Removing/readding z-wave device does not update entity_registry.yaml properly

Configuration
1

I had a dead zwave device that I needed to remove and readd so I went into Z-Wave Node Management and selected the dead node and selected “remove failed node”. I now factory reset the zwave switch and readded the switch with “add secure node” and renamed the added node to the old name -> OK!. Restarted HA and the switch came up as entity_id “switch”, not what I named it! Looking in entity_registry.yaml the old device I remove is still in there and the readded switch has now the name “switch”. So it seems that removing a zwave device actually does not update entity_registry.yaml. To fix this I had to manually remove the old lines for the removed switch and edit each line on the readded switch and then restart HA. Is this really how it is going to work from now on? This worked without an issue before the use of entity_registry.yaml. Is there a better method to do this without actually having to manually edit entity_registry.yaml?

2

The devs are working on a GUI to manage it. Until then I’m afraid that manually editing the experimental registry is how it works.

3

So entity_registry.yaml is experimental, but it seems to affect basic operations of Home Assistant. Did I just miss the announcement of that breaking change?

And the docs https://home-assistant.io/docs/configuration/entity-registry/ are not really complete IMHO.
E.g. it says: “As a user, you can change the entity_id and add the name and disabled_by value to each entry.”

But the example does not contain entity_id - only unique_id

climate.downstairs_virtual:
  platform: nest
  unique_id: EPoMyWkpNyoYu3pGlmGxabcdefghijkl
  name: Downstairs thermostat
light.study_ceiling:
  platform: hue
  unique_id: f0:fe:6b:00:14:00:00:00-00
  disabled_by: user

Is entity_id the same as unique_id? Or refers entity_id to climate.downstairs_virtual or light.study_ceiling?

So what does the introduction of entity_registry change? Is there a complete list available? What has do be done and when?

Thanks!

Edit: adding https://github.com/home-assistant/home-assistant/issues/12430 as a reference.

1 Like
4

The entity_id is as you thought, climate.downstairs_virtual and light.study_ceiling in your example.

And no, it wasn’t announced as a breaking change because the developers didn’t view it as one :frowning_face: As you’ll see from my comments on the issue, I rather strongly disagree with the developer’s position.

As for documentation on what the entity registry changes, not yet. We only got the basic documentation that’s there nearly two weeks after the entity registry itself dropped, and from chatter on Discord it’s clearly changing rapidly. For example, I’d expect a GUI to manage changing the entity ID to turn up soon since the devs are already working on it (0.65 maybe).

Unfortunately the developers rarely use the forums, so feedback here isn’t necessarily going to be noticed. Raising your (Z-Wave renaming related) concerns in that issue, or on Discord, is more likely to be noticed.

5

I went through an exercise of adding and renaming a bunch of Z-Wave devices recently. I decided the simplest solution was shutting down HA, removing entity_registry.yaml, and restarting - it gets rebuilt with the correct Z-Wave names throughout.

6

I tried to change the entity_id , but after a restart the changes are all forgotten

7

I’m also having some problems. I’ve added entity_id for items that aren’t named very well but that ID doesn’t make it back into the States. I’m also seeing some dupes with a _2 that show in the States but don’t show in entity_registry.yaml and I don’t know how they got there or how to get rid of them.