I have the built in Hue integration installed on my HE, with Hue color bulbs connected to the Hue bridge. I’m using a Pico to set colors and levels. What I notice is that sometimes when I set a bulb for a certain level, it will turn on at a higher level and then ramp down to the proper level.
Is this normal behavior? Any suggestions?
Also, I have several Hue bulbs (paired with the Hue Bridge) in a HE group. Should I select “Enable Zigbee group messaging” or “Enable on/off optimization” for this group? Or are these settings ignored since the bulbs in the group are paired with the Hue bridge?
Any best practices I should be aware of in regard to Hue integration with Hubitat?
Is this consistent or occasional? I've seen this happen occasionally, and I've always attributed it to a Hue Bridge oddity. Most of the time, mine turn on to the specified level directly. (I do see color transitions in some cases--they do seem to turn on briefly to their last color before turning on to a new one, even when the "Set Color" or "Set Color Temperature" command is how it gets turned on in the first place.) This may depend on what app you're using; if it sends an "On" and then a "Set Level" separately, this is likely to happen (but most apps shouldn't do this since a "Set Level" conventionally also turns a bulb on if off, "legacy" prestaging preferences excepted).
They're ignored; this applies only to directly connected Zigbee devices. You can group devices in Hue (Rooms and Zones in the Hue app create Zigbee groups under the hood), and you can import those groups into Hubitat. This is likely to work better than a bunch of individual bulbs if you're sending a ton of commands since it would be fewer from both Hubitat to Hue and Hue to the actual bulbs, but it might be fine either way. (Hue used to recommend a max of 10 commands per second for bulbs and 1 per second for groups, but I can't find that documented officially anymore anywhere--but still probably a good guideline.)
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So rather than using an HE group, it’s more efficient to create the group in Hue and import that group into Hubitat?
More efficient in terms of fewer commands, yes; a Hubitat group of Hue Bridge bulbs isn't different from just sending the commands to each bulb individually (although with the new "group metering" option it's a bit easier to space things out, though at the expense of the aptly named popcorn effect)--so Hubitat sends at least one (possibly more) command to the Bridge for each bulb, and the Bridge in turn sends at least one command to each bulb from the Bridge. Using a Hue group could reduce this to as few as one command in each direction (though depending on what you're doing, it could still be a few--e.g., a "Set Level" and a "Set Color Temperature" from Hubitat as part of, say, a scene, will still be two commands until if/when their Bridge integration is updated to support sending these both as part of a single command, which Hue has always supported but Hubitat recently standardized as a possibility on the hub side).
It seems to be consistent so far.
Via a rule associated with a Pico remote:
Bulb is set to dim/level 100.
Bulb is turned off.
Bulb is set to dim 50. It turns on to 100 momentarily, then ramps down to 50.
Very annoying!
Maybe a work around is for my rule to dim to level 1, then turn off. Or instead of turn off, set dim to 0.
Thoughts, anyone?
Is your rule action just setting the dimmer? That is, no other specific "on" action? Does the bulb do the same with "Set Level" directly on the device page?
My rule sets the color temperature and the level:
Color Temperature: Bedside Lamp: 50.
From the device page, if I set the level to 50, it works perfectly. From the device page, however, you can’t really set the color temperature and the level at the same time. You set one and then the other.
The built in Hue Bridge integration does not currently support the multi-parameter Set Level command, which will let you set level and specify rate in addition to just the CT. Long term, that will probably fix your problem (assuming Hubitat updates these drivers to match the new but little used capabilities updated in firmware 2.2.6...maybe in 2.2.8 since it didn't make 2.2.7?). Rule Machine would also need to be updated to use this command.
In the meantime, Rule Machine is undoubtedly sending two separate commands for this. I don't know in what order, but it sounds like maybe CT before level. If you do these as two separate actions yourself, you'll have control over which gets sent first. In your case, perhaps that is "Set Level" first. (I should also note that I wrote a custom Hue Bridge integration that does support this new command, but I'm guessing Hubitat's will get updated eventually, too, and I don't want to steer you there just for this reason.)
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By “Set Level”, you mean the “Dim” command in Rule Maker, correct?
Yeah, the "Dim" action in Rule Machine should just send a "Set Level" to the specifier device.
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What is the difference between setting color to soft white vs. setting color temperature to 2700?
I assume you mean in Rule Machine? All bulbs in Hubitat ultimately work with numeric values for color and CT commands, so anything an app (including Rule Machine) uses otherwise is somehow mapped by that app into some underlying value. In the case if Rule Machine, the only place I see "Soft White" is under "Set Color," which actually uses color (RGB) mode on the bulb instead of CT mode, presumably with a best guess as to what will get you close on most bulbs. If yours supports color temperature, I would just use that and specify the value yourself.
