Check_config not reliable on included yaml-files? (possible issue)

Configuration
1

Here and there I am confronted with the HASS script script_check (hass --script check_config) not detecting errors in my yaml-files. The errors show up in the “invalid config” card and I have to debug by checking the logs…

May there be a problem with checking external yaml-files by the check_config script (https://home-assistant.io/getting-started/troubleshooting-configuration/)?

Or is there a proper way to include yaml-files?

The suspicious line in my configuration.yaml looks like:

#include some automations
automation: !include automations.yaml

Access rigths to the automations.yaml are ok.

PS: I am aware of HASS packages (https://home-assistant.io/topics/packages/) but had no time to implement this new feature in my configs… And I have to admit I don’t understand this new concept at the first glance… I’ll have to read more about this.

2

What’s your automations.yaml file look like? Can you post it?

When you do, please use the preformatted text option for posting code. In your forum editor, slect the code block and then press this button:

3

I actually used the formatting button… But it didn’t change the format. Ha no line break bevor the code block or something like this. Changed it in my post.

Here is my automation.yaml:

 - alias: "light if motion"
   trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.fibaro_system_fgms001_motion_sensor_sensor_14_0
      to: 'on'
   action:
    - service: switch.turn_on
      data:
         entity_id: switch.fibaro_system_fgs223_double_relay_switch_28_0

 - alias: "turn off stair ligth after 10 minutes without motion"
   trigger:
    platform: template
    value_template: "{{ as_timestamp(now()) - as_timestamp(states.binary_sensor.fibaro_system_fgms001_motion_sensor_sensor_14_0.last_changed) > 600 }}"
   action:
    - service: switch.turn_off
      data:
         entity_id: switch.fibaro_system_fgs223_double_relay_switch_28_0


 - alias: "light trigger in the night"
   trigger:
    platform: numeric_state
    entity_id: sensor.fibaro_system_fgms001_motion_sensor_luminance_24_3
    below: 1
   action:
    - condition: time
      after: '23:00:00'
    - condition: time
      before: '07:00:00'
    - condition: state
      entity_id: 'switch.cinema_mode'
      state: 'off'
    - condition: state
      entity_id: 'light.livingone'
      state: 'off'
    - service: light.turn_on
      data:
         entity_id: light.livingone
    - condition: state
      entity_id: 'light.livingtwo'
      state: 'off'
    - service: light.turn_on
      data:
         entity_id: light.livingtwo

 - alias: "security camera 1 motion trigger"
   trigger:
    platform: template
    value_template: '{{states.camera.security_cam_entrance.attributes.change > 0 }}'
   action:
      - service: light.turn_on
        data:
         entity_id: light.ugbureau
         brightness: 255
#         color_name: red
         flash: short
      - service: light.turn_on
        data:
         entity_id: light.ugdiele
         brightness: 255
#         color_name: red
         flash: short
      - service: light.turn_on
        data:
         entity_id: light.ugschlafzimmer
         brightness: 255
#         color_name: red
         flash: short

 - alias: "flash if petpointer daemon delivered battery state is low"
   trigger:
    platform: numeric_state
    entity_id: petpointer.battery_state
    below: 20
   action:
      - condition: template
        value_template: '{{(as_timestamp(now())-as_timestamp(states.petpointer.battery_state.last_updated)) > 1800 }}'
      - service: light.turn_on
        data:
         entity_id: light.livingone
         brightness: 255
#         color_name: red
         flash: long

 - alias: "Flash petpointer alarm on motion in living room"
   trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.fibaro_system_fgms001_motion_sensor_sensor_24_0
      to: 'on'
   action:
    - condition: numeric_state
      entity_id: petpointer.battery_state
      below: 20
    - condition: template
      value_template: '{{(as_timestamp(now())-as_timestamp(states.petpointer.battery_state.last_updated)) > 1800 }}'
    - service: light.turn_on
      data:
         entity_id: light.livingone
         brightness: 255
         color_name: red
         flash: long

 - alias: "Open shutters at sunrise downstairs"
   trigger:
    platform: sun
    event: sunrise
    offset: "-00:30:00"
   action:
      - service: cover.open_cover
        data:
         # diele shutter
         entity_id: cover.fibaro_system_fgrm222_roller_shutter_controller_2_level_3_0
      - service: cover.open_cover
        data:
        #schlafzimmer shutter
          entity_id: cover.fibaro_system_fgrm222_roller_shutter_controller_2_level_15_0

 - alias: "Open shutters in the morning if motion detected"
   trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.fibaro_system_fgms001_motion_sensor_sensor_24_0
      to: 'on'
   condition:
     conditions:
      - condition: template
        value_template: '{{ states.cover.fibaro_system_fgrm222_roller_shutter_controller_2_level_21_0.attributes.current_position < 95 }}'
      - condition: sun
        after: sunrise
      - condition: sun
        before: sunset
   action:
     - service: homeassistant.turn_on
       entity_id: script.shutter_living_up

My indentations are the most beautiful (I’m editing with vim over ssh on mi pi) but should work. The last automation was altered according to your and other’s help here (question about conditions).

I debugged the last automation above to to the one below and now it loads without a problem. Problem was not detected by the check_config script. Output was nothing more than:

root@homeautomation:~# hass --script check_config
Testing configuration at /root/.homeassistant
root@homeautomation:~#

The working automation looks like this:

 - alias: "Open shutters in the morning if motion detected"
   trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.fibaro_system_fgms001_motion_sensor_sensor_24_0
      to: 'on'
   condition:
     condition: and
     conditions:
      - condition: template
        value_template: '{{ states.cover.fibaro_system_fgrm222_roller_shutter_controller_2_level_21_0.attributes.current_position < 95 }}'
      - condition: sun
        after: sunrise
      - condition: sun
        before: sunset
   action:
     - service: homeassistant.turn_on
       entity_id: script.shutter_living_up

You can see the condition’s syntax was wrong.

