Node-RED, trigger sequence on HA Start

mikeg1130 · June 2, 2018, 9:23pm

Hi folks,

I was hoping to find this in the forums, but no luck so far. I am trying to trigger a sequence in Node-RED when HA starts. In yaml, I used to trigger based on the HA start event, but a few versions ago, that was deprecated (I think), and I moved to the ‘homeassistant’ platform for the trigger:

trigger:
    - platform: homeassistant
      event: start

Anyone know how to best replicate this in Node-RED? I’ve got all my other automations moved over to Node-RED (and I love it!), and these are the last ones hanging on.

Thanks!

Greg · June 2, 2018, 10:37pm

Keep that automation, but have it trigger an execution of a shell command:

ha_running: 'curl http://localhost:1880/hass/running'

(Ensure the /hass/running matches the below):

In Node Red use a http in node like this:

So basically, when HASS starts it immediately calls that node in Node Red, which can then flow into whatever actions you want. Mine is a Slack alert:

mikeg1130 · June 3, 2018, 3:08am

Thanks Greg! This looks like a pretty elegant solution. I’ll give it a shot this weekend.

JtotheDub77 · July 1, 2018, 4:08am

I’m trying to setup something just like this myself but I’ve never done anything with a shell command before. Read the docs and tried to create my own but it doesn’t work. What should my automation and/or shell command look like to create this?

AlexKalopsia · July 2, 2019, 5:46pm

Hi @Greg, could you please elaborate a bit on how to set up the execution of a shell command? I am a bit unsure where the ha_running line you posted is meant to go.

Greg · July 2, 2019, 9:46pm

Have a look at https://www.home-assistant.io/components/shell_command/ for how to define a shell command.

On there it gives an example:

# Example configuration.yaml entry
# Exposes service shell_command.restart_pow
shell_command:
  restart_pow: touch ~/.pow/restart.txt

So substitute that for what I wrote:

shell_command:
   ha_running: 'curl http://url:port/hass/running'

You can call it anything you like, ha_running was just what made sense to me at the time.

xx_Nexus_xx · July 3, 2019, 3:41am

Hi there,

I assume you are using the HA-websocket node. This node can handle all the HA events including Start-Up and Shutdown, as well other useful ones like “new-device” or “new-service”

Alternatively you can use “webhook” commands between NR and other systems like HA or motionEye.

There is no need for any shell or curl command.

AlexKalopsia · July 3, 2019, 8:19am

Thanks for the clarfification @Greg! The url http://url:port/hass/running is that something that is usually called during startup? Because it gives me a 404 (unless I am also supposed to change that url to something else)

@xx_Nexus_xx yes, I am using node-red-contrib-home-assistant-websocket which doesnt seem to have a HA-websocket node. Perhaps I can install an additional palette?

mbonani · July 16, 2019, 9:00pm

subzero79 · July 17, 2019, 4:32am

Try create a yaml automation that triggers on homeassistant.start event put the action to delay 10-20 seconds then send a custom event. That event should appear and can be easily filtered with the event node.

strangedesign13 · July 23, 2019, 4:49pm

@xx_Nexus_xx do you know what the actual event_type, topic & payload values are? I have tried sticking a debug node on the all events node, but on a HA restart, it autofreshes my NR (I have it running in Hass.io) so I can’t grab it.

thisIO · September 24, 2020, 11:01pm

Any new ideas?

SigP · September 25, 2020, 12:08pm

Similar to subzero’s solution above, I have a yaml automation that is triggered on HA start. After a 15 second delay, it turns on an input_boolean. An event state node triggers the flow when the boolean changes.

mbonani · September 26, 2020, 3:58pm

Another possible solution for those using node-red-contrib-home-assistant-websocket:

[{"id":"b66320a5.f8586","type":"server-events","z":"d0505e55.8a4b8","name":"","event_type":"home_assistant_client","exposeToHomeAssistant":false,"haConfig":[{"property":"name","value":""},{"property":"icon","value":""}],"waitForRunning":true,"x":160,"y":590,"wires":[["b46e7e0a.fef1f"]]},{"id":"b46e7e0a.fef1f","type":"switch","z":"d0505e55.8a4b8","name":"","property":"payload","propertyType":"msg","rules":[{"t":"eq","v":"running","vt":"str"}],"checkall":"true","repair":false,"outputs":1,"x":350,"y":590,"wires":[[]]}]

maxym · October 24, 2020, 9:12am

What is the real motivation of this task? Sometimes it’s not about HA restart but about NodeRed restart instead, for example in order to initialize flow variables. Then Timestamp node is sufficient enough:

[{"id":"9bc0038d.3d9d58","type":"inject","z":"4339335e.61187c","name":"","props":[{"p":"payload"},{"p":"topic","vt":"str"}],"repeat":"","crontab":"","once":true,"onceDelay":0.1,"topic":"","payload":"","payloadType":"date","x":110,"y":100,"wires":[["55dc8473.fd8404"]]}]

darathor · October 28, 2020, 5:51pm

Hello! thx for this one! I like it very much. The only issue is that every time I deploy flows, it triggers the entire thing (because NR reconnects to HA). Anyway around that?

maxym · October 28, 2020, 7:08pm

don’t deploy all flows but changed nodes only instead (see drop down part of deploy button)

mbonani · October 28, 2020, 7:59pm

What @maxym said

darathor · October 28, 2020, 8:17pm

Ok did not know thx!

quizzical · June 22, 2021, 11:41am

thank you, this worked for me and seems like a great solution as it does not require creating an automation in home assistant or messing with shell commands