HA not logging automations?

[carlbeech]

Hi
Got HA running on a Raspberry Pi 4 - and I’m trying to work out why my (simple) automations aren’t firing?
E.g. I’ve got a zigbee temp sensor - I can see that temperature is changing - and although I’ve got an automation with the trigger of temp sensor - change temperature, I don’t see runs in the traces of the automation, and I don’t see things being logged in the system log.

I would have thought that there’s a log that I can examine where it lists all the events that are firing in the system - if so, can someone let me know where that is - there appears to be very little in the home-assistant.log?

I’m thinking that if I can do a tail -f on the log, at least I can see that things like the temperature change is being noticed…

Unless there’s a verbosity configuration?

Many thanks
Carl.

[parautenbach (Pieter Rautenbach)]

@carlbeech

Got HA running on a Raspberry Pi 4 - and I’m trying to work out why my (simple) automations aren’t firing?

Post your automation.

[Stiltjack]

@carlbeech

E.g. I’ve got a zigbee temp sensor - I can see that temperature is changing - and although I’ve got an automation with the trigger of temp sensor - change temperature

Automations #1: trigger only fires when it changes from not true to true

In an automation written to run when the heating drops below 20C, the trigger will fire when the temperature changes from 20 to 19. trigger: - platform: numeric_state entity_id: - climate.study for: hours: 0 minutes: 10 seconds: 0 below: 20 It will not fire again until the temperature rises above 20C and drops for a second time. A trigger is an event… Not a state, but a change of state. You can have more than one trigger: trigger: - platform: numeric_…

[Troon]

@parautenbach

Post your automation.

…as properly-formatted YAML (see here).

And the state / attributes of your temperature sensor, like this:

[carlbeech]

Hi

Here’s the YAML:

alias: CarlStudy turn on heater if too cold
description: ""
trigger:
  - type: temperature
    platform: device
    device_id: 374c1fd78d9d509e534914dc7b6bd245
    entity_id: 88ed44712361b29044c54198ff7606c1
    domain: sensor
    below: 18
condition: []
action:
  - type: turn_on
    device_id: 3c4daf90a1c03dc86fa7f639ca9d7059
    entity_id: 3222e3fdf8f5ceef61fb24d22eacbfa9
    domain: switch
mode: single

However, I think Stiltjack’s comment appears to be the answer - I was thinking that I should see a trace for each time the temperature changes - not when the temperature changes from 19 down to 18… saying that, what happens when say a reading is missed and it drops from 19.1 down to 17…? will the trigger still catch it? As the trigger is ‘below’ 18, then I guess so?
Thanks
Carl.

[parautenbach (Pieter Rautenbach)]

@carlbeech

saying that, what happens when say a reading is missed and it drops from 19.1 down to 17…? will the trigger still catch it? As the trigger is ‘below’ 18, then I guess so?

When the threshold is crossed, yes. It will not trigger again until above and going below again, in your case.

@carlbeech

I was thinking that I should see a trace for each time the temperature changes

Only if it was triggered there will be a trace. If you use a state trigger with a numeric state condition (the same outcome, but perhaps less efficient), you’ll see a trace with every change that stops at the condition (if above, of course).

@carlbeech

Here’s the YAML:

You should steer away from using devices. Just use a numeric state trigger.

Why and how to avoid device_ids in automations and scripts

Background When you start writing automations, a device trigger seems the obvious choice. Everybody knows what a device is and it comes at the top of the UI dropdown list. [image] It works… but it is certainly not a “great way to start” because it is storing up problems for the future. Far better to use entity, with state or numeric_state. Device_id problems The yaml will be longer and harder to follow, which may make maintenance difficult, especially a few months down the line when you h…

[carlbeech]

Hi
Many thanks for the information - interesting reading - I’ll see if I can swap things over…

Much appreciated!
Carl.