ha-mqtt-discoverable

A python 3 module that takes advantage of Home Assistant's MQTT discovery protocol to create sensors without having to define anything on the HA side.

Using MQTT discoverable devices lets us add new sensors and devices to HA without having to restart HA. This module includes scripts to make it easy to create discoverable devices from the command line if you don't want to bother writing python.

Table of Contents

• ha-mqtt-discoverable
  • Installing
    • Python
    • Docker
  • Supported entities
    • Binary sensor
      • Usage
  • Device
    • Usage
  • Contributing
  • Scripts Provided
    • hmd
    • hmd create binary sensor
    • hmd create device
  • Contributors

Installing

Python

ha-mqtt-discoverable runs on Python 3.10 or later.

pip install ha-mqtt-discoverable if you want to use it in your own python scripts. This will also install the hmd utility scripts.

Docker

If you only need to use the command line tools, the simplest way is to use them with docker or nerdctl. It won't interfere with your system python and potentially cause you issues there. You can use the unixorn/ha-mqtt-discoverable image on dockerhub directly, but if you add $reporoot/bin to your $PATH, the hmd script in there will automatically run the command line tools inside a docker container with docker or nerdctl, depending on what it finds in your $PATH.

Supported entities

The following Home Assistant entities are currently implemented:

• Sensor
• Binary sensor

Binary sensor

Usage

The following example creates a binary sensor and sets its state:

from ha_mqtt_discoverable import Settings
from ha_mqtt_discoverable.sensors import BinarySensor, BinarySensorInfo


# Configure the required parameters for the MQTT broker
mqtt_settings = Settings.MQTT(host="localhost")

# Information about the sensor
sensor_info = BinarySensorInfo(name="MySensor", device_class="motion")

settings = Settings(mqtt=mqtt_settings, entity=sensor_info)

# Instantiate the sensor
mysensor = BinarySensor(settings)

# Change the state of the sensor, publishing an MQTT message that gets picked up by HA
mysensor.on()
mysensor.off()

Device

From the Home Assistant documentation:

A device is a special entity in Home Assistant that is represented by one or more entities. A device is automatically created when an entity defines its device property. A device will be matched up with an existing device via supplied identifiers or connections, like serial numbers or MAC addresses.

Usage

The following example create a device, by associating multiple sensors to the same DeviceInfo instance.

from ha_mqtt_discoverable import Settings, DeviceInfo
from ha_mqtt_discoverable.sensors import BinarySensor, BinarySensorInfo

# Configure the required parameters for the MQTT broker
mqtt_settings = Settings.MQTT(host="localhost")

# Define the device. At least one of `identifiers` or `connections` must be supplied
device_info = DeviceInfo(name="My device", identifiers="device_id")

# Associate the sensor with the device via the `device` parameter
# `unique_id` must also be set, otherwise Home Assistant will not display the device in the UI
motion_sensor_info = BinarySensorInfo(name="My motion sensor", device_class="motion", unique_id="my_motion_sensor", device=device_info)

motion_settings = Settings(mqtt=mqtt_settings, entity=sensor_info)

# Instantiate the sensor
motion_sensor = BinarySensor(motion_settings)

# Change the state of the sensor, publishing an MQTT message that gets picked up by HA
motion_sensor.on()

# An additional sensor can be added to the same device, by re-using the DeviceInfo instance previously defined
door_sensor_info = BinarySensorInfo(name="My door sensor", device_class="door", unique_id="my_door_sensor", device=device_info)
door_settings = Settings(mqtt=mqtt_settings, entity=door_sensor_info)

# Instantiate the sensor
door_sensor = BinarySensor(settings)

# Change the state of the sensor, publishing an MQTT message that gets picked up by HA
door_sensor.on()

# The two sensors should be visible inside Home Assistant under the device `My device`

Contributing

Please run black on your code before submitting. There are git hooks already configured to run black and other checks before every commit, please run pre-commit install to enable them.

Scripts Provided

The ha_mqtt_discoverable module also installs the following helper scripts you can use in your own shell scripts.

hmd

Uses the gitlike-commands module to find and execute hmd subcommands. Allows you to run hmd create binary sensor and hmd will find and run hmd-create-binary-sensor and pass it all the command line options.

hmd create binary sensor

Create/Update a binary sensor and set its state.

Usage: hmd create binary sensor --device-name mfsmaster --device-id 8675309 --mqtt-user HASS_MQTT_USER --mqtt-password HASS_MQTT_PASSWORD --client-name inquisition --mqtt-server mqtt.unixorn.net --metric-name tamper --device-class motion --state off

hmd create device

Create/Update a device and set the state of multiple metrics on it.

Usage: hmd create device --device-name coyote --device-id 8675309 --mqtt-user HASS_MQTT_USER --mqtt-password HASS_MQTT_PASSWORD --mqtt-server mqtt.example.com --model 'Rocket Skates' --manufacturer 'Acme Products' --metric-data '{"name":"Left Rocket Skate","value":93}' --metric-data '{"name":"Right Rocket Skate","value":155}' --unique-id 'hmd-26536'

Contributors

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