configured and turned off, the entire rules and actions in MSR stops working, except for the status change reading process, specifically for this switch, which, when turned on, would restart the MSR. Would it be possible to do something like this? Any recommendations from the experts?
Multi-System Reactor
Expose MSR entities
CatmanV2C
Probably a really dumb question. Currently I am using the owntracks_sensor for tracking phones being in region in MSR and it works great. Digging around with Home Assistant and toying with some dashboards, is there any way of exposing that sensor to HA trivially? I could set MSR to trip a virtual switch in OpenLuup which can then be exposed to HA (with all my other Vera devices) but that feels a bit in-elegant if I can do it directly. Any thoughts? Apologies if the ask is not clear/ TIA C
Multi-System Reactor
Comment in Globa Expressions
Tom_DT
I have several Global Expressions that are set by a rule so the definition area is blank. I'd like to add a comment in this area that explains what is setting the value. Commenting in this area breaks the remote setting. Any way to document what is setting the GE?
Multi-System Reactor
Unofficial thread for compatibility
tunnusT
As there are statements about compatibility for home assistant versions in MSR new version announcements (e.g. "HassController: Bless Hass to 2025.7.3"), I thought it would be good idea to track other controllers as well. As an example, I can confirm that build "latest-25208-c53e8513" works with Hubitat Elevation C-8 platform version 2.4.2.134 using Maker API. Updates: (the latest versions first in the list) OK: build "latest-25264-2fbe9217" with Hubitat C-8 platform v. 2.4.3.123
Multi-System Reactor
Gradually turn on lights.
Tom_DT
I have several lights that I would like to turn on very gradually over 15 or 20 seconds. from 0 to .25 in .01 increments. I have tried a few things that came nowhere near working, so here I am.
Multi-System Reactor
Reactor (Multi-System/Multi-Hub) Announcements
toggledbitsT
Build 21228 has been released. Docker images available from DockerHub as usual, and bare-metal packages here. Home Assistant up to version 2021.8.6 supported; the online version of the manual will now state the current supported versions; Fix an error in OWMWeatherController that could cause it to stop updating; Unify the approach to entity filtering on all hub interface classes (controllers); this works for device entities only; it may be extended to other entities later; Improve error detail in messages for EzloController during auth phase; Add isRuleSet() and isRuleEnabled() functions to expressions extensions; Implement set action for lock and passage capabilities (makes them more easily scriptable in some cases); Fix a place in the UI where 24-hour time was not being displayed.
Multi-System Reactor
Can't customize home page
G
I foolishly let my system wipe all cookies this morning and with it my settings for my MSR home page. Once logged back in I can no longer remove errant panes nor is the + available to add new ones. Brave Browser v1.80.122 (Jul 16, 2025) What have I done?! Will check other browsers on my M1. UPDATE: Safari exhibits same behaviour. I've tried both sans last-four public key entry and with - no change.
Multi-System Reactor
Error After Upgrade
T
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Multi-System Reactor
Reset attribute value of entity in event handler
R
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Multi-System Reactor
Need help figuring out how to delay a reset on reaction
T
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Multi-System Reactor
Way to search for rules (rule state) in other rules
T
@toggledbits, not sure if this is a feature request or I'm using the search tool wrong. You have a "Search for rule" in the Rules Set tab in MSR. It works nicely to find a rule and bring up said rule, but can it/could it be used for as a "where used?" global search? For instance, I have a fairly large set of rules, divided up into 10 different rulesets. There's easily a hundred individual rules, and many of the rules have Rule State triggers, which of course refer to other rules. Amongst my troubleshooting today, I came across what may have been a duplicate or troubleshooting attempt, but I can't tell if it's actually used as a Rule State in another rule without opening each rule that I suspect it may be a part of. Thanks.
Multi-System Reactor

Let's talk about MSR-provided Virtual Devices... NOT!

