Automation template condition trouble

[djmallon (Andrew)]

Hi there!

I have a Unifi camera that I’m automating to turn on recording overnight. I’m trying to set up a second automation that when I manually turn on recording myself, it will turn off after 2.5 hours (trying to capture baby nap patterns during the day!).

I’m having trouble with a template condition I found on the forums that would only activate turning it off after 2.5 hours if myself or my wife were the one who manually made the change - not the automation for the overnight.

I switched out ‘is’ for ==, tried using ‘null’ with ==, tried using ‘or’ with my user IDs, no luck. Each time (whether manually or via automation), it will kick it back to ‘no recording’.

I’m currently using 5 seconds to test, here’s the code.

alias: "* Nursery Nap Auto-Disable Record"
description: ""
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
      - select.g3_instant_recording_mode_2
    to: Always
    id: nurseryrecordon
condition:
  - condition: not
    conditions:
      - condition: template
        value_template: |-
          >
                  {{trigger.to_state.context.user_id is none}}
action:
  - delay:
      hours: 0
      minutes: 0
      seconds: 5
      milliseconds: 0
  - service: select.select_option
    data:
      option: Never
    target:
      entity_id: select.g3_instant_recording_mode_2
mode: single

Thanks for your help!

[123 (Taras)]

condition:
  - condition: template
    value_template: "{{trigger.to_state.context.user_id is not none}}"

[djmallon (Andrew)]

Thanks for this! Gave it a try and it didn’t work. It would still run through the change even if the other automation made the initial change.

Would a look at the trace help?

[123 (Taras)]

@djmallon

Gave it a try and it didn’t work

Did you test the automation by changing the Input Select’s value to ‘Always’?

[djmallon (Andrew)]

Yes, I’m testing two ways:

1. changing it via my dashboard to ‘always’
2. using the current automation for overnight, changing the start time to current and letting it fire

[123 (Taras)]

Refer to the table in this post explaining how to identify the trigger source:

Request for Generic Thermostat "heater" switch to act as a thermostat physical switch

Here’s how the context object usually behaves depending on who or what was the trigger’s source. Action id parent_id user_id Physical Not Null Null Null Automation Not Null Not Null Null UI Not Null Null Not Null If your tests show that the behavior fails to match any of the combinations in the table, or corresponds to an unexpected combination, then it’s potentially an anomaly and something that might need to be reported. EDIT Corrected typo.

Example employing three conditions to identify a manually operated switch as the trigger source:

Request for Generic Thermostat "heater" switch to act as a thermostat physical switch

This should help you get started: alias: Override Generic Thermostat id: override_generic_thermostat trigger: - platform: state entity_id: switch.your_heater condition: - "{{ trigger.to_state.context.id != none }}" - "{{ trigger.to_state.context.parent_id == none }}" - "{{ trigger.to_state.context.user_id == none }}" action: - service: "climate.turn_{{ 'off' if trigger.to_state.state == 'on' else 'on' }}" target: entity_id: climate.your_thermostat When the heater switch…

[djmallon (Andrew)]

Excellent, the chart + example did it. I’m all set. Thanks for your time!

[123 (Taras)]

@djmallon

Excellent, the chart + example did it

You’re welcome!

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