How to look for boolean values in value_template (MQTT Automation)

Configuration
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1

I’m not very experienced with MQTT, so this could be a stupid question.

Anyway I have a body movement sensor and a simple light bulb which send their states through MQTT. I want it to check for no movement, and then turn off the light (and on when true).

This is how I currently have the automation set up:

- id: '123456789'
  alias: light bedroom2
  trigger:
  - platform: mqtt
    topic: zigbee2mqtt/movement_sensor_room_x
  condition:
    condition: template
    value_template: "{{ trigger.payload_json['occupancy'] == false }}"
  action:
  - data:
      payload: 'OFF'
      topic: zigbee2mqtt/light_bedroom_2/set
    service: mqtt.publish

It however does pretty much nothing.

This is the payload of the sensor:

{"occupancy":false,"linkquality":73,"battery":100,"voltage":3025}

And of the light:

{"state":"ON","linkquality":70,"brightness":254}

I’ve also tried something like this which also didn’t work:

automation:
  trigger:
    platform: mqtt
    topic: zigbee2mqtt/movement_sensor_room_x
    payload: '{"occupancy":false}'
  action:
    service: mqtt.publish
	- data:
	    payload: 'OFF'
	    topic: zigbee2mqtt/outlet_livingroom/set

I’m pretty sure the error is in this bit: value_template: “{{ trigger.payload_json[‘occupancy’] == false }}” but quite frankly I’m not sure how to fix it. Any ideas?

2

Maybe you need quotes around “false” or it won’t be a string but the special state “false” == 0

value_template: "{{ trigger.payload_json['occupancy'] == 'false' }}"
3

There’s nothing wrong with this:

    value_template: "{{ trigger.payload_json['occupancy'] == false }}"

or with this:

    value_template: "{{ trigger.payload_json.occupancy == false }}"

I tested both and they work (using the sample payload you provided).

- alias: 'boolean test'
  trigger:
  - platform: mqtt
    topic: test/sensor
  condition:
    condition: template
    value_template: "{{ trigger.payload_json['occupancy'] == false }}"
  action:
  - service: mqtt.publish
    data:
      payload: 'abc'
      topic: test/light

Go to Home Assistant’s States page and confirm the automation is on.

4

Thanks for the reponse. The automation was indeed off! Never would’ve thought to look there.

5

To prevent this happening in future, set:

initial_state: 'true'