This BETA app has two functions: it scans Rule Machine (RM) and Button Controller (BC) rules and displays their current Private Boolean state and Last Run time in a table; and it lets you bulk-set Private Boolean values across multiple rules at once. The TRUE and FALSE settings persist if saved by clicking "DONE".
I wrote this app because I have seen Private Booleans used as flags to control re-triggering of a rule be left in a FALSE state for whatever reason. This app helps you find and manage those wayward PB's.
You can also run the app at a specified time to set the PB state of rules that have had their Set True and Set False checkboxes saved.
NEW 2026-05-11: The app can now detect which rules actually use a Private Boolean (all rules have PB's but not all rules use them in conditions, triggers, and actions).
NOTE: this function can take a LONG time with a lot of rules, particularly if the rules are lengthy; for 303 rules on my main hub, the total scan time ranged between 8 and 11 minutes, whereas a simple scan for current PB state ran only about one minute.
In v. 1.47, you can now do a Scheduled PB Apply X minutes after a hub reboot.
2026-05-14 - v. 1.50: UI/UX tweaks.
The app file is now too large to post in this forum -- here's the Github link (the latest version of the app includes an importURL):
NEW 2026-05-11: The app can now detect which rules actually use a Private Boolean (all rules have PB's but not all rules use them in conditions, triggers, and actions).
Detection of rules that ACTUALLY use Private Boolean: <chef's kiss>
One request: ability to Scheduled PB Apply every x minutes. I want to ensure that the one thermostat rule gets the PB reset every 10-15 minutes just as a backup measure. While the others can get reset once a day.
Edit: So that request also comes along with the request to be able to install the app multiple times. e.g. one just to manage that one thermostat rule every x minutes, and another for all the other rules once a day. Yes, I can create a RM rule to fire every 15 minutes, but why do that when there is this wonderful app?
There was a bug in the App instance name control and the ability to install multiple instances was set wrong, both now fixed in v. 1.43 (see link in Post #1). You should be able to install multiple instances now, and rename each instance.
You can now set Scheduled PB Apply every 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, or 60 minutes. Claude AI suggested that control and I'm not familiar enough with Hubitat Groovy controls to know of a more flexible one (e.g., "every 127 minutes").
It's a complex rule to manage my smart vents and virtual HVAC zones, written before AI coding, and when commercial apps couldn't work in my situation. Now, it would be best an app. It "could" trigger multiple times in a short span so a boolean was added to allow for the rule to complete and time for vents to fully or partially open or close and a little rest period before allowed to run again. Never had a problem until last week when the boolean got stuck on false for some reason and parts of the house were way too cold. Don't know if an update's reboot hit at the crucial time before the boolean was set to return to true.
The 15 minute thing is the very last line of defense when all else has failed, to ensure WAF and another couple years before something else breaks it.
Do note that using this app for something that routine has potential downsides: looking at the App stats in Logs, the State size can be very large and the % of busy can be pretty high.
Have you considered using a virtual switch instead of a PB (in this case, at least)? Tracking & managing it may be a bit more flexible...
This app is definitely a big win for PB users... I moved away from PBs a while ago (switched to all virtual switches instead) since I got spooked about the possibility of a PB getting stuck and not having an easy way to track any of them. But this app looks like a great solve for basic PB users.
Good idea. I have virtual switches for lots of things, this could be just another one. Even better is to write a virtual switch driver that allows me to auto turn on the switch at more intervals than the built in few seconds.
It just means messing around with something that has been working well. Until it didn't.