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Multi-System Reactor
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  • toggledbitsT Offline
    toggledbitsT Offline
    toggledbits
    wrote on last edited by toggledbits
    #1

    Guys,

    One of the things I really like about Home Assistant are these "input_boolean", "input_number", "input_text" and "input_select" components that serve as data containers. The "input_boolean" component, for example, functions in the same way as a virtual switch, holding a boolean state and allowing you to modify that state. The "input_select" holds a defined set of values, as opposed to "input_text" which just accepts anything. There's even an "input_datetime" object.

    I can see these being far more useful than trying to shoehorn more flexible behavior into virtualized models of existing devices, so this is the direction I'm thinking of going for MSR. One thing I really like is that the flexibility of them is sufficient to eliminate the need for expressionless variables in many, if not most, cases.

    Thoughts?

    Author of Multi-system Reactor and Reactor, DelayLight, Switchboard, and about a dozen other plugins that run on Vera and openLuup.

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    • F Offline
      F Offline
      Fanan
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      Absolutely - that make sense! Many of us still use a Vera as a z-wave radio, and we can always create a virtual device in Vera if we want to keep it the old and simple Vera way. Lay the effort elsewhere! 🙂
      /Fanan

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      • toggledbitsT Offline
        toggledbitsT Offline
        toggledbits
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        To be clear, I'm not saying "use Home Assistant", I'm saying that I'm going to adopt Hass' model to MSR's upcoming virtual entities.

        Author of Multi-system Reactor and Reactor, DelayLight, Switchboard, and about a dozen other plugins that run on Vera and openLuup.

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        • LibraSunL Offline
          LibraSunL Offline
          LibraSun
          wrote on last edited by LibraSun
          #4
          This post is deleted!
          toggledbitsT 1 Reply Last reply
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          • LibraSunL LibraSun

            This post is deleted!

            toggledbitsT Offline
            toggledbitsT Offline
            toggledbits
            wrote on last edited by toggledbits
            #5

            Hammer? What? I'm confused by all of this, and it mostly seems the opposite of what I'm saying. I want things to be done as close as possible to the point of use, generally speaking, so it makes sense to me that data stored for use in (i.e. as terms of) rules and logic be managed in the same place as the rules and logic. I've never thought otherwise. I just think overloading existing device types is far too constraining. Hass has a simple, successful model, in my view.

            @librasun said in Let's talk about MSR-provided Virtual Devices... NOT!:

            Seems clear (to me, anyway) that your intent with early MSR has been to leverage Expressions primarily as set-once-read-many, with the heavy lifting being done with ${{ substitutions }} and [ Set Variable ]. I think this explains why it remains comparatively challenging in MSR to, say, update arrays on the fly or modify JSON objects at all after initial declaration, without jumping through lots of indirect hoops.

            First sentence, no, that's never been my intent. The rest, sounds like a conversation we haven't had (and should be separate from this thread), both about what makes it difficult and why you want to do it in the first place. Remember, MSR is not an expression language with support for rules and reactions. I wouldn't need to build that, because Lua, Python and groovy already exist.

            Author of Multi-system Reactor and Reactor, DelayLight, Switchboard, and about a dozen other plugins that run on Vera and openLuup.

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            • K Offline
              K Offline
              kfxo
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              @toggledbits So what would be the difference between MSR provided Virtual Devices and expressionless variables? Do you envision interacting with the virtual devices in MSR? Right now I use expressionless variables whenever I need to keep track of some value and I have no intention of needing to modify the value outside of logic. I use virtual devices both in openluup and HA when I intend to physically interact to change the value (or I have no other way of getting the value into MSR..cough cough HA event data generated by integrations that are not reflected in entities). I guess I am not seeing why MSR would need Virtual Devices to act as data containers when MSR already has data containers with expressionless variables.

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              • therealdbT Offline
                therealdbT Offline
                therealdb
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                Well, I think it has a meaning when we add dashboards to the mix. I’ll vote for it, plus combo device (like HA) to express complex devices. I’m using this approach right now in my own dashboard system.

                --
                On a mission to automate everything.

                My MS Reactor contrib
                My Luup Plug-ins

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                • K Offline
                  K Offline
                  kfxo
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #8

                  I could definitely see it being useful for dashboards and also if an integrated controller does not provide the ability to create a virtual device.

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