1 Like
4

It happened again just now.

My faulty automations.yaml:

 - alias: "light if motion"
   trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.fibaro_system_fgms001_motion_sensor_sensor_14_0
      to: 'on' 
   action:
    - service: switch.turn_on
      data:
         entity_id: switch.fibaro_system_fgs223_double_relay_switch_28_0

 - alias: "turn off stair ligth after 10 minutes without motion"
   trigger:
    platform: template
    value_template: "{{ as_timestamp(now()) - as_timestamp(states.binary_sensor.fibaro_system_fgms001_motion_sensor_sensor_14_0.last_changed) > 600 }}"
   action:
    - service: switch.turn_off
      data:
         entity_id: switch.fibaro_system_fgs223_double_relay_switch_28_0


 - alias: "light trigger in the night"
   trigger:
    platform: numeric_state
    entity_id: sensor.fibaro_system_fgms001_motion_sensor_luminance_24_3
    below: 1
   condition:
   conditions: and
    - condition: time
      after: '23:00:00'
    - condition: time
      before: '07:00:00'
    - condition: state
      entity_id: 'switch.cinema_mode'
      state: 'off'
    - condition: state
      entity_id: 'light.livingone'
      state: 'off'
   action:
    - service: light.turn_on
      data:
         entity_id: light.livingone
    - condition: state
      entity_id: 'light.livingtwo'
      state: 'off'
    - service: light.turn_on
      data:
         entity_id: light.livingtwo

 - alias: "security camera 1 motion trigger"
   trigger:
    platform: template
    value_template: '{{states.camera.security_cam_entrance.attributes.change > 0 }}'
   action:
      - service: light.turn_on
        data:
         entity_id: light.ugbureau
         brightness: 255
#         color_name: red
         flash: short 
      - service: light.turn_on
        data:
         entity_id: light.ugdiele
         brightness: 255
#         color_name: red
         flash: short
      - service: light.turn_on
        data:
         entity_id: light.ugschlafzimmer
         brightness: 255
#         color_name: red
         flash: short

 - alias: "petpointer_low_battery"
   trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.fibaro_system_fgms001_motion_sensor_sensor_24_0
      to: 'on'
   condition:
   conditions: and
    - condition: numeric_state
      entity_id: petpointer.battery_state
      below: 20
    - condition: template
      value_template: '{{(as_timestamp(now())-as_timestamp(states.petpointer.battery_state.last_updated)) > 1800 }}'
   action:
    - service: light.turn_on
      data:
         entity_id: light.livingone
         brightness: 255
         color_name: red
         flash: long
    - service: automation.turn_off
      entity_id: automation.petpointer_low_battery
    - delay: 01:00:00
    - service: automation.turn_on
      entity_id: automation.petpointer_low_battery


 - alias: "Open shutters at sunrise downstairs"
   trigger:
    platform: sun
    event: sunrise
    offset: "-00:30:00"
   action:
      - service: cover.open_cover
        data:
         # diele shutter 
         entity_id: cover.fibaro_system_fgrm222_roller_shutter_controller_2_level_3_0
      - service: cover.open_cover
        data:
        #schlafzimmer shutter
          entity_id: cover.fibaro_system_fgrm222_roller_shutter_controller_2_level_15_0

#Open shutters in the morning if motion detected
 - alias: "a_shutter_1"
   trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.fibaro_system_fgms001_motion_sensor_sensor_24_0
      to: 'on'
   condition:
      condition: and
      conditions:
      - condition: template
        value_template: '{{ states.cover.fibaro_system_fgrm222_roller_shutter_controller_2_level_21_0.attributes.current_position < 95 }}'
      - condition: time
        after: "06:30:00"
      - condition: time
        before: "20:35:00"
   action:
     - service: homeassistant.turn_on
       entity_id: script.shutter_living_up
     - service: automation.turn_off
       entity_id: automation.a_shutter_1
     - delay: 00:01:00
     - service: automation.turn_on
       entity_id: automation.a_shutter_1

Output of hass --script check_config:

root@homeautomation:~# hass --script check_config
Testing configuration at /root/.homeassistant

I reloaded the automations in service tab with HASS running. No output in the “Invalid Config” card or even in the logs. I restartet HASS and look whats in the logs:

Jan 30 20:29:42 homeautomation hass[1745]: Config directory: /home/pi/.homeassistant
Jan 30 20:29:45 homeautomation systemd[1]: Starting Home Assistant...
Jan 30 20:29:45 homeautomation systemd[1]: Started Home Assistant.
Jan 30 20:29:59 homeautomation hass[23496]: #033[31m17-01-30 20:29:59 ERROR (Thread-1) homeassistant.util.yaml] mapping values are not allowed here
Jan 30 20:29:59 homeautomation hass[23496]: in "/home/pi/.homeassistant/automations.yaml", line 28, column 16#033[0m
Jan 30 20:29:59 homeautomation hass[23496]: Config directory: /home/pi/.homeassistant
5

Looks like your issue is with the conditions declaration. You have:

condition:
conditions: and
 - condition: time

And it should be

condition:
  condition: and
  conditions:
    - condition: time
6

Yes, you are absolutely right. I debugged it. Problem here is it’s not detected by the script. The post above gives you a faulty yaml file to test it.

7

I’ve found the best way to validate is with Atom editor with yamllint enabled. It does a much better job at pointing out errors than notepad++ or winSCP