I also use the switch entity. But I use it to actually open the gate.
But I would like to be able to know when the gate is open and for that I configured one of its outputs (called Gate Open Indicator) to do so. And I would like to connect that output to Shelly’s input SW which I have detached so that it is no longer correlated to the actual relay.
In order for this to work I need HA to be able to read Shelly SW input. According to @pickerin, the native Shelly integration should create one. But, for some strange reason, it is not creating one for my Shelly Plus 1.
Indeed I was. I changed it to switch in the Shelly interface and suddenly everything became available in HA. I now have a working sensor that tells me if the gate is open or closed.
How did you do that? I have the normal sonoff minir4 wifi and i cant use the button as a virtual switch. Just everything physical. Did you wire it special? Because tomorrow the r4 zigbees should arrive.
You have to click on the switch input and then enable it. It is disabled by default.
After that, it took about 30 seconds. Then the Shelly rebooted and I had the switch as an input in HA and could use it in an automation to trigger my smart bulb to turn on and off (without actually cutting power).
