REST API and unique id

Third party integrations
1

Home Assistant’s REST API documentation shows that you can create an entity and update the state of the entity with just one HTTP POST request to URL POST /api/states/<entity_id>. This works to mostly, but the entities created are lacking “unique id”, which prevents e.g. renaming them from the UI.

I suppose I would need to register the entity somehow, but the REST API documentation does not seem to contain any information on that topic. I would be happy if someone could point me to right direction. Basically, I’m looking a way to create an entity by using the REST API, so that it would be a fully fledged entity. Is that even possible with just REST API?

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2

Did you manage to figure this out at all please? I’m having the same issue. I can’t find out how to delete the “test” entities I made whilst poking around in the API :confused: thanks

3

Hello,
this thread is getting old, but I’m facing the same thing right now.
Can anyone help on that?

@asgrim, you can delete such entities via an http delete.

thanks
martin

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4

Also interested in doing this. I am able to create an entity via the REST API, but it doesn’t have a unique ID and is deleted upon a HA restart.

5

How are you creating it? As an example, here’s one of my sensors:

- platform: rest
  resource: https://api.carbonintensity.org.uk/regional/regionid/8
  name: "West Midlands carbon intensity"
  unit_of_measurement: 'g/kWh'
  value_template: '{{ value_json.data.0.data.0.intensity.forecast }}'
  scan_interval: 600

No unique ID, but HA queries the resource at startup and the sensor is “live” by the time the system has fully come up.

6

From the rest API directly: /api/states/<entity_id>. I’m trying to create a new entity in HA from another application via the REST API.

7

I see. Options are to use the HA restart to trigger this application to re-send the state; configure the entity manually in HA YAML and just update via the API; or “mirror” it via an automation into an input_number (or whatever helper type is appropriate) which will survive a reboot.

8

Hello,

Same question here. I read Troon’s solution, but … I don’t understand it.
And i Have the same problem with entities created from appDaemon.

Thx for your help

9

See:-

10

Thanks this also helped me!

We should see rest API as update only.

Just create your sensor via a template first, you can even do this via the UI now:
Settings → devices&services → helpers → template

The next api call will update that sensor:
/api/states/sensor.shared_energy