Trigger automation actions based on "who" changed switch state

[123 (Taras)]

@PickOne

If I have two automations and both have this switch inside but each one have different other actions, I want to make another automation which can trigger something different based on who changed that switch which is in both automations…

Post the two automations.

[PickOne]

There are far more details than just two automations… to understand the actions in this case, I will try to explain you with more details…

This has everything to do with turning on / off my computer…

I can turn off/on my computer in three modes:

• PIN code with Alarmo (armed_away will turn ON my PC, disarm will turn it OFF)
• Webhook from my phone (turn on or off my computer)
• Start/Shutdown from my computer (normal shutdown or hardware buttons)

More than that, HA will know every move, if I shutdown my computer, if restart, hibernate, everything… So there are more things with this, but I will only give you the power on / off actions

Now, to have all these modes connected and synchronized, in order to have every used entity to the proper state, I need to make some automations, for Alarmo to know if the switch state came from him or from another automation… more than that, Alarmo should know if I cancelled the shutdown, in order to get its state back… and so on… (My computer it is not shutting down instantly if I click shutdown… I have 5 seconds after I clicked ShutDown, time to change my mind for this action and then I can cancel it or aprove the action as getting shutdown or not.

This automation is for Alarmo, in order to tell him that the action of shutdown, was cancelled (eventghost and custom scripts/apps are used as well)

alias: WebHook2Action - Computer Power PIN Cancel
description: ""
trigger:
  - platform: webhook
    webhook_id: >-
      computer_off_cancel_windows
condition: []
action:
  - if:
      - condition: state
        entity_id: alarm_control_panel.computer_power
        state: armed_away
    then:
      - service: variable.set_variable
        data:
          variable: computer_power_pin
          value: initial
    else:
      - service: variable.set_variable
        data:
          variable: computer_power_pin
          value: cancel
      - service: alarmo.arm
        data:
          entity_id: alarm_control_panel.computer_power
          code: "1234"
mode: single

So, if the variable have the value “cancel”, it will tell to Alarmo that I have cancelled the shutdown and it can get its state back, as armed_away (pc on)

This one is to make Alarmo knowing the state of my computer, even if it was powered on/off from other modes (like the hardware power button of my computer or phone)

alias: Data2Var - Computer Power PIN State
description: ""
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
      - variable.computer
    to: "on"
    from: "off"
    id: computer-status-on
    alias: If Computer Status changes from Off to On
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
      - variable.computer
    to: "off"
    from: "on"
    id: computer-status-off
    alias: If Computer Status changes from On to Off
condition: []
action:
  - choose:
      - conditions:
          - condition: trigger
            id: computer-status-on
            alias: Computer Status to ON
          - condition: state
            entity_id: alarm_control_panel.computer_power
            state: disarmed
        sequence:
          - service: variable.set_variable
            data:
              variable: computer_power_pin
              value: power_on
          - service: alarmo.arm
            data:
              entity_id: alarm_control_panel.computer_power
              code: "1234"
    default: []
  - choose:
      - conditions:
          - condition: trigger
            id: computer-status-off
            alias: Computer Status to OFF
          - condition: state
            entity_id: alarm_control_panel.computer_power
            state: armed_away
        sequence:
          - service: variable.set_variable
            data:
              variable: computer_power_pin
              value: power_off
          - service: alarmo.disarm
            data:
              entity_id: alarm_control_panel.computer_power
              code: "1234"
    default: []
mode: parallel
max: 2

And this one is the Alarmo automation, which does all the things, where Alarmo knows from where the command came and how its state should be, regarding the other details…

alias: Auto - Computer Power PIN
description: ""
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: alarm_control_panel.computer_power
    id: online
    to: armed_away
    alias: If Computer Power PIN changes to Online
  - platform: state
    entity_id: alarm_control_panel.computer_power
    id: offline
    to: disarmed
    alias: If Computer Power PIN changes to Offline
condition: []
action:
  - choose:
      - conditions:
          - condition: trigger
            id: online
        sequence:
          - choose:
              - conditions:
                  - condition: state
                    entity_id: variable.computer_power_pin
                    state: cancel
                sequence:
                  - service: alarmo.arm
                    data:
                      entity_id: alarm_control_panel.computer_power
                      code: "1234"
                  - service: variable.set_variable
                    data:
                      variable: computer_power_pin
                      value: initial
              - conditions:
                  - condition: state
                    entity_id: variable.computer_power_pin
                    state: power_on
                sequence:
                  - service: alarmo.arm
                    data:
                      entity_id: alarm_control_panel.computer_power
                      code: "1234"
                  - service: variable.set_variable
                    data:
                      variable: computer_power_pin
                      value: initial
              - conditions:
                  - condition: state
                    entity_id: variable.computer_power_pin
                    state: initial
                sequence:
                  - service: switch.turn_on
                    data: {}
                    target:
                      entity_id: switch.computer_1_power
      - conditions:
          - condition: trigger
            id: offline
        sequence:
          - choose:
              - conditions:
                  - condition: state
                    entity_id: variable.computer_power_pin
                    state: power_off
                sequence:
                  - service: alarmo.disarm
                    data:
                      entity_id: alarm_control_panel.computer_power
                      code: "1234"
                  - service: variable.set_variable
                    data:
                      variable: computer_power_pin
                      value: initial
              - conditions:
                  - condition: state
                    entity_id: variable.computer_power_pin
                    state: initial
                sequence:
                  - service: switch.turn_off
                    data: {}
                    target:
                      entity_id: switch.computer_1_power
mode: parallel
max: 2

This is just an example, but I find far more things to do if I can know which automation/script/switch has changed the state of another entity…

[123 (Taras)]

@PickOne

I need to make some automations, for Alarmo to know if the switch state came from him or from another automation

What exactly do you mean by “switch state”? Do you mean “state-change” like when a variable entity’s state value changes?

If I have understood the automations you posted, they use variable entities as a means of communicating information to one another.

if the variable have the value “cancel”, it will tell to Alarmo that I have cancelled the shutdown and it can get its state back, as armed_away (pc on)

Is the goal of your Feature Request to use another way, other than variable (a custom component), for one automation to know what another automation did?

[PickOne]

The goal is to use these automations in an easier way, not with custom variable addon.
If I could use a “choose” action in alarmo automation, telling to do something based on which automation changed the state of alarmo, I could avoid using this communication from one to another through variable component.

Look, if I could use these information in automations, it will achieve what I am trying to do…

[123 (Taras)]

@PickOne

The goal is to use these automations in an easier way, not with custom variable addon.

It’s currently possible to achieve the same thing using a Helper or a Template Sensor; the use of a custom variable add-on isn’t required.

Or you could consolidate the automations to eliminate the need for inter-automation messaging.

@PickOne

telling to do something based on which automation changed the state of alarmo, I could avoid using this communication from one to another through variable component.

As already mentioned, you can experiment with context to determine the source of the automation’s trigger. The table in the following post might be helpful:

Request for Generic Thermostat "heater" switch to act as a thermostat physical switch

Here’s how the context object usually behaves depending on who or what was the trigger’s source. Action id parent_id user_id Physical Not Null Null Null Automation Not Null Not Null Null UI Not Null Null Not Null If your tests show that the behavior fails to match any of the combinations in the table, or corresponds to an unexpected combination, then it’s potentially an anomaly and something that might need to be reported. EDIT Corrected typo.