Quick help with odd easy template

Configuration
1

Im having trouble creating a very basic template sensor off a device tracker attribute. I have a bunch of these in my config but for some reason this guy will not cooperate. Can someone see what im doing wrong?

Ive tried putting ’ around different parts too but no luck…

- platform: template
  sensors:
    q60gas:
      value_template: '{{ states.device_tracker.2019_infiniti_q60.attributes.fuel_level }}'
      friendly_name: 'Q60 Gas'

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Invalid config for [sensor.template]: invalid template (TemplateSyntaxError: expected token 'end of print statement', got '_infiniti_q60') for dictionary value @ data['sensors']['q60gas']['value_template']. Got '{{ states.device_tracker.2019_infiniti_q60.attributes.fuel_level }}'. (See /config/sensor.yaml, line 358). Please check the docs at https://home-assistant.io/components/sensor.template/

2

Try:

- platform: template
  sensors:
    q60gas:
      value_template: "{{ state_attr('device_tracker.2019_infiniti_q60', 'fuel_level') }}"
      friendly_name: 'Q60 Gas'
1 Like
3

My Man! Thank you sir. That works!..for the future, is there any rules or best practices on when to use it one way vs the other?

4

It is strongly advised to use the states() , is_state() , state_attr() and is_state_attr() as much as possible, to avoid errors and error message when the entity isn’t ready yet (e.g., during Home Assistant startup).

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5

Ah I did not know that. Thanks again, lots of good info.

6

What @tom_l said, and…

The main problem with your original template was the device tracker’s object ID started with a number. In this case you can’t used states.x.y.z. You’d at least have to write it this way:

 value_template: '{{ states.device_tracker["2019_infiniti_q60"].attributes.fuel_level }}'

See this for more details.

But using the state_attr function is better because it handles errors better.

7

Intresting, Im glad I posted this. Thank you both, Ive been using home assistant almost 2 years and always struggled with these templates…i feel i have a lot better understanding now. I appreciate you guys taking the time to help!

1 Like