Hue light configuration for UI?

JaFO · April 25, 2018, 1:05pm

Hi,

I’ve recently installed Home Assistant using docker on my Synology NAS.
The system managed to automagically configure my Hue bridge during setup.
However the web UI only allows me to configure brightness and toggle the lights.
There is no colour/scene selection by default.

Questions :

what do I need to do to have more than ‘on/off’ and brightness controls for lights in the web UI ?
Is this where the HabDashboard is needed as the actual UI for humans ? (I did manage to install that on my NAS using docker)
is this something I can even expect HA to do ?

The cookbook ( https://www.home-assistant.io/cookbook ) lists complete configurations, but having to go read them all just to find one that might have a similar feature is not exactly easy if you’re only looking for a basic step-by-step tutorial for a specific feature.

I think that once I grok this I can probably do the same for my Sonos setup.

sjee · April 25, 2018, 1:32pm

The color selection becomes available when the light is switched on.

JaFO · April 25, 2018, 2:23pm

I hadn’t noticed the colour selection in the secondary dialog, because I hadn’t even thought about clicking on that option as it were.

Any idea if there is a way that allows me to set both at the same time ?

Ideally I’d want to mimmick the Hue widgets that are available in the Hue app itself.
Example :

switch all lights to ‘night light’
switch light to ‘relax’ with a single press of a button

I suppose this is where scripting might be needed, but it also feels like it is something someone must have done before.
A tutorial on making this sort of stuff would be useful.

sjee · April 25, 2018, 2:32pm

There are endless possibilites so you’re probably not going to find a step by step tutorial for your specific needs. Take a look at the docs, cookbook and search the forum. Start playing with automations. This should get you started;

silvrr · April 25, 2018, 2:51pm

I do something like you are asking with an input select and an automation or two. Its a bit cumbersome for something so basic, but it works for me.

The input select has a number of standard colors available.
https://github.com/SilvrrGIT/HomeAssistant/blob/master/input_select.yaml#L4

Then an automation monitors that input select for any change and fires. Using the new state the light is turned on and the color changed.

github.com

SilvrrGIT/HomeAssistant/blob/master/automation/notification_bulb.yaml#L1


#########################################################

#                                                       #

# NOTIFICATION BULB COLOR BASED ON INPUT SELECT - COLOR #

#                                                       #

#########################################################



  - alias: Set Notification Bulb2 Color

    initial_state: true

    trigger:

      platform: state

      entity_id: input_select.notification_bulb2_color

For a ‘non standard color’ I used a script. (this matches the color temperature of the other bulbs in the room)

github.com

SilvrrGIT/HomeAssistant/blob/master/scripts.yaml#L74


        entity_id: switch.receivervoldwn

####################################################
#                                                  #
#                 NORMAL LIGHT                     #
#                                                  #
####################################################

  normallight:
    sequence:
      - service: light.turn_on
        entity_id: light.notification_light
        data:
          brightness: 254
          color_temp: 336.02150537634407

####################################################
#                                                  #
#                RETURN TO NORMAL LIGHT            #
#                                                  #
####################################################

github.com

SilvrrGIT/HomeAssistant/blob/master/automation/notification_bulb.yaml#L21


      entity_id: input_select.notification_bulb2_color

    condition:

      condition: template

      value_template: "{{ states('input_select.notification_bulb2_color') != 'Normal' }}"

    action:

      service: light.turn_on

      data_template:

        entity_id: light.yeelightrgb2

        color_name: '{{ states.input_select.notification_bulb2_color.state }}'

        brightness: 254



#########################################################

#                                                       #

# NOTIFICATION BULB COLOR BASED ON INPUT SELECT-NORMAL  #

#                                                       #

#########################################################



  - alias: Set Notification Bulb2 Normal

    initial_state: true

    trigger:

      platform: state

Note that the two automations have conditions to only fire if an applicable color is selected.

JaFO · April 25, 2018, 3:23pm

@silvrr thanks
That looks like something I could use for my system.
I’ll have to dig into the ‘include file/directory’ syntax as well I think.

silvrr · April 25, 2018, 3:32pm

It can all be put into one file, however, as your config gets larger it is easier (at least for me) to split them up. Otherwise you have a lot of scrolling to do moving around the single file.

Robban · April 25, 2018, 6:25pm

Look into hass scenes

silvrr · April 25, 2018, 6:33pm

Any benefit to scenes vs. scripts? I meant to look into it awhile back but never really got around to it.

Robban · April 25, 2018, 6:45pm

A bit different use cases between them

Scene
You can create scenes that capture the states you want certain entities to be. For example, a scene can specify that light A should be turned on and light B should be bright red.

Script
The script component allows users to specify a sequence of actions to be executed by Home Assistant when turned on.

silvrr · April 25, 2018, 6:48pm

Thanks, so the the differences seem to be down to the entry method in the yaml file and the ability to control the sequence of events?

Robban · April 25, 2018, 6:50pm

Scripts can have delays in them so they are useful when interacting with other services where anything but a saved state is wanted

JaFO · April 25, 2018, 7:10pm

@Robban and I suspect that if I wanted a transition (like a ‘sunrise’/‘sunset’ simulation) then I’d have to script it, right ?
Are there sunset/sunrise simulation scripts ?
I know those things are build-into the Hue system.

@silvrr : I know everything can be in a big ol’ file, but that’s very messy and difficult to maintain.
I’m already glad that the default configuration has groups as a separate file.

silvrr · April 25, 2018, 7:19pm

I forgot the default now has a few includes, it was just one big ol file when I started. Not sure if the include option was available in the beginning.

If you are talking about changing the temp of your bulbs based on the time of days when you reference “sunset/sunrise simulation scripts” check out

Robban · April 25, 2018, 7:22pm

JaFO · April 25, 2018, 8:22pm

Thanks @Robban and @silvrr
It’s nice to know that there are already working solutions to that part of my quest.

I’ve got plenty of info and a much better idea of how HA works and what it can do.
I consider this the ‘hello world’/demo project of home automation.
By keeping things simple it becomes easier to understand how and why stuff works.

Robban · April 25, 2018, 8:50pm

Yes, the best thing is to just play around