Good morning,
I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to evaluate if a command was completed and retry if it did not complete.
I have 14 iBlinds 3.1 z-wave controllers in my home. 95% of the time, they work just fine. Occasionally, I'll get a blind that does not open on the first attempt. When I go into Home Assistant, and manually open or close the blind, it works.
I have 3 reactions set up for each room. One to open, one to close, and one partial open for sun glare. Each of them is set up as below.
5afc9924-4300-4718-9e23-8855c4a3a9fd-image.png
The reactions are set up to wait for 5 seconds before going onto the next blind, so the z-wave network doesn't get overwhelmed.
In addition, the set command to run the reactions has "Wait for completion" checked.
3919fc06-c1f1-4c49-bf95-716028d18a27-image.png
I also have a routine set up whenever a z-wave device reports as non-functional (dead), it'll get pinged to wake it up. This usually works to wake them up.
16df4bff-c733-4ec2-a55c-c964238ada3b-image.png
Appreciate any ideas to make this more reliable.
I'm running:
Reactor latest-24190-bd310acc, Bare-metal on Fedora WaveJSController [0.1.23326] Home Assistant: 2024.7.0I think this feature request could be accomplished with the use of two or more rules, but it would be great if there was a way to wait for an event or trigger to occur before continuing on in the reactions.
For example, I have a rule that will turn on some exterior lights if you arrive home after the porch lights have been turned off. Right now this rule randomly will turn off between 5-10 minutes after the person has entered the geofence. On some occasions this 5-10 minutes isn't long enough, say if you are unloading the car or something. I would like to kick off the reaction, but pause it part way through and wait for the door to close and lock, then continue it on. Hubitat Rule Machine has a "Wait for event" option, but I really want to keep all my logic within MSR.
Good morning,
I'm going through my ruleset this morning, trying to get away from haas>blahblablah entries and completely migrate them all to zwavejs>xx-0 entries where possible.
I have 3 Aeon MultiSensor 6 devices in my home, all USB powered.
When using Haas entries, I see an entry for hass>binary_sensor_guest_bedroom_multisensor_home_security_motion_detection, and motion_sensor.state (primary)
Screenshot 2024-07-25 at 8.25.53 AM.png
Under ZwaveJS, this entry appears to be missing.
Screenshot 2024-07-25 at 8.26.51 AM.png
From the Entities page:
battery_power.level=1
battery_power.since=1721910337433
binary_sensor.state=false
humidity_sensor.units="%"
humidity_sensor.value=46
light_sensor.units="Lux"
light_sensor.value=5
tamper.state=false
temperature_sensor.units="°F"
temperature_sensor.value=73.8
x_debug.dt={}
x_zwave_values.Basic_currentValue=0
x_zwave_values.Battery_isLow=false
x_zwave_values.Battery_level=100
x_zwave_values.Binary_Sensor_Any=false
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_1_Battery_1=1
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_1_Humidity_64=1
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_1_Luminance_128=1
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_1_Temperature_32=1
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_1_Ultraviolet_16=1
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_2_Battery_1=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_2_Humidity_64=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_2_Luminance_128=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_2_Temperature_32=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_2_Ultraviolet_16=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_3_Battery_1=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_3_Humidity_64=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_3_Luminance_128=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_3_Temperature_32=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_3_Ultraviolet_16=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Reporting_Interval_Group_1=3600
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Reporting_Interval_Group_2=3600
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Reporting_Interval_Group_3=3600
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Temperature_Reporting_Unit=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Battery_Level_Threshold=10
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Current_Power_Mode_65280=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Humidity_Above_Lower_Limit_32=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Humidity_Below_Lower_Limit_2=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Humidity_Change_Threshold=10
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Humidity_Recover_Limit=5
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Humidity_Sensor_Calibration=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_LED_Blinking=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Lighting_Recover_Limit=10
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Lock_Configuration=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Low_Battery_Threshold=20
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Low_Temperature_Alarm_15_C=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Lower_Humidity_Limit=50
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Lower_Lighting_Limit=100
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Lower_Temperature_Limit_4294901760=320
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Lower_Temperature_Limit_Unit_3840=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Lower_Ultraviolet_Limit=4
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Luminance_Above_Lower_Limit_64=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Luminance_Below_Lower_Limit_4=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Luminance_Change_Threshold=100
