Gradually turn on lights.

[therealdb]

I've moved all the triggers and rules to MSR now, and I'm pushing everything to my MQTT broker for further integration, but some code is still on my Vera because it's easier at the moment. I've moved back a lot of code to my C# based tool, because it's easier for me.

After a full week of use, I've got a couple of desiderata to further improve this wonderful tool:

• I would like to see the logs in the web UI. I'm frequently tweaking things and opening an SSH connection just to see the latest logs is overkill. Maybe something to see the streaming logs will be perfect, but refreshing them is OK
• More info about reactions latest execution - or the ability to see them via MQTT. Ideally, show me the latest 4-5 executions
• start page directly to status, instead of about, after the first time I've seen the license
• the ability search for device ID/alias in the Entity Action's Chose Entity window - I've spent years in my Vera and I know the IDs instead of the name - sad but true story
• a way to see controllers' status and their health in the UI - and maybe start/stop them individually, because I'm seeing there's a start and a stop action in the controller base class
• the ability to use an MQTT message as a trigger/condition - I'm effectively using the MQTT bus as a communication bus, so all my things (including Vera) are sending MQTT messages for various things, like notifications, TTS, cams, etc - this is handy because I can add independent reactions to statuses in different part of my system/using different tools
• support for re-ordering in mobile browser (iOS, for me)
• a tool to see where I'm using an entity, as trigger or condition

Keep them as suggestion, no pressure. Thanks for the hard work @toggledbits !

[toggledbits]

Good suggestions all and I appreciate it. Some I've heard before. As you may expect, it carries more weight with my scheduling when I get repeated requests, or when others give feedback/upvotes on particular requests (specifically, not the entire post -- that doesn't really help me prioritize, unless we're talking about just one thing).

[SweetGenius]

@therealdb said in A couple of suggestions for MSR:

I would like to see the logs in the web UI. I'm frequently tweaking things and opening an SSH connection just to see the latest logs is overkill. Maybe something to see the streaming logs will be perfect, but refreshing them is OK

This is something I previously suggested and believe it would be very helpful. Something like the Hubitat logs from the web UI.

[gwp1]

This would be rather helpful.

[therealdb]

@toggledbits yep, they’re just ideas. No pressure, no expectations. Lemme know if you prefer a post in mantis bt or separate posts to track votes.

[Crille]

I upvoted because they are all good suggestions and have been mention before.
My 2 cents priority would be:

• a tool to see where I'm using an entity, as trigger or condition
• I would like to see the logs in the web UI. I'm frequently tweaking things and opening an SSH connection just to see the latest logs is overkill. Maybe something to see the streaming logs will be perfect, but refreshing them is OK
• start page directly to status, instead of about, after the first time I've seen the license
• a way to see controllers' status and their health in the UI - and maybe start/stop them individually, because I'm seeing there's a start and a stop action in the controller base class
• support for re-ordering in mobile browser (iOS, for me)
• More info about reactions latest execution - or the ability to see them via MQTT. Ideally, show me the latest 4-5 executions
• the ability to use an MQTT message as a trigger/condition - I'm effectively using the MQTT bus as a communication bus, so all my things (including Vera) are sending MQTT messages for various things, like notifications, TTS, cams, etc - this is handy because I can add independent reactions to statuses in different part of my system/using different tools
• the ability search for device ID/alias in the Entity Action's Chose Entity window - I've spent years in my Vera and I know the IDs instead of the name - sad but true story (@therealdb this is a bit sick though )

[Buxton]

Allowing the MQTT service to be created as a container, or couple the MQTT service directly with the MSR container would be great. With the exception of openLuup, I don't install anything on my HA server that is not containerized. The reason being that dependencies get corrupted, or changed by another app, or services conflict, etc..... Containers eliminate all that chaos and allow me to take down any software that's not working, all the while not destabilizing the underlying server.

Also, I use MSR primarily for Vera/openLuup and Home Assistant. It appears that the connection to HA is a websocket, allowing HA to async updates to MSR, whereas the connection to Vera is REST based relying on polling. Due to underlying issues with the Lua socket library, I try to keep polling to an absolute minimum so I have MSR turned off at the moment. What would be really cool is a plugin that would reside on openLuup or a Vera that would catch any and all changed states, and then push those state changes to MSR, perhaps with a synchronous acknowledgement. This complicates MSR of course, as you would need to install two separate pieces of software, however, I think the benefits of a push model, outweigh the downside of maintaining two separate apps. On the other hand, Vera is not long for this world, so perhaps the effort is not worth it.

[LibraSun]

@crille said in A couple of suggestions for MSR:

My 2 cents priority would be:

a tool to see where I'm using an entity, as trigger or condition

Concur +1 on #1

[toggledbits]

And ironically, of all the things requested, probably the most difficult thing to do. For reasons previously discussed elsewhere.

[wmarcolin]

@toggledbits

Surely in an election between all users, this is the most important "a tool to see where I'm using an entity, as trigger or condition". You have already explained before the difficulty, and that the effective use of a DB would help this crossing of information, but the cost of the DB is still high and can sacrifice a lot of the system.

One day you will find a way to #1 MSR request.

I would add one more request, that I have commented on before and I am sure you have in your notebook of improvements for the future. In the home screen, the same way you have the Recently Changed Entities board, a board that can show the history of what happens in the Set Rules, so it would be possible to follow the last actions.

And again and repeat "Thanks for the hard work @toggledbits" !