Getting entity_id from input

Configuration Blueprints
1

I have a working automation and trying to make it a blueprint.
Automation:

trigger:
    - type: power
      platform: device
      device_id: 9fc867b39427cefcbc3dda4b33ae8549
      entity_id: ea80e231c8789f6ff011d33292ccc5bc
      domain: sensor
      above: 2
      id: tool-starts-being-used
      alias: Tool starts being used

in blueprint I did

blueprint:
  domain: automation
  input:
    power_outlet:
      name: Power outlet
      selector:
        entity:
          filter:
            - domain: switch
            - device_class: outlet
trigger:
    - type: power
      platform: device
      device_id: !input power_outlet
      entity_id: ????????????????????
      domain: sensor
      above: 2
      id: tool-starts-being-used
      alias: Tool starts being used

but I canā€™t understand how to get entity_id
I see state I need is sensor.node_4_electric_consumption_w and as far as I understand sensor.node_4 is my device_id but I struggle to understand how do I get electric_consumption_w from input

2

The entity selector you are using is going to return an entity id, but you need to configure it to get sensor entities, not switch entities.

No. A device_id is always a random-looking alphanumeric string like a25920adf0279ae1755cdac06b522a79 .

I donā€™t work with blueprints much, but I would be very surprised if Device triggers are allowed at allā€¦ you should probably be using a Numeric state trigger.

blueprint:
  domain: automation
  input:
    power_outlet:
      name: Power outlet
      selector:
        entity:
          filter:
            - domain: sensor
              device_class: power

trigger:
  - platform: numeric_state
    entity_id: !input power_outlet
    above: 2
    id: tool-starts-being-used 
    alias: Tool starts being used
1 Like
3

You can do a device trigger, but there is NO advantage that I know of to torture yourself that way.
Device triggers that populate themselves (basically) in the UI editor use the device triggers because, I donā€™t know, it probably is closer to the machine type code that is in the back end maybe. The entity triggers are easier to understand and troubleshoot unless you are a machine, IMHO.

Turn on the ā€˜ea80e231c8789f6ff011d33292ccc5bcā€™ connected thru the ā€™
9fc867b39427cefcbc3dda4b33ae8549ā€™
OR
Turn on the ā€˜!input power_outletā€™.

What makes more sense to you and gives you SOME ability to troubleshoot it, assuming you are not a machine?

4

Thanks for the answers - I think Iā€™m starting to understand the hierarchy. Device is a physical hardware. Entity is ā€œinterfaceā€ it is implementing like ā€œsensorā€ or ā€œpowerā€. State gets data from entities.
Reading through the docs over and over.

5

Ok, Iā€™m much smarter now. Avoiding device triggers and device actions :wink:
Something I still struggling with is getting entity from device. Iā€™m trying to let user select single device so I could perform different actions on it - read sensor, turn it on and off etc.
I have my physical switch.

  input:
    switch_tool:
      name: Tool switch
      description: Tool that turns the tool ON&OFF
      selector:
        target:
          entity:
            domain: switch

Now I try to create a trigger when wattage on device is higher than a threshold.
I know that device has power sensor that is represented by separate entity but I donā€™t understand how do I retrieve that entity from device? I can workaround this by making user select power entity for this device as a separate input but it will be nice to let them select single device that I would deal in automation.

  - alias: Tool starts being used
    id: tool-starts-being-used
    platform: numeric_state
    entity_id: !input switch_tool # ??? I need to get power sensor entity here
    attribute: electric_consumption_w
    above: 1
6

Templating - Home Assistant.

If one of the suggestions listed solves your problem, please consider clicking the solution button to close the thread.

7

Ok, got it - I thought Iā€™m missing something obvious.
I think I will just use multiple inputs for different entities. Thanks a lot for patiently answering at noob questions!