How to capture sensor output

Configuration
1

Hi all,

Is there a way to capture the output of a specific entity for debugging?

I’ve been using Node-Red for a while now and am used to using debug nodes to capture the output of binary sensors. I’m now experimenting with using HA Automations instead of Node-Red. I found the event listener, but when listening for ‘state_changed’ events I get a lot of noise from other devices in my home, that makes it harder to debug. Are there ways to filter the event listener, based on entity?

Thanks in advance!

2

I usually just watch the entity in either Developer Tools / States, or an entities card or a history graph card. Or if it is part of a device, the integration page for the device.

3

Thanks, I thought of using these too and I think for most usecases this would be sufficient. But for ‘action’-events of a clickable switch this is not as useful, because they are only in the state for a few milliseconds. I’m really looking for something in more of a log format.

4

Well there’s the logbook, and you can write custom messages to it in your automation for debugging.

There’s also a card:

https://www.home-assistant.io/dashboards/logbook/

5

I’ll give that a try, thanks Tom!