WLED Countdown Timer

[dmr]

This is a blueprint to do a countdown timer on WLED powered strips. It:

• makes a new segment (of whatever length you choose)
• displays a coloured bar on it that gradually grows over the given duration
• plays another animation for a while to signal the end of the time.

Note: it does require that the WLED devices have MQTT switched on, and the dev_name input needs the MQTT IDs (where the MQTT topic is mqtt//api)

File: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mo-seph/ha_blueprints/refs/heads/main/scripts/countdown_mqtt.yaml

[Stephenn]

Cool! I just did similar about 2 weeks ago but used Node Red. I only setup a 5 minute version for now but will add 10, 15, and 20 minute versions in near future. They help giving kids time limits or warning until bedtime.

[Sir_Goodenough ((SG) WhatAreWeFixing.Today)]

Hello dmr,

Thanks for contributing to the community with a new Blueprint.

I have a suggestion for you. Many people who are not familiar with directory structures will have problems installing this without the Home Assistant MY tools.

Adding a MY link for this Blueprint to your top post would help them a lot.

Here is the link to make that.
Create a link – My Home Assistant

[dmr]

Done! It’s up on github now, with a button link.

[heisenberg]

Hi @dmr,

I tried to set this up and it doesn´t work, but I´m pretty sure it´s because I´m doing something wrong, could you please check what I need to change in my setup:

[heisenberg]

I just found the issue, as I was using WLED-ID instead of only the ID in the field dev_name.

Now that it´s working I have another question. It would be really cool to be able to dinamically set the duration from an automation, for example to say “hey google, set a timer for 7 minutes”, is there any way to do this?

[dmr]

I haven’t looked into this, but scripts can expose variables that are called when they are run, so it should be possible.

[bniwnu]

oh this is awesome, thank you! I have some wled panels around my desktop this is very useful!

[danishru]

WLED Countdown Timer — Without MQTT, Using Live View Proxy

Hey everyone

Just dropping in to share an alternative way to run a countdown timer on WLED without needing MQTT or Node-RED.

I’ve been building a Home Assistant integration called WLED Live View Proxy, and it now supports sending full JSON commands to your WLED devices over WebSocket. Using this, I put together a flexible script that:

Reads the LED count dynamically from your WLED segment
Displays a smooth green progress bar across the strip
Last 10% of LEDs blink red at the end
Automatically resets after the timer ends
Works with any WLED setup and doesn’t require MQTT

No MQTT, no polling, just JSON over WS using wled_liveviewproxy.send_command

---

Full YAML Script

alias: WLED Progress with Final Blink and Reset
mode: restart
fields:
  duration:
    name: Timer duration (seconds)
    description: Total time in seconds
    required: true
    selector:
      number:
        min: 1
        max: 600
        unit_of_measurement: sec
  target_light:
    name: WLED Light
    description: Select your WLED light
    required: true
    selector:
      entity:
        domain: light
        integration: wled_liveviewproxy
variables:
  segment_id: 0
  palette: 0
  fx_id: 98
  color1: "00ff00"
  color2: "000000"
  brightness: 255
  flash_color: "ff0000"

sequence:
  - alias: "Request WLED state"
    action: wled_liveviewproxy.send_command
    data:
      targets:
        entity_id: "{{ target_light }}"
      command:
        v: true
    response_variable: wled_state

  - alias: "Prepare variables"
    variables:
      response_key: "{{ wled_state.responses.keys() | list | first }}"
      seg: "{{ wled_state.responses[response_key].state.seg[segment_id] }}"
      led_count: "{{ seg.stop - seg.start }}"
      step_count: "{{ duration | int }}"
      leds_per_step: "{{ 100 / step_count }}"
      last_led_index: "{{ seg.stop - 1 }}"
      flash_leds_count: "{{ (led_count * 0.1) | round(0, 'ceil') }}"
      flash_start_index: "{{ seg.stop - flash_leds_count }}"

  - alias: "Run countdown timer"
    repeat:
      count: "{{ step_count }}"
      sequence:
        - variables:
            current_ix: "{{ ((repeat.index) * leds_per_step) | round(0) }}"
        - alias: "Update progress"
          action: wled_liveviewproxy.send_command
          response_variable: response
          data:
            targets:
              entity_id: "{{ target_light }}"
            command:
              seg:
                - id: "{{ segment_id }}"
                  start: "{{ seg.start }}"
                  stop: "{{ seg.stop }}"
                  fx: "{{ fx_id }}"
                  ix: "{{ [current_ix, 100] | min }}"
                  col: ["{{ color1 }}", "{{ color2 }}"]
                  pal: "{{ palette }}"
                  bri: "{{ brightness }}"
        - delay:
            seconds: 1

  - alias: "Blink last 10% LEDs red"
    repeat:
      count: 4
      sequence:
        - alias: "ON — last 10% in red"
          action: wled_liveviewproxy.send_command
          response_variable: response
          data:
            targets:
              entity_id: "{{ target_light }}"
            command:
              seg:
                - id: "{{ segment_id }}"
                  i: >
                    [
                    {% for i in range(seg.start, flash_start_index) %}
                      {{ i }}, "{{ color1 }}",
                    {% endfor %}
                    {% for i in range(flash_start_index, seg.stop) %}
                      {{ i }}, "{{ flash_color }}",
                    {% endfor %}
                    ]
        - delay:
            milliseconds: 300
        - alias: "OFF — turn off red only"
          action: wled_liveviewproxy.send_command
          response_variable: response
          data:
            targets:
              entity_id: "{{ target_light }}"
            command:
              seg:
                - id: "{{ segment_id }}"
                  i: >
                    [
                    {% for i in range(seg.start, flash_start_index) %}
                      {{ i }}, "{{ color1 }}",
                    {% endfor %}
                    {% for i in range(flash_start_index, seg.stop) %}
                      {{ i }}, "000000",
                    {% endfor %}
                    ]
        - delay:
            milliseconds: 300

  - alias: "Reset effect"
    action: wled_liveviewproxy.send_command
    response_variable: response
    data:
      targets:
        entity_id: "{{ target_light }}"
      command:
        seg:
          - id: "{{ segment_id }}"
            frz: false

---

Learn More and Join the Discussion

WLED Live View Proxy for Home Assistant – Forum Thread

Let me know what you think — and if you build something cool with it, I’d love to see it!