“What’s the time?” or any variation of that does not work on my system, but apparently it should? I get “Sorry, I couldn’t understand that”. I’d have thought that would work out of the box.
Any suggestions of what might need to be set to get it working?
Thanks.
There’s currently no handling for “what’s the time?”. You could create your own custom sentence to handle it if you want. The default sentences can be found here.
Good suggestion! I had previously tried that, but gave up when I encountered too many issues. Your reply inspired me to try again.
Here’s what I did:
sensor:
- platform: template
sensors:
world_time_mytimezone:
unique_id: 8qoD4pezUya86Mgr
value_template: "{{ now().strftime('%-I:%M%p') }}"
Note that for the unique_id value I used a random alphanumeric string; once set, never change it.
The entity returns the local time formatted like 9:02AM or 5:26PM
Reloaded All YAML Configuration
Exposed the new entity to Assist under Settings → Voice Assistants
Established the file /config/custom_sentences/en/time_location.yaml
language: "en"
intents:
MyLocalTime:
data:
- sentences:
- "(what|what's) [is] the [current] time"
- "what time is it"
configuration.yamlintent_script:
MyLocalTime:
speech:
text: "The time is currently {{ states('sensor.world_time_mytimezone') }}"
And voila!
At some future point I may establish entities for other time zones - if I can figure out how to specify timezone in the value template - then expand the intents and intent_script to handle a location parameter.
Fallen at the first hurdle. Added under sensor in configuration.yaml and get this logged:
Setup failed for ‘world_time_mytimezone’: Integration not found.
It’s been a long day at work, I might figure it out tomorrow…
I’ve built this the last few days. I’ve put most of my configuration in separate yaml files for readability and manageability.
To start: I have a few template sensors for the server time. In templates, the noew() function triggers the template every time it changes, which is every minute. My hour sensor only changes once an hour, reducing the number of triggers!
in config/sensors/servertime.yaml:
# A simple sensor to get the server date and time available
# See https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/time_date/
- platform: time_date
display_options:
- "time"
- "date"
- "date_time"
- "date_time_utc"
- "date_time_iso"
- "time_date"
- "time_utc"
and in config/templates/servertime.yaml:
# The sensor.date itself can be found here: ~/config/sensors/servertime
- sensor:
- unique_id: current_hour
name: current_hour
state: "{{ states('sensor.time').split(':')[0] }}"
- unique_id: current_minute
name: current_minute
state: " {{ states('sensor.time').split(':')[1] }}"
- unique_id: current_year
name: current_year
state: " {{ states('sensor.date').split('-')[0] }}"
- unique_id: current_month
name: current_month
state: " {{ states('sensor.date').split('-')[1] }}"
- unique_id: current_day
name: current_day
state: " {{ states('sensor.date').split('-')[2] }}"
I mix my automations in separate files and via UI (the ones in a separate file are not editable by the UI, but can be seen and en/disabled via the UI).
In config/automations/tell_time.yaml
- id: telltime
alias: telltime
description: Tells the current time
trigger:
- platform: conversation
command:
- what time is it
condition: []
action:
- set_conversation_response: >-
{% from 'fuzzy_time.jinja' import zeg_tijd, say_time %}
It is {{ say_time(states("sensor.current_hour")|int, states("sensor.current_minute")|int,1) }}
mode: single
In the UI it looks like this:
NOTE: The macro expects integers, while the sensors return strings! That’s why the integer filter (‘|int’) is needed
This uses a jinja template (aka macro) to say the time in ‘fuzzy’ format, but you can also use a more formal message:
action:
- set_conversation_response: >-
The current time is {{ states("sensor.current_hour") }} {{states("sensor.current_minute") }}
To get fuzzy time, I’ve built these templates.
In config/custom_templates/fuzzy_time.yaml:
{% macro zeg_tijd(hour,min,mode=0) %}
{% set am=" 's ochtends" %}
{% set pm=" 's middags" %}
{% set hour12 = hour % 12 %}
{% set hour12 = 12 if hour12 == 0 else hour12 %}
{% set nexthour = 1 + hour % 12 %}
{% set om = am if hour < 12 else pm %}
{% set om = "" if mode == 0 else om %}
{%- if hour > 23 or hour < 0 %} een ongeldig uur!
{% elif min > 59 or min < 0 %} een ongeldig aantal minuten!
