Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
You've probably experienced this: you've carefully set up your Home Assistant installation, connected all the devices and suddenly a problem occurs - the connection to a device drops out when you try to switch it on or off. Maybe it's due to a Zigbee or Wi-Fi connection, a temporary device failure or some other technical problem. Whatever the reason, you naturally want your smart home to work smoothly. This is where the Home Assistant integration "Retry" comes into play.
For detailed instructions and an explanation of all configuration options, I recommend the YouTube video linked below. In this video, every single setting is explained in detail so that you receive comprehensive instructions for the exact setup. You can find any code from the video in this article so that you can use it directly without having to type it in.
Installation of HACS and integration of Watchman in Home Assistant
Step 1: Installing HACS in Home Assistant
Home Assistant Community Store (HACS) is a custom add-on for Home Assistant that provides access to a variety of custom integrations and plugins developed by the community. How to install HACS:
- Check requirements: Make sure that your Home Assistant is ideally up to date.
- Download Execute script: Open a terminal for the Docker container version or the core version.
- Docker: Dial into the container with:
docker exec -it homeassistant bashor (similar) - Core: Switch to the user who is running Home Assistant
- Execute the following command for both variants:
wget -O - https://get.hacs.xyz | bash -
- Docker: Dial into the container with:
- Restarting the Home Assistant: After the files have been copied, restart Home Assistant.
- Integrate HACS into Home AssistantGo to "Configuration" > "Integrations" > "Add" in the Home Assistant interface and search for HACS. Add it and enter your GitHub token if prompted.
For the supervised version, please refer to the Documentation of HACS itself to read about the installation.
Step 2: Add retry integration via HACS
Once HACS is installed, you can simply add Retry:
- Open HACS: Go to HACS in the Home Assistant interface.
- Search for integrationClick on "Integrations" and use the search function to search for "Retry".
- Install RetryFind Retry in the list and click on "Install". This will add the integration to your Home Assistant.
- Restarting the Home Assistant: Start Home Assistant again to apply the changes.
- Configure RetryAfter restarting, you can set up and customize Retry via "Configuration" > "Integrations" in Home Assistant.
Conclusion
With these steps, you have successfully installed HACS in your Home Assistant and added the Retry integration. This powerful combination opens up a world of additional features and customizations that have been and are being developed by the Home Assistant community. More blog posts and videos on useful integrations to follow. If you don't want to miss out, subscribe to my YouTube channel!
What is the Retry integration for Home Assistant?
The "Retry" feature for Home Assistant was developed to solve exactly this type of problem. If an action fails - be it switching on a light, sending a notification or retrieving sensor data - you can use "Retry" to automatically try to perform the action again. Instead of manually intervening to find out why the action was unsuccessful, the feature does it for you.
Why is Retry in Home Assistant so useful?
Imagine you use Home Assistant to control important actions in your home - for example, turning on the heating before you get home or triggering a security notification when a sensor detects movement. If one of these actions fails, you naturally want the system to automatically make a second or even third attempt. The "Retry" feature saves you time and gives you the certainty that your automations will be executed reliably even in the event of temporary problems.
How does Retry work in Home Assistant?
You can easily integrate the "Retry" feature into your Home Assistant configuration. There are various settings that you can adjust to tailor the behavior of Retry exactly to your needs:
- Maximum number of attempts: You determine how often an action should be repeated before Home Assistant finally gives up. This gives you control over how long the system should try to resolve a problem.
- Delay between attempts: You can specify how long the system should wait before trying again. This is particularly useful if you suspect that the problem is only temporary, for example due to network congestion.
- Exponential backoff: You can use this function to ensure that the delays between retries are gradually longer. This is helpful if you want to minimize the load on the network.
- Notifications: You can configure Home Assistant so that you receive a notification if an action still fails after a certain number of attempts. This keeps you informed and allows you to intervene manually if necessary.
Features and setting parameters
retries:- Determines the maximum number of retries if an action fails. For example:
retries: 3would mean that the action is retried up to three times.