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Luminance_Sensor_Calibration=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Motion_Sensor_Report_Type_to_Send=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_PIR_Sensitivity=3
x_zwave_values.Configuration_PIR_Sensor_Timeout=20
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Recover_Limit_Temperature_Unit_255=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Report_Above_Humidity_Threshold_32=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Report_Above_Luminance_Threshold_64=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Report_Above_Temperature_Threshold_16=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Report_Above_Ultraviolet_Threshold_128=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Report_Below_Humidity_Threshold_2=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Report_Below_Luminance_Threshold_4=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Report_Below_Temperature_Threshold_1=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Report_Below_Ultraviolet_Threshold_8=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Reset_Parameters_101_103_to_Default_Values=null
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Reset_Parameters_111_113_to_Default_Values=null
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Reset_to_Factory_Default_Setting=null
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Selective_Reporting=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Sleep_State_255=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Temperature_Above_Lower_Limit_16=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Temperature_Below_Lower_Limit_1=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Temperature_Calibration_Offset_65280=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Temperature_Calibration_Unit_255=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Temperature_Change_Threshold_4294901760=20
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Temperature_Recover_Limit_65280=20
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Temperature_Threshold_Unit_3840=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Ultraviolet_Above_Lower_Limit_128=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Ultraviolet_Below_Lower_Limit_8=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Ultraviolet_Change_Threshold=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Ultraviolet_Recover_Limit=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Ultraviolet_Sensor_Calibration=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Upper_Humidity_Limit=60
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Upper_Lighting_Limit=1000
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Upper_Temperature_Limit_4294901760=824
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Upper_Temperature_Limit_Unit_3840=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Upper_Ultraviolet_Limit=8
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Wake_Device_for_10_minutes_After_Power_On=1
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Wake_Up_Timeout=15
x_zwave_values.Manufacturer_Specific_manufacturerId=134
x_zwave_values.Manufacturer_Specific_productId=100
x_zwave_values.Manufacturer_Specific_productType=258
x_zwave_values.Multilevel_Sensor_Air_temperature=73.8
x_zwave_values.Multilevel_Sensor_Humidity=46
x_zwave_values.Multilevel_Sensor_Illuminance=5
x_zwave_values.Multilevel_Sensor_Ultraviolet=0
x_zwave_values.Notification_Home_Security_Cover_status=0
x_zwave_values.Notification_Home_Security_Motion_sensor_status=0
x_zwave_values.Notification_alarmLevel=0
x_zwave_values.Notification_alarmType=0
x_zwave_values.Version_firmwareVersions=["1.17"]
x_zwave_values.Version_hardwareVersion=100
x_zwave_values.Version_libraryType=3
x_zwave_values.Version_protocolVersion="4.54"
x_zwave_values.Wake_Up_controllerNodeId=1
x_zwave_values.Wake_Up_wakeUpInterval=3600
zwave_device.capabilities=[32,48,49,112,113,114,128,132,134]
zwave_device.endpoint=0
zwave_device.failed=false
zwave_device.generic_class="Multilevel Sensor"
zwave_device.impl_sig="23326:1:22315:1"
zwave_device.is_beaming=false
zwave_device.is_listening=true
zwave_device.is_routing=true
zwave_device.is_secure=false
zwave_device.manufacturer_info=[134,258,100]
zwave_device.max_data_rate=null
zwave_device.node_id=53
zwave_device.specific_class="Routing Multilevel Sensor"
zwave_device.status=4
zwave_device.status_text="alive"
zwave_device.version_info=[null,"1.17"]
zwave_device.wakeup_interval=3600
I'm running:
Reactor latest-24190-bd310acc, Bare-metal on Fedora
WaveJSController [0.1.23326]
Home Assistant: 2024.7.0
I'm fetching certain data five past every hour, but I would like to do it closer to the hour, e.g. 1 or 2 past (but not at the hour).
I experimented with the following rule that almost works (triggers also at the hour which is not the intention). Any advice for a solution?
It would be nice to have an ability to bookmark a direct link to a dashboard item. In my case I would use this feature to access a virtual switch directly.
Hi @toggledbits
Would you please consider adding an extra sublevel in the rulesets?
I have grouped my rules in rooms/ areas. This works great for me, but I would also like to group rules for the same functionality (in a room). This would make the rules easier to find and name.
Please let me know if this is an option. Thanks!
@togglebits I am curious as to why the tilt_sensor.state (primary) = NULL. I believe it should show true or false. I have to use binary_sensor.state instead in my rules.
Again, not sure if this is related to Reactor/ZwaveJSController implementation or the actual Z-Wave JS UI docker version. I have copied, below, the attributes of the tilt sensor in hopes it can help.
