Smart switch to control smart bulb - direct association vs rule machine

Hey all, I've got a cabin with limited wiring for ceiling lights, so we currently have a solution where I have a Zooz z-wave dimmer I'd like to control a GE Enbrighten z-wave plus bulb in a hanging plug-in lamp. I'm using custom drivers for the Zooz dimmer, and the Enbrighten bulb is set up as a generic z-wave plus dimmer.

I've