Automation "this" - to get automation entity_id

Configuration
1

I’m writing an automation to water the garden. Is there an alternative syntax to obtain the entity_id of a automation, other than just hardcoding it, as I did here:

alias: Water the garden
description: ""
trigger:
  - platform: sun
    event: sunrise
    offset: 0
condition:
  - condition: template
    value_template: >-
      {{ now() - state_attr('automation.water_the_garden','last_triggered') >=
      timedelta(days=2) }}
action:
  - service: script.water_the_garden
    data: {}
mode: single
2

You can use the this variable. With any automations based on last_triggered, you will need to include a clause to allow the first run where last_triggered isn’t defined.

condition:
  - condition: template
    value_template: >-
      {{ this.attributes.last_triggered is not defined or 
      now() - this.attributes.last_triggered >= timedelta(days=2) }}
1 Like
3

Thank you very much, it was no clear to me that ‚this’ in automation represents ‚state’ object.

Is it better to write:

this.attributes.last_triggered is not defined or 
      now() - this.attributes.last_triggered >= timedelta(days=2)

or

now() - state_attr(this.entity_id, 'last_triggered') >= timedelta(days=2)
5

Sorry about the deleted post, I wanted to test both options quickly… It looks like either will work, but AFAIK it is slightly more efficient to use the first option because you don’t have to re-render the value.

FYI, for new automations you would need to include the or clause either way:

this.attributes.last_triggered is not defined or 
now() - this.attributes.last_triggered >= timedelta(days=2)

or

this.attributes.last_triggered is not defined or
now() - state_attr(this.entity_id, 'last_triggered') >= timedelta(days=2)
1 Like
6

Another way to do the same thing:

now() - this.attributes.last_triggered | default(as_datetime(0)) >= timedelta(days=2)

A new automation that has never triggered yet will not have a last_triggered attribute. Therefore the following template will fail for a new, untriggered automation. The state_attr() function will return a null object (none) and the subtraction will produce an error.

now() - state_attr(this.entity_id, 'last_triggered') >= timedelta(days=2)

That’s why Didgeridrew’s example tests if last_triggered is not defined and my example above provides a default value in case last_triggered is undefined.

1 Like
7

I really like how clean the default solution looks. Thank you both!

8

Glad you like it but what was the reason you didn’t assign it the Solution tag? Was the template more difficult to understand?