Thanks in advance.
Reactor version 23302
ZWaveJSController version 23254
Z-Wave JS UI version 9.3.0.724519f
zwave-js version 12.2.3
@toggledbits,
I have this device attached to my system, but use a DSC panel. If you need testers to move forward, I'm happy to help.
I'm curious what your thinking the use case is for this. I currently have it integrated into HomeAssistant, and it works fine for the most part. The one thing I can't do is bypass zones, which I would like to have the ability to do.
Are you looking at more direct control for the panel, as opposed to having to jump through HA (or another system) first?
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.I have the following ruleset which I though had been working well until this morning when I noticed it's not.
I've put four weather conditions in an in array and one of them is the current weather condition - but the rule is not true. Now the cloud cover percentage is not yet met but this is an or rule so as long as the "Current Conditions" are met then it should go true.
What's the obvious thing I'm missing here? (I've tried spaces/no spaces in the in and no difference.)
Hi,
Running the latest MSR latest-24152-3455578a with the latest HA 2024.6.1. When trying to call a service I get the following in the MSR logs. Is this a version mismatch? I am not seeing anything in the HA logs.
[latest-24152]2024-06-11T10:29:56.162Z <Rule:INFO> rule-Monitor-DHW (rule-lsvq5k3x in Central Heating) started [latest-24152]2024-06-11T10:29:58.625Z <HassController:WARN> HassController#hass unknown service opentherm_gw.set_hot_water_setpoint in x_hass.call_service action on Thermostat#hass>climate_living_room_otgw [latest-24152]2024-06-11T10:29:58.626Z <HassController:INFO> HassController#hass: sending payload for x_hass.call_service on Thermostat#hass>climate_living_room_otgw action: [Object]{ "type": "call_service", "service_data": { "gateway_id": "living_room_otgw", "temperature": 65 }, "domain": "opentherm_gw", "service": "set_hot_water_setpoint", "target": { "entity_id": "climate.living_room_otgw" } } [latest-24152]2024-06-11T10:29:58.627Z <HassController:ERR> HassController#hass request 1718101798626<6/11/2024, 12:29:58 PM> (call_service) failed: [Object]{ "id": 1718101798626, "type": "result", "success": false, "error": { "code": "invalid_format", "message": "extra keys not allowed @ data['entity_id']" } } [latest-24152]2024-06-11T10:29:58.627Z <HassController:WARN> HassController#hass action x_hass.call_service([Object]{ "service": "opentherm_gw.set_hot_water_setpoint", "data": "{ \"gateway_id\": \"living_room_otgw\", \"temperature\": 65 }" }) on Thermostat#hass>climate_living_room_otgw failed!Cheers Rene
Some background
I'm trying to integrate a Zigbee device into the MSR using zigbee2mqtt bridge and MQTTController. The device in question is a cheap mood light that has following properties that I'd like to control:
I'v already managed to get the switch part working and can toggle the light on/off. Also the brightness value is mapped back to MSR. In zigbee2mqtt it has a value range from 0 to 254, so this the reason for the expression:
expr: 'payload.brightness / 254'Here's the entity definition (don't know whether the type should be something else than the Switch)
zigbee-lidl-mood-light: name: 'Lidl Mood Light' friendly_name: 'Mood Light' type: Switch uses_template: lidl-moodlightAnd the corresponding template (NOTE: rgb_color has not been defined in this example):
lidl-moodlight: init: "zigbee2mqtt/%friendly_name%/get/state" query: "zigbee2mqtt/%friendly_name%/get/state" capabilities: - power_switch - toggle - dimming primary_attribute: power_switch.state events: "zigbee2mqtt/%friendly_name%": "power_switch.state": json_payload: true expr: 'upper(payload.state) == "ON"' "dimming.level": json_payload: true expr: 'payload.brightness / 254' actions: power_switch: "on": topic: "zigbee2mqtt/%friendly_name%/set/state" payload: 'ON' "off": topic: "zigbee2mqtt/%friendly_name%/set/state" payload: 'OFF' set: topic: "zigbee2mqtt/%friendly_name%/set/state" payload: expr: "parameters.state ? 'ON' : 'OFF'" type: raw toggle: topic: "zigbee2mqtt/%friendly_name%/set/state" payload: 'TOGGLE'The problem
In order to control the brightness or the RGB color values, I would have send a JSON payload in corresponding actions. But I have no idea how to define it in the template. The reason why the switch part is working is that the zigbee2mqtt accepts also plain ON / OFF / TOGGLE string payloads in that case.
