Automation canceled but still working!

Configuration
1

Hi,
what is happening is a very strange fact that I cannot give an answer to. In the beginning it happened that despite disabling an automation, it was still executed. So I decided to permanently delete it with the idea of inserting it again, but now that having deleted it (I checked, it is no longer present in any folder) this continues to work. Since I work in YAML mode I went to check in case it was in the automation.yaml file, but the latter is empty. Do you have any idea what happened and why it continues to work even if deleted?

2

Is it visible via the UI?

3

Not now. It was initially visible and disabled, but it still worked. Now I have deleted it and no longer visible, but it still works.

4

Have you reloaded the automations though after making the change? This happens automatically when you use the Visual Editor and save, but requires you to do it manually when you are working directly in YAML files.

5

I normally reboot completely HA after any kind of change. What kind of reload are you talking about?

6

Just the one in the server controls page. The thing that was put there about a year ago, so that it was no longer necessary to completely restart every time you make a change…

7

Could you be more specific? I can’t figure out which one is.

8
  1. Configuration > Settings > Server Controls.
  2. Scroll down to YAML configuration reloading
  3. Click on Automations or any other YAML config you want to reload without needing a full restart.
9

Thank you, @mobile.andrew.jones . I just did this by clicking on Automation, I also restarted HA, but the automation still works. What do I do, I call the ghostbusters?

10

what do you see in the logs?
You are 100% sure it is an automation you created in hass and not in another app (google, alexa, phone automation apps, …) that uses devices also setup in hass?

11

I really don’t know what could have happened. My HA is installed on a Synology NAS via Docker and I tried in every way to understand why a deleted Automation continued to work, but without success. As a last test I restarted the NAS and oops! the problem has been solved. I don’t know what to say, but I think the cause of this problem will remain unknowned and I hope it will not recur again.
Thank you all.

1 Like
12

I have exactly the same. Also running HA om Synology NAS in docker. I had an automation where my light change scene when I turn off my xbox, but my xbox integration constantly sees my xbox going off, while its off for a long time. That means my automation triggers all the time. I’ve disable the automation, no result. I’ve deleted it, no result. I’ve deleted it in the UI, and no traces in yaml. If I look into the log from the scene which is activated, it’s called now automation.xbox_turned_off, but this is nowhere to be found. I guess a 2023.1 bug?

13

Any chance HA could have been running twice?

14

Check automation.yaml. It have been seen that automations are in the yaml fil, even deleted from the GUI. And, check that it does not exists two times in YAML file. Could explain that it still runs,m even you can not see it.

15

I have a similar situation. I have an automation that sends notifications when there’s movement in the security camera. I have another automation that enables/disables the first automation based on the state of the security alarm. The problem is that the first automation gets triggered even when it’s disabled. It shows being disabled in the entity status dialog, in the automation list, and in the automation visual editor.

Today the first alarm was last disabled 5 hours ago – it shows it in the status dialog. Yet the automation was last triggered only 30 minutes ago (3 times in total) and I also received the notification sent by the automation.

I was running HA 2022.10.x when I first experienced this. I then updated to 2022.12.6, but the problem is still present. The host system has been rebooted several times after the last edit of the automation. I also just check that there’s no duplicate in the automations.yaml file. I guess in theory I could be running two HA instances and their state somehow gets unsynced? Sounds a bit farfetched.

I’m reloading the automations now to see if it works when the automation is already disabled.

16

Did anybody find the cause of this? I have the same problem. Had an automation send me a push notification on motion. I first disabled the automation and nothing, the notification kept appearing. I opted for deleting it completely and also nothing, I still get push notifications.

Any ideas?