(A quick test shows that it does hue 11 with saturation 30 for this action, if you're curious.)
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@bravenel OR @mike.maxwell
I have Hue bulbs connected to the Hue bridge and using the built in Hue integration. I have a rule that executes based on Pico input. When I set the bulb level to 25 along with a color temperature setting via the rule using the Pico, the bulb ramps up above that level and then drops back down to 25. SEE EDIT below.
An earlier post in this thread suggests the possible need for some kind of update to the Hue integration.
In any case, is my issue a known issue?
Is there any work around?
EDIT: The problem exists only when the action includes setting either the color OR color temperature, along with a change in the level. So if the bulb is at 100, or is off, and the rule changes the bulb to a level of 25 ALONG with a color OR a color temperature setting, then the bulb ramps up above 25 momentarily and then drops down to 25.
This issue sounds different from the one you described above: there, you were using Rule Machine's "Set Color Temperature" action with both a color temperature and a level specified. Are you saying you're seeing this behavior now if you just do a "Set Level" command (or a "Dim..." action in Rule Machine, which is what this action calls)? If so, that is a different problem and would not be related to anything I described above.
If it's still the first problem, perhaps further explanation is warranted. In the current implementation, Rule Machine translates the "Set Color Temperature" action into two commands to the device: a "Set Color Temperature" command and a "Set Level" command (I do not know the order, but your experience suggests that the former comes first), as I mentioned above. Knowing why requires a bit of a history lesson: until recently, Hubitat's standard "Set Color Temperature" command only accepted a color temperature, so level must be (or have been) done via a separate command if you wanted to do both at the "same" time. Hub firmware 2.2.6 updated the standard "Set Color Temperature" command to allow up to three parameters (color temperature plus transition time and level). However, many drivers are still being updated to match this; most built-in drivers have been updated (and I know some community drivers have, but that may take even longer), but I know the built-in Hue drivers haven't been yet. I can't speak to when that will happen but assume that is part of your question here.
Related to this are apps, like Rule Machine. App authors will need to decide at what point they feel comfortable using the "new" command, keeping in mind that it could break compatibility with "old" drivers (and possibly for great expense--breaking compatibility--for little reward--working a little faster or smoother in some cases). In the case of Rule Machine, you won't need to wait for the app to be updated; even if they never update the "Set Color Temperature" action to use level as part of a single command, you can do it yourself with RM's "Custom Action" feature (someone can help you figure this out if it comes to that point, but again, the driver would need to implement this first).
But if that's not what you're talking about, that's a new issue. 
Sharing your particular rule action plus whether or not you're able to get the same behavior by manually sending commands ("Set Level," I'd guess, is the relevant one?) from the device page would be helpful for further troubleshooting in that case.
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You’re correct. I tried a number of different actions and I was confused. I’ve edited my post above.
The problem is only when the level is changed ALONG with a color temperature or color setting.
If I push button 1 (level 100), then button 5 (off), then button 3 (level 25), the bulb will ramp up above level 25 momentarily, and then back down to 25.
If I push button 3 (level 25), then button 5 (off), then button 3 (level 25), it works properly. It’s only if the bulb was previously at level 100, or off after being set to 100, that when I press button 3 (level 25) it ramps up above 25 and then lowers to 25.
Again, this a Hue bulb connected to a Hue bridge and integrated with Hubitat through the built in Hue integration app.
I was able to replicate this behavior, and I confirmed that the app (Rule Machine) is indeed sending "Set Color Temperature" to the device before "Set Level." (Again, sending them in one single command is not possible with this specific device at the moment and has not historically been possible with any standard-command device on Hubitat, though that just changed and enough pieces should fall into place at some point in the future to make this smoother.)
In the meantime, keep in mind that the transition time is optional for the "Set Color Temperature" action in Rule Machine. Additionally, because of the above, two separate "Dim" and "Color Temperature" actions (I suggested this above) would have basically the same effect in the current implementation, and if you do it that way, you have control over which goes first. Since the level seems to bother you more than the CT, I would set the level first (though in the scope of just this example, with CT being 2700 in both cases, you won't even that here--though you may if it gets set to something else in the meantime...and really with Hue bulbs this is something I notice immediately after they come on regardless, if they were previously a different color/CT, so even being able to send these as a single command to Hue eventually might not even help you much more than this will):
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