Failing to create a simple automation -with a template reference- :(

Configuration
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1

Hi,

I’m new at HA and I’m having an issue with a simple templated automation.

Any help would be much appreciated.

What I’m trying to achieve:
An http GET request gets sent to a server when a given light is turned off. Said request must contain a query parameter that only refers to that light and will be used by the server

What I have done:

1- In customize.yaml, I have associated a test lamp’s device_id with its specific query parameter:

# customize.yaml

# Test Lamp
light.wiz_rgbww_tunable_08aae2:
  lamp_id: 1234567

2-In configuration.yaml, I have defined a generic action to be used by any light as it’s turned off:

rest_command:
  flag_device_turned_off:
    url: "http://192.168.1.32:3008?action=set.value&lamp_id={{ lamp_id }}&value=0"
    method: get
    content_type: "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"
    payload: ""

3- In the HA GUI, I have defined the corresponding automation for the same test lamp:
Trigger: when Test Lamp turned off
Conditions: none
Actions: Call a service → rest_command.flag_device_turned_off

Result:

When I turn off the light, the logs do indicate the automation has run.

The server does receive a GET request, however its lamp_id parameter value is empty.

Replacing lamp_id=‘{{ lamp_id }}’ by lamp_id=1234567 in the action definition causes the server to receive the expected query.

Obviously I don’t have a correct view of how to make lamp_id a variable that is set at action time using the corresponding customize.yaml entry I set for the lamp’s device_id.

Could anyone help?

2

Post the actual automation configuration. In the automation editor click the 3-dot menu at the top right, select “Edit in YAML”, copy the whole config then paste it here with 3 back ticks ``` on the lines above and below what you pasted.

3 
alias: Flag Test Lamp turned off
description: ""
trigger:
  - platform: device
    type: turned_off
    device_id: 923afee7182321e77693a17cd0120cd3
    entity_id: b4c28853cff9f4e72f0451b09af9cd38
    domain: light
condition: []
action:
  - service: rest_command.flag_device_turned_off
    data: {}
mode: single
4 
    action: call-service
    service: rest_command.xxx
5

I doubt the syntax is the issue since the GET request does get sent. Plus this snippet is auto-generated from the GUI.

Somehow the expression {{ lamp_id }} is interpreted as if lamp_id were empty. If it wasn’t interpreted at all the braces would find their way to the query string.

6

It is empty, because you haven’t passed the value to it in your service call.

The lamp_id key and it’s value should be in the data block of the service call:

  - service: rest_command.flag_device_turned_off
    data:
      lamp_id: "{{ state_attr(trigger.entity_id, 'lamp_id') }}"

Where does the value for lamp_id come from? Do you need to enter it manually or do you have a mapping of light entities to lamp IDs somewhere?

EDIT: Re-read top post, added attribute mapping template.

1 Like
7

Gotcha. It just didn’t look right and I pulled one of mine up.

8

Yes, I realize I had assumed that my entry in customize.yaml amounted to adding a permanent “tag” to the Test Lamp description. It obviously didn’t.

Thanks++ for the lead. I need to understand the fine print of what your proposed change means, though. As such it causes the automation to stop with the following log entry: “Error rendering data template: Result is not a Dictionary”.

9

Did you actually turn the light off to trigger the automation?

10

I did, yes.

Triggered by the state of light.wiz_rgbww_tunable_08aae2 at January 1, 2024 at 7:36:39 PM

Call a service ‘rest_command.flag_device_turned_off’ on

Stopped because an error was encountered at January 1, 2024 at 7:36:39 PM (runtime: 0.00 seconds)

Error rendering data template: Result is not a Dictionary

Not all shown logbook entries might be related to this automa

11

Double check that lamp_id is showing up as an attribute of the light entity in the States tab of Developer Tools, like:

image
image878×170 21.1 KB

12

The lamp_id attribute is not in that list.

Does this mean the customize.yaml file is not intended for such a purpose?

13

Drew, I think you nailed it!

I cleaned up the automation action part (quotes, crs, tabs and what not) and I confirm that your suggestion works!!

Thanks++ for your help and my apologies for my poor yaml syntax!!

14

You either figured this out or did it accidentally, but for anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation…

It means your customize.yaml file hasn’t been properly loaded since you added the lamp_id configuration. Restarting Home Assistant should reload all your YAML files and add the lamp_id attribute to the entity.

15

You’re right, I did restart HA prior to the “final” test.

Thanks for pointing that out.