Yaml config help please

Configuration
1

I admit i’m not a programmer and only know the basics of yaml, so i’m hoping this will be a real easy one for someone to help me with.
i have an automation currently that works really well i have two philips pirs in a group one at one end of the kitchen and the other at the other end by the door entry, these currently activate a scene (for colours) and turn on some led strips in the kitchen, they only work after sunset and not after sunrise which as i say works perfectly. i want to be able for them to also turn on the scene and the led strips when the light level drops below a certain level. here is the current code:

alias: Kitchen Hue Motion Turn On Lights
description: Detect Motion Activate All Kitchen lights
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: group.kitchen
    to: 'on'
condition:
  - condition: not
    conditions:
      - condition: sun
        before: sunset
        after: sunrise
action:
  - scene: scene.kitchen_bright
  - scene: scene.kitchen_floor_kitchen_bottom
  - type: turn_on
    device_id: e575bacfe2627d940a27caabd2006011
    entity_id: light.calex_led_strip
    domain: light
mode: single
2

It’s not clear from your question if you want the automation to trigger if it gets dim, or if motion is detected and it is dim. If the latter, delete the numeric state trigger:

alias: Kitchen Hue Motion Turn On Lights
description: Detect Motion Activate All Kitchen lights
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: group.kitchen
    to: 'on'
  - platform: numeric_state
    entity_id: sensor.your_light_sensor_here
    below: 12 # change to the light level you want
condition:
  - condition: or # from sunset until sunrise or if dim
      - condition: state  
        entity_id: sun.sun
        state: "below_horizon"
      - condition: numeric_state
        entity_id: sensor.your_light_sensor_here
        below: 12 # change to the light level you want
action:
  - scene: scene.kitchen_bright
  - scene: scene.kitchen_floor_kitchen_bottom
  - type: turn_on
    device_id: e575bacfe2627d940a27caabd2006011
    entity_id: light.calex_led_strip
    domain: light
mode: single
3

thanks for that speedy reply Tom and apologies for not explaining my requirement, i want the automation to use the pir group to either:

  1. turn on the lights when the light level gets dimmer than a set level even during the day
  2. turn the lights on after sunset till sunrise

at the moment the lights dont come on during the day at all regardless how dark it might get in the kitchen, hopefully this will then allow them to come on during the day if needed.

4

Then all you need is this:

alias: Kitchen Hue Motion Turn On Lights
description: Detect Motion Activate All Kitchen lights
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: group.kitchen
    to: 'on'
condition:
  - condition: or # from sunset until sunrise or if dim
      - condition: state  
        entity_id: sun.sun
        state: "below_horizon"
      - condition: numeric_state
        entity_id: sensor.your_light_sensor_here
        below: 12 # change to the light level you want
action:
  - scene: scene.kitchen_bright
  - scene: scene.kitchen_floor_kitchen_bottom
  - type: turn_on
    device_id: e575bacfe2627d940a27caabd2006011
    entity_id: light.calex_led_strip
    domain: light
5

tried that and got this error trying to save the yaml:
Message malformed: required key not provided @ data[‘trigger’]

i pasted it into an online yaml checker and it said:
(): did not find expected key while parsing a block mapping at line 8 column 5

6

Hi,

You want to edit the code to be like this:

alias: Kitchen Hue Motion Turn On Lights
description: Detect Motion Activate All Kitchen lights
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: group.kitchen
    to: 'on'
condition:
  - condition: or # from sunset until sunrise or if dim
    conditions: 
      - condition: state  
        entity_id: sun.sun
        state: "below_horizon"
      - condition: numeric_state
        entity_id: sensor.your_light_sensor_here
        below: 12 # change to the light level you want
action:
  - scene: scene.kitchen_bright
  - scene: scene.kitchen_floor_kitchen_bottom
  - type: turn_on
    device_id: e575bacfe2627d940a27caabd2006011
    entity_id: light.calex_led_strip
    domain: light
7

Hi Toby, you the bomb! that worked first time, you little coding genius!! Thank a bunch for this, coding is not my thing at all, i can follow the code but cant understand its structure. Thanks again!