But the brightness should be controlled with the following payload:
{"brightness": 196}And the RGB color like:
{"color":{"rgb":"46,102,150"}}Here's the link for the documentation (the Exposes part defines the messages).
So how should I define the JSON payload for example for the dimming action? It definitely should be some sort of expressions since I have to map the MSR real value (0...1) to (0...254) for the zigbee2mqtt.
actions: dimming: set: topic: "zigbee2mqtt/%friendly_name%/set" payload: expr: ????? type: jsonAnother problem is the RGB value. I could use the rgb_color capability for the setting but the problem is that the zigbee2mqtt only reports the current color in hue/saturation or xy coordinates.
Here's an example of published message after setting the color:
Topic: zigbee2mqtt/Mood Light QoS: 0 { "brightness":254, "color":{ "hue":240, "saturation":100, "x":0.1355, "y":0.0399 }, "color_mode":"xy", "color_temp":574, "linkquality":96, "state":"ON" }I would have to map those values back to RGB, but is it even possible with existing constructs in MQTTController's templates?
Help would be appreciated @toggledbits
br,
mgvra
That's probably more appropriate to post on Mantis for @toggledbits, but since I know there's at least @Crille publishing templates, my intent with this post is to open a broader discussion.
Long story short: I'm starting to slowly add new template for Shelly Plus and I noticed I'll end up with a dozen more templates, all similar but simply different in trivial details, all sharing a large amount of code and all needing special cares when fixing bugs/adding features (as the latest wifi_status addition).
So, I'm wondering if it's time to start thinking of some sort of inheritance in templates, where I could just create a generic shelly_gen1 and use it as a base for shelly_relay, and this be used as the base for shelly_relay_power and so on.
I could probably achieve this with some sort of scripting on my side to generate templates via code, but maybe there's a better way of doing this, or it's already on the radar.
I need a handful of victims volunteers to help test previews of the next build of Reactor. A long-standing request was for "a simple login mechanism," but in practice, adding user authentication and competent access control turned out to be a pretty big project with a lot of big changes on both server and client sides. It's a bit more than I'm comfortable testing myself and springing out to everyone at once, so I'd like to work with a small group to put it through "sea trials."
Major changes/features include:
User authentication with hashed password storage; User group configuration with application restriction (admin, dashboard, API); Detailed control over API access, with user- and token-based authentication/authorization; Improvements to the HTTPS service; Improvements to UI coordination with the core for Rules and Reactions.If this sounds like something you'd like to help with, drop me a reply here in this thread or privately.
[Solution: Reactor 24115 is not compatible with MQTTController > 24120]
Reactor latest-24115 bare metal.
All MQTT entities stop working after updating MQTTController to 24142, downgrade to 24120 and they are back. Templates and configured entities has not been changed between versions.
I'm not sure if uses_template should be replaced by ìnclude in entity configuration in reactor.yaml but I guess not, I've tried it and it did not do any difference.
I have not tried to update Reactor to userauth version.
Example entity in reactor.yaml that uses MQTTController included template:
entities: "takflakt_kallare": name: "Takfläkt källare" topic: "Källartemp" unit: "" uses_template: tasmota_generic_relay init: "cmnd/%topic%/POWER%unit%"Any hints? Do you need more info, please let me know.
Log from startup:
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:
Contrib MQTT templates for Reactor. Contribute to dbochicchio/reactor-mqtt-contrib development by creating an account on GitHub.
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 🙂
Is the following config correct?
- id: time_series name: "Out temp" capabilities: temperature_sensor: attributes: value: model: time series entity: "hass>sensor_outdoor_temperature" attribute: "temperature_sensor.value" interval: 5 # minutes retention: 20 # minutes aggregate: wma primary_attribute: temperature_sensor.value type: ValueSensorSpecifically, is "depth" directive needed/mandatory here? Reason I'm asking is that I'm not getting a "final" value in MSR, only debug values are shown:
temperature_sensor.units=null temperature_sensor.value=null x_virtualentity.last_request_time=null x_virtualentity.request_failures=null x_virtualentity.template=null x_virtualentity.timeseries_debug=[{"time":1716537360000,"value":22.1},{"time":1716537660000,"value":22},{"time":1716537960000,"value":22},{"time":1716538260000,"value":21.9},{"time":1716538560000,"value":22}]Good morning,
I apologize if this subject has been covered. I did try the search, but I'm not coming up with any topics on my issue.
