Automatically create groups based on some conditions (ie name, area)

kdzoha · December 14, 2021, 6:10pm

There’s this wonderful project auto-entities, GitHub - thomasloven/lovelace-auto-entities: 🔹Automatically populate the entities-list of lovelace cards, that allows to display entities based on a query like so:

filter:
  include:
    - name: "Bedroom *"
    - entity_id: "sensor.temperature_*_max"

What would be really interesting is to have the ability to do the same thing for groups… for example

main_bathroom_switch_group:
  name: Bathroom Lights Group
  entities:
    - switch.main_bathroom_exhaust_fan
    - light.main_bathroom_vanity_lights

laundry_room_switch_group:
  name: Laundry Room Lights Group
  entities:
    - switch.laundry_room_main_lights
    - light.laundry_room_whisper_light

garage_switch_group:
  name: Garage Lights Group
  entities:
    - switch.garage_main_lights
    - light.garage_outlet

these groups follow the nomenclature: ‘object_type’.‘room_name’_entity_non_friendly_name.

would be so cool to be able to make groups like this…

Similarly lovelace-ui.yaml seems to have a way to list entities in a room… (actually haven’t figured out how it does it yet, since you can’t pick entity attributes with room name/id)

I found in a custom package somewhere a working example

github.com

notoriousbdg/Home-AssistantConfig/blob/6c7e8c383e8fa2ac56b4d45486f43e12534bcfb0/packages/battery_alert.yaml#L808


      
                        {%- set attribval = trigger.event.data.new_state.attributes.battery_critical -%}
                        {%- set attribname = 'battery_critical' -%}
                      {%- endif -%}
                      "entity_id": "{{ trigger.event.data.entity_id }}",
                      {% if attribname is defined -%}
                      "{{ attribname }}": "{{ attribval }}",
                      {%- endif %}
                      "delete_battery_sensor": "homeassistant/sensor/{{ trigger.event.data.entity_id.split('.')[1] }}_battery"
                    }
          
          - alias: update_battery_status_group_members
            initial_state: 'on'
            trigger:
              - platform: time_pattern
                minutes: '/1'
                seconds: 00
            action:
              - service: group.set
                data_template:
                  object_id: "battery_status"
                  entities: >-

where they use “group_set” and automation every minutes to update a group list.

Anyone knows a better way to accomplish this?

khvej8 · April 1, 2022, 10:13am

Did you ever find a solution for this. I would like to generate groups of light based on the “area” of the device.

bathroomlightgroup:
  entities:
    - light.* with area set to bath

snikay · June 25, 2022, 9:53pm

same here. anyone has a hint on how to solve this? thanks

kdzoha · June 26, 2022, 1:48am

I’ve not had time to actually try this… my current work around is to use auto-entities and display lights by rooms instead of making a group… it serves the same purpose…

at least this way when I add a light to the living room I don’t have to change anything on the dashboard…

But i’m still interested in getting this done… surprised more people aren’t curious about this…

  - type: "custom:button-card"
    template: card_title
    label: Lights
  - type: custom:auto-entities
    card:
      type: grid
      columns: 2
      square: false
    card_param: cards
    filter:
      include:
        - domain: light
          area: Living Room
          options:
            type: "custom:button-card"
            template: card_light_slider_collapse
            variables:
              ulm_card_light_enable_slider: true
              ulm_card_light_enable_collapse: true
        - domain: switch
          area: Living Room
          entity_id: /^.*light.*$/
          options:
            type: "custom:button-card"
            template: card_light_slider_collapse
            variables:
              ulm_card_light_enable_slider: true
              ulm_card_light_enable_collapse: true

smos08 · December 23, 2022, 3:04am

can you post your button-card template yaml ? i really like this look !

DvdNwk · February 28, 2024, 4:16am

yeah, i love auto-entities (UI)

i’d love same for the groups + easier automations for bulk group actions (backend)

dingausmwald · December 23, 2024, 9:17am

Have you seen this?

gist.github.com

https://gist.github.com/platbr/72238a7585d4851643624a65bd0f7765

create_group.yaml

blueprint:
  name: Create Group
  description: |
    # Create Group Blueprint
    
    This blueprint creates a group with either static or dynamic members. 

    It has two main functions to add members
      - Dynamically include multiple members based on a common string in their object ID's. (```Dynamic Include List```)
      - Or statically add individual members. (```Static Entities To Add```)

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And in combination with this:

respective this

you could even build a dashboard input to dynamicly create group helpers for rooms, stages, devices, labels. I think even wildcards where possible

kdzoha · December 23, 2024, 6:37pm

IIUC you’re suggesting running a script from the dashboard, whereas it fires the blueprint… not sure I follow? Might need a bit more time to digest this, but would appreciate if you can tldr it for me…