I need a way to skip automations when lights are triggered manually. The easiest way for me to do that is to check brightness. However the brightness attribute disappears when the light is off.
It would make my automations easier if the brightness attribute stayed when the light is off and used either a 0 or null value.
Yes, the coupling (read disappearance of attributes) does not make sense. I have tried some hacks to make a sensor for the light as well, if you can configure independence at the light. When it works, it is a marginal solution. That said, we should not have to do ‘work arounds’.