- Determines the maximum number of retries if an action fails. For example:
retry_condition:- Defines a condition under which a repetition should take place. You can use this to specify whether and when an action should be repeated based on certain criteria (e.g. a certain status of a device).
max_delay:- Sets the maximum delay time (in seconds) between retries. This setting prevents the delays from becoming too long.
min_delay:- Defines the minimum delay (in seconds) between the repeat attempts. This is the shortest period of time that should elapse between two repetitions.
backoff_factor:- Specifies a multiplication factor that gradually increases the delay between successive retries. A value of
2for example, would double the delay after each failure.
- Specifies a multiplication factor that gradually increases the delay between successive retries. A value of
timeout:- Sets a time limit (in seconds) for the total duration that can be used for repetitions. After this time has elapsed, no further repeat attempts are made, even if the maximum number of repeats has not yet been reached.
catch:- Determines which errors or conditions are to be intercepted by the retry function. You can use this to specify which types of errors trigger a retry.
Summary:
These parameters allow you to customize the retry strategy to your exact needs, making your Home Assistant automations more robust and reliable. By flexibly setting delays, condition checks and maximum retries, you can ensure that actions are executed successfully even in the event of temporary problems.
Example: Switching a light
Let's assume you have set up an automation that switches on the light in the living room when you come home. Sometimes, however, the connection to the light may be interrupted - perhaps due to a poor Wi-Fi or Zigbee connection or another problem. With "Retry", you ensure that Home Assistant automatically retries the action until the light is actually switched on.
alias: Kitchen on = LED strip on (and off)
description:
trigger:
- platform: state
entity_id:
- light.kitchen_ceiling_lights
from:
- "off"
- "on"
to:
- "on"
- "off"
condition: []
action:
- action: retry.actions
metadata: {}
data:
sequence:
- choose:
- conditions:
- condition: state
entity_id: light.kuche_deckenlichter
state: "on"
sequence:
- action: light.turn_on
metadata: {}
data: {}
target:
entity_id: light.kuche_led
- conditions:
- condition: state
entity_id: light.kuche_deckenlichter
state: "off"
sequence:
- action: light.turn_off
metadata: {}
data: {}
target:
entity_id: light.kuche_led
retries: 4
mode: restartThis Home Assistant automation controls the LED strip in your kitchen based on the status of the ceiling lights. When you switch the ceiling lights on or off, the LED strip is automatically switched on or off synchronously.
Main components:
- Trigger: The automation is activated when the kitchen light is switched on or off.
- Action: The LED strip is switched on when the light is on and switched off when the light is off.
- Retry function: If switching on or off fails, the automation will try again up to four times.
- Restart" mode: The automation restarts if it is triggered again during the ongoing process in order to always take the current status into account.
In short: this automation keeps the LED strip in the kitchen always synchronized with the ceiling lights, even in the event of possible connection problems.
YouTube video implementation
Conclusion
The Retry integration in Home Assistant is a great way to increase the reliability of your smart home. It takes away the worry of important actions not being carried out due to temporary problems and ensures that your home works the way you want and expect it to. Set up Retry Integration and enjoy the peace of mind that your system will remain reliable even in difficult situations with connectivity issues.
3 Comments
Oli · 9. September 2024 at 15:06
Hi, I'm probably thinking too complicated. My situation. I have GU10 bulbs with Zigbee that are very unreliable and it feels like they don't switch on or off every 1-2 weeks. There is simply no reaction. Then at some point it works again. That annoys me.
How can I use Retry for this? Of course I have a functioning automation for light on/off.
Sascha Brockel · 12. September 2024 at 00:57
Hi, I know the problem. I also have GU10 lights that are not from Philips, but I think OSRAM and Innr, and they often don't want to work either. If you really have automation for this, it's the ideal use case. If you only wanted to access the entity, the whole thing would be useless. Although I think you could even intercept this via an event, i.e. build an automation that recognizes you want to switch on light.xyz and then incorporate the whole thing again as a retry action. Unattractive, but useful. I would recommend something like this:
action: retry.action
data:
action: homeassistant.turn_on
expected_state: "on"
retries: 9
target:
entity_id: light.xyz
This should then actually try the whole thing 9 times and if it still hasn't worked, then the lamp really doesn't want to (in seconds) [0, 1, 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, 127, 255]
Oli · 12. September 2024 at 06:26
Many thanks Sascha. I will install it today. Let's see if it can tame these bitches 🙂