Button as helper entity

Feature Requests
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1

Hey,
with the newly added Button Entity it would be quite helpfull to be able to create Button-Helper that could be used to trigger an Script or an Automation when pressed in the loveface.

2

You can trigger a script directly from UI, is show “a button” that you can press to execute.

3

I agree. I would likt a helper button to be able to use for e.g. node red flows, now I need a timer to turn a switch (boolean helper) off.

2 Likes
4

Yes, we need this!
Additionally we need this to be exposed to Google Assistant by the manual configuration.

5

button is a platform like number and select. It’s meant to be implemented by other integrations. For example, the MQTT integration implements it and several other platforms.

However, I agree a button-like Helper would be easier and more convenient for users to create (than, for example, an MQTT Button). An input_button would generate a custom event when pressed; the custom event can be detected by an Event Trigger. An input_button would be automatically displayed in the Lovelace UI, just like other Input Helpers.

1 Like
6

Agree 100% with @123. I have a lot of automation that I would like to be able to trigger manually from the front end which is solvable today with some “workarounds”, but a input_button with a custom event would be the nicest and cleanest way to do it.

1 Like
7

It appears that this FR is in the process of being implemented. Frenck has posted this PR:

If I understood the input_button's code correctly, when pressed it produces a timestamp (representing the moment when it’s pressed).

5 Likes
8

I used the Button entity today, (mqtt_button)
It works an all, but a but underwhelming. I say this because it could be so much more. Currently on the user side, there is MQTT Button and frankly that is just replacing a script to call an entity with a nicer format, and that’s about it. It does have more functions via the integrated hardware side.
I look forward to someone taking this much farther.

  • How about short press, Long press, multi press options for user and integrations.
  • How about a button to ‘toggle’ an existing switch on and off. (instead of a script to toggle it, delay, toggle it back again)
  • How about a button to fire a web hook.
  • How about a Button to fire a shell_script

I don’t have a clue how to pull these off in the HA code or if they actually should exist, but the Button, as an expanded integration or as a helper would be very useful in the entire Home Assistant Game IMHO.

9

Oops, just found this…

Let’s see what that gets us…

10

You linked to a Frontend PR for what was implemented in the link I had posted (a Core PR). In other words, it’s just the UI for creating an Input Button Helper. The features you listed in your previous post aren’t included in either PR. Push the button and its state value changes to the latest date and time which can be used for a trigger. That’s about the full extent of what it currently does.

1 Like