I'm running userauth-24137-57b41335, bare metal installation on Fedora 39 Server.
I have a rule set up to turn the Eco mode off on my Nest Thermostat when the thermostat is set to Away (Rule State: Away Mode), the user (Driver) presence in my car changes to true, and the destination is set to home.
93804f7c-62d6-42c0-ae04-ff602011a6fd-image.png
This works fine for most days, where I'm headed home from work (commute is about 45 minutes). What I don't want it to do is set change it to Eco mode if my ETA is more than an hour.
There is a sensor/entity for Time to Arrival when the Destination is set. What it appears to provide is the Time OF arrival/ETA, not time until arrival. If it was Time until Arrival, and it was a numeric value, I could simply test if the value is less than 60 and be done with it.
I pulled up the history through Home Assistant for my morning commute and this appears to be what it is providing.
c2a32739-c84f-4a05-95d9-73793ed818f5-image.png
So what I need to do is to do a calculation of the the ETA from the sensor value and subtract the current time, and get a value in minutes that I can determine if it's less than 60.
I believe I can do this with the local expression, but I don't see anything for the system time, or local time. Also, do the local expressions update themselves if the sensors do?
Good morning,
I'm running userauth-24137-57b41335 on Fedora 39, bare metal installation.
ZWaveJSController 0.1.23254
Home Assistant:
Core, 2024.5.3 Supervisor, 2024.05.1 Operating System, 12.3 Frontend, 20240501.1I'm trying to troubleshoot a Dynamic Group Controller and notification alert that I've set up for low battery level.
In my Reactor.config, I have the following lines:
name: "Dynamic Group Controller" implementation: DynamicGroupController config: groups: "zwavejs_dead": select: - include_group: "zwavejs" filter_expression: "entity?.attributes?.zwave_device?.status == 3" group_actions: true "low_battery": select: - include_capability: battery_power filter_expression: > entity.attributes.battery_power.level < 0.35The idea here is that I should only have members of this group that have a battery level below 35%. When I go into Entities, I show a whole slew of devices, none of which have a battery level below the threshold.
a77e445b-ab78-4752-a624-3c4117f34f90-image.png
I also tried setting up a rule to generate a push notification once a day, but with all of the group members, I've had to disable the rule. I believe I have it set up correctly, but I'm not 100% sure. I want the notification to tell me the battery level for that device as well.
289b4f68-03ba-49c0-8275-f0f197d13a3a-image.png
ce24a76e-6865-40bd-bd85-632e54d315a8-image.png dc837424-deb5-4ef7-8f0d-3676f1769535-image.png
Can anyone point to me what I may have misconfigured to get these results?
I should also note I'm only interested in ZWaveJS devices. It's showing me battery status for my iPad and car as well, which I don't need it to send me.
Invocable rules via MQTT
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Hey @toggledbits.
From the docs:You cannot control the state of rules via MQTT. Rule state is driven exclusively by the result of its conditions.
And I'm OK when rules are triggered by something else, but I've built a couple of rules to be used by other rules, to streamline the logic, and it'll be useful to invoke a rule via MQTT. It's probably close to what rule/:id/restart is doing in the HTTP api.
Thanks!
-
There are other ways to accomplish this. Virtual switches are the traditional way, of course. You just add conditions to your rules to check the switch states, and that gives you additional external input you can use to control the rule state. The method I now prefer is to use a global variable, if for example, I don't need or want a UI for it. For example, I use virtual switches for "party mode" and "guest mode" in my house, which changes the behavior of my lighting rules, so my wife can turn these on and off from the dashboard or Alexa. But I use a global variable for "vacation mode", for which I want no Alexa visibility at all, and it's typically part of a bigger procedure to ready the house for long unoccupied times.
I've heard this "it would be useful" before, but nobody has yet explained why or how, so as of this moment, I'm open to hear it, but I'm unconvinced. I also think there' may be a framing problem. Rules are not "invoked." They are state, not action. Reactions can be invoked, either explicitly or driven by rule state. The Rule is the driver, not the driven thing; the Reaction is the driven element.
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@toggledbits yes, you’re right and I’ve used all you mentioned, but I’m not really satisfied.
But know I’ve started building a couple of new rule sets starting from previous code on luup, where I basically have to invoke a given set of actions (mainly setting roller shutters at a given positionm) based on other inputs (Alexa, a bot, another rule set). I’ve done it with global reactions, but since they’re not organizable it’s soon becoming too difficult to remember where it’s stored the logic and what is calling what.
