Error accessing entity information in automation

Configuration
1

I have a very simple automation that I have created based on the following Home Assistant guide page:
Insert entity friendly name into notification

Here is the automation source:

alias: Garage low temp warning
description: ""
trigger:
  - platform: numeric_state
    entity_id:
      - sensor.hue_outdoor_motion_sensor_1_temperature
      - sensor.hue_outdoor_motion_sensor_2_temperature
    below: 15
condition: []
action:
  - service: notify.mobile_app_mark_cell_by_ip
    data:
      message: Low temperature detected on "{{ state_attr(trigger.event.data.entity_id, 'friendly_name') }}"!
mode: single

When I run the automation, I get the following error in the trace output:

Executed: May 6, 2024 at 9:26:27 PM

Error: Error rendering data template: UndefinedError: 'dict object' has no attribute 'event'

If I remove the entity reference from the message, the automation runs fine and the static text message is reported.

This seems like an incredibly simple example, I am not sure why it does not work for me.

2

Did you see the solution in the post you shared?

message: "{{ state_attr(trigger.entity_id, 'friendly_name') }}"

3

Or even simpler:

    data:
      message: Low temperature detected on {{ trigger.to_state.name }} !

This will return the friendly name if one exists, otherwise it falls back to the entity_id.

1 Like
4

Thanks, I get a similar error with this approach:

Executed: May 7, 2024 at 1:33:29 PM
Error: Error rendering data template: UndefinedError: 'dict object' has no attribute 'to_state'
6

Thanks, but this also results in an error:

Executed: May 7, 2024 at 1:37:50 PM
Error: Error rendering data template: UndefinedError: 'dict object' has no attribute 'entity_id'
7

Manually running the automation skips the triggers and conditions and just performs the actions. Hence no trigger variables.

You need to change one of the sensor values in Developer Tools → States to simulate a trigger. It is only a temporary change and will be overwritten next time the sensor updates.

8

Arghh! That was exactly the problem, thank you very much! I had assumed that running it manually would pick up the current entity state (and variables).