{% elif min == 59 and hour == 23 %}1 minuut voor middernacht
{% elif min > 45 and hour == 23 %}{{ 60-min }} voor middernacht
{% elif min == 0 and hour == 0 %}precies middernacht
{% elif min == 1 and hour == 0 %}1 minuut na middernacht
{% elif min < 15 and hour == 0 %}{{min}} minuten na middernacht
{% elif min > 45 %}{{ 60 - min }} voor {{nexthour}}{{ om }}
{% elif min == 45 %} kwart voor {{ nexthour }}{{ om }}
{% elif min > 30 %} {{min - 30 }} over half {{ nexthour }}{{ om }}
{% elif min == 30 %} half {{ nexthour }}{{ om }}
{% elif min > 15 %} {{ 30 - min }} voor half {{ nexthour }}{{ om }}
{% elif min == 15 %} kwart over {{ hour12 }}{{ om }}
{% elif min > 0 %} {{ min }} over {{ hour12 }}{{ om }}
{% endif %}
{% endmacro %}
{% macro say_time(hour,min,mode=0) %}
{% set am=" A M" %}
{% set pm=" P M" %}
{% set hour12 = hour % 12 %}
{% set hour12 = 12 if hour12 == 0 else hour12 %}
{% set nexthour = 1 + hour % 12 %}
{% set om = am if hour < 12 else pm %}
{% set om = "" if mode == 0 else om %}
{%- if hour > 23 or hour < 0 %} invalidg hour!
{% elif min > 59 or min < 0 %} invalid minute!
{% elif min == 59 and hour == 23 %}1 minute before midnight
{% elif min > 45 and hour == 23 %}{{ 60-min }} minutes before midnight
{% elif min == 0 and hour == 0 %}midnight on the dot
{% elif min == 1 and hour == 0 %}1 minute after midnight
{% elif min < 15 and hour == 0 %}{{min}} minutes after midnight
{% elif min > 45 %}{{ 60 - min }} to {{nexthour}}{{ om }}
{% elif min == 45 %} a quarter to {{ nexthour }}{{ om }}
{% elif min > 30 %} {{min - 30 }} past {{ hour12 }} thirty {{ om }}
{% elif min == 30 %} half past {{ nexthour }}{{ om }}
{% elif min == 15 %} a quarter past {{ hour12 }}{{ om }}
{% elif min > 0 %} {{ min }} past {{ hour12 }}{{ om }}
{% endif %}
{% endmacro %}
Both the dutch and english versions are in this file. You can add or remove the AM/PM suffix by using the mode switch. This defaults to 0, which omits the AM/PM suffix.
I’m not a native English speaker, so there is room for improvement
Hope this helps!
Marcel
That is awesome, will give it a go, partly because I am learning Dutch! 
If you scroll the code in the last code block, you’ll see the English version…
I’ve updated the template/code so it accepts a time object. Only the English version this time (but the Dutch version is very similar):
{% macro say_time_ampm(t) %}
{%- set am=" A M" -%}
{%- set pm=" P M" -%}
{%- set om = am if t.hour < 12 else pm -%}
{{- say_time(t) -}} {{- om -}}
{% endmacro %}
{%- macro say_weekday(t) %}
{%- set weekdays = ['Monday','Tuesday','Wednesday','Thursday','Friday','Saturday','Sunday'] -%}
{{- weekdays[t.weekday()] -}}
{%- endmacro %}
{%- macro say_month(t) %}
{%- set months = ['January','February','March','April','May','June',
'July','August','September','October','November','December'] -%}
{{- months[t.month - 1] -}}
{%- endmacro %}
{% macro say_time(t) %}
{%- set hour12 = t.hour % 12 -%}
{%- set hour12 = 12 if hour12 == 0 else hour12 -%}
{%- set nexthour = 1 + t.hour % 12 -%}
{%- if t.minute == 59 and t.hour == 23 %}1 minute before midnight
{% elif t.minute > 45 and t.hour == 23 %}{{ 60 - t.minute }} minutes before midnight
{% elif t.minute == 0 and t.hour == 0 %}midnight on the dot
{% elif t.minute == 1 and t.hour == 0 %}1 minute after midnight
{% elif t.minute < 15 and t.hour == 0 %}{{ t.minute }} minutes after midnight
{% elif t.minute > 45 %}{{ 60 - t.minute }} to {{ nexthour -}}
{% elif t.minute == 45 %} a quarter to {{ nexthour -}}
{% elif t.minute > 30 %} {{ t.minute - 30 }} past {{ hour12 -}} 30
{% elif t.minute == 30 %} half past {{ nexthour -}}
{% elif t.minute == 15 %} a quarter past {{ hour12 -}}
{% elif t.minute > 0 %} {{ t. minute }} past {{ hour12 -}}
{% endif -%}
{% endmacro %}
And you call it like this:
action:
- set_conversation_response: >-
{%- from 'fuzzy_time.jinja' import say_time, say_time_ampm %}
It's {{ say_time_ampm(now()) }}
and a bonus:
action:
- set_conversation_response: >-
{%- from 'fuzzy_time.jinja' import say_month, say_weekday %}
Today it's {{ say_weekday(now()) }} {{ now().day }} {{ say_month(now()) }} {{ now().year}}
Enjoy!
Marcel