You’re right that it’s not what I really need. I’d prefer a way to watch for a given mqtt message instead. This will probably solve all my problems, since it will be easier to organize and I’ll archive the same result.
In this particular case, I’d like to invoke it via Alexa and I’ll maybe just define a global variable and start messing with the corresponding api. Thanks!
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@therealdb said in Invocable rules via MQTT:
You’re right that it’s not what I really need. I’d prefer a way to watch for a given mqtt message instead.
You know you can do that to an entity, right? And then conditions check the entity?
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@toggledbits yes, I’ll try to define a virtual entity that will just try to catch messages in a given topic and react to the payload. I don’t want to map every single actions to entities, because this is a lot of work for something that’s meant to be not exposed into ui.
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@therealdb said in Invocable rules via MQTT:
catch messages in a given topic and react to the payload
This is where what you've asked so far is an incomplete thought, in my view. I can probably easily create a condition that responds to events from controllers such as an MQTT message, but those messages have payloads, and you haven't really mentioned that part before this post, although I anticipated that was where it was going to go. So as you have now said, you don't just need to respond to a message. You need to respond to a message, parse the payload it may or may not include, which may be a simple value or a more complex object in JSON form that you want to navigate, from which you may want to make a decision based on a single value taken from the payload or multiple values, which may possible need to be transformed or scaled prior to further processing (expressions), and then use any of the existing operations (and maybe some not yet conceived, so more expressions) to complete the conditional test, and/or store those values in local or global variables for additional uses elsewhere. This is all supposed to happen inside the context of a single condition.
Functionally, this is what MQTTController's method of reducing topics/events to entities does today, it just does not do it within the definition of a single condition (or condition type) in a rule. To make it a condition would require an extremely elaborate UI — you have to be able to specify what topic you are interested in (and since they are not defined/standardized, the user has to know and supply it correctly to the letter), parse the payload (which is in a form that the user again must know and supply) and use that output to extract data from the payload (the type and location of which within the payload again must be supplied by the user accurately — expressions? maybe too complex, so add an object navigator?), then store and/or build conditions from any number of those payload values (where currently conditions are one-value-one-test). MQTTController does all this now, but if you want it in a UI for a condition type, what you really are asking, in my view, is that I build Node-RED as a condition type, because this is also exactly how NR operates; this basically describes what NR fundamentally is and does.
I agree that configuring the custom entities for MQTTController is not for the timid, and I'd like it to be easier, but that's due in large part of what MQTT is, and what it is not. MQTT is, as you point out, not meant for UIs. It is fundamentally a transport interface, and nothing more. It doesn't define what the topics or payloads are, and it invites manufacturer/implementor interpretation/imagination/entropy in its use, and thus eschewing standardization/consistency/predictability, all of which defies the idea of creating a simple one-size-fits-all UI, and shifting a lot of the knowledge requirement onto the user. Even though NR has (is) a GUI, the user has to supply all of the knowledge about the topic and payload, and that is different for every topic/device/vendor. This is exactly why NR gets as complex as it gets, and why the learning curve is so steep and a lot of people can't use it all.
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I have to define something to parse the payload because I really don’t want to define too many rule set just to intercept messages. But it’s not too different than parsing a json after an http call, or transform entities values in expressions.
The choice is up to you, but this is not uncommon for power users to use mqtt to send/receive values from different systems and I’m not that interested in having a bus message representing an entity, so an an UI artifact.
As I didn’t wanted to invest too much time, I’ve accomplished the same by sending a numeric value to an an expression and I’m using it as a trigger. I already have a system that’s it’s able to intercept specific mqtt messages with a simple configuration and I’ll continue to use it. Thanks anyway for the pointers.
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For anyone trying to do the same in future, here's what I did, in detail:
- I defined a global variable named scenefrommqtt (leave it empty, so it's settable)
- I'm publishing an MQTT message under reactor/mqtt/Expr/scenefrommqtt/set, with value "mykey" (the quotes are important)
- On Reactor's side, I'm using the variable as a trigger, using the same name defined for the Rule Set
It's working very well for me, and it's easy to setup. Thanks @toggledbits for both MSR and for pushing me to think of current features, instead of asking for new complicated ones
Now I have just one single vera code running, and I'll migrate it later, leaving the Vera just as a glorified ZWave bridge until it'll work.
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