# Home Assistant

[← Back to the README](../README.md)

The ESP32 connects to Home Assistant in two ways:

- **MQTT** (with discovery): the display's own switches, dropdowns, sensors and buttons.
  Broker, user and password are in the web UI, Home Assistant tab (an empty broker uses
  `secrets.h`). Changing them restarts the ESP32.
- **REST API**: values of any entity for the dynamic pages and the trigger rules. Set the
  URL (empty: `http://<broker>:8123`, plain http only, use the IP address) and a
  long-lived access token (Home Assistant, your profile, Security tab) in the same tab.

## Entities

- `FlipDot Display Power` switch: off clears the display and cuts power through the relay.
- `FlipDot Display Mode` dropdown: what is shown during the day, a dynamic page ("Clock"
  first) or one of the bitmaps (the same choice as in the web UI).
- `FlipDot Display Off image` dropdown: what is left on the dots when the display
  switches off (at night or with the Power switch): blank or one of the bitmaps.
- `FlipDot Display IP` sensor: the ESP32's IP address.
- `FlipDot Display Stopwatch` switch and `FlipDot Display Stopwatch reset` button: the
  stopwatch of the dynamic pages.
- `FlipDot Display Shown page` sensor: what the display shows now (schedule, rule or
  chosen page). `FlipDot Display Back to schedule` button: ends a page chosen by hand.
- `FlipDot Display Firmware` sensor: version and health, e.g. `2.7.2, ok, 0 crashes, recovery ok`.
- `FlipDot Display Recovery` button: restarts into the [recovery app](recovery.md) for 10
  minutes.

The unique ids of these entities never change, so automations and dashboards keep working
after firmware updates.

## Values on dynamic pages

A Home Assistant value element on a [page](pages.md) shows an entity's state or one of
its attributes, as a number (multiplier, decimals, auto unit, without minus sign), a
duration, a time from a timestamp, or with own texts per state (see the
[web UI](web-ui.md#pages)).

**Home Assistant values** on the shown page are read every minute, one entity at a time,
by a task of their own (on the ESP32's other core), so a slow or unreachable Home
Assistant never holds up the display or the web UI. An unknown or unreachable value shows
`--`. The display only changes
when the shown text changes, so round values with the decimals setting.

## Rules

The [schedule](web-ui.md#schedule) can bring a page to the front from a Home Assistant
state, e.g. the 3D printer page while `sensor.mainsailos_current_print_state` is
`printing`. Each rule is read at its own interval; when Home Assistant can't be reached it
is read once a minute at most, so the display keeps running.

## Weather forecast

Weather entities have no forecast attribute anymore (since Home Assistant 2024.3); the
forecast comes from the `weather.get_forecasts` action. The **Verwachting** page reads it
from a template sensor that keeps the next days as an attribute. Add to
`configuration.yaml` (and restart Home Assistant, or reload the template entities):

```yaml
template:
  - trigger:
      - trigger: time_pattern
        minutes: /30
      - trigger: homeassistant
        event: start
    action:
      - action: weather.get_forecasts
        data: { type: daily }
        target: { entity_id: weather.knmi_home }
        response_variable: f
    sensor:
      - name: Weer verwachting
        unique_id: weer_verwachting
        state: "{{ f['weather.knmi_home'].forecast[0].condition }}"
        attributes:
          forecast: "{{ f['weather.knmi_home'].forecast[:4] }}"
```

The page then reads `sensor.weer_verwachting` with attribute paths: `forecast.0` is today,
`forecast.1` tomorrow, `forecast.2` the day after, e.g. `forecast.1.condition` (chooses the icon `weer7 <condition>`,
7 x 7 dots), `forecast.1.temperature` (max) and `forecast.1.templow` (min). The weekdays
are Date elements with a day offset. Use another weather entity by replacing
`weather.knmi_home` in the YAML (and on the page, for today's icon and temperature).

## Plex and Tautulli

The **Plex** page (in [examples/home-pages.json](../examples/home-pages.json)) uses Home
Assistant's Plex and Tautulli integrations, no extra firmware:

- `sensor.plex_server` (Plex, named after your server): how many are watching.
- `sensor.{plex_user}_state` (Tautulli, per user): `playing`, `paused`, ... chooses the icon
  (icons `plex playing`, `plex paused`, `plex buffering`).
- `sensor.{plex_user}_full_title` and `sensor.{plex_user}_progress` (Tautulli, per user):
  the title and the progress bar. Home Assistant creates these disabled: enable them on
  the Tautulli user's device in Home Assistant.

`{plex_user}` is the Plex user set in the web UI (Home Assistant tab), written the way Home
Assistant puts it in entity ids (`MangaValk` -> `mangavalk`). A rule (Schedule tab) adds
the page to the rotation while `sensor.plex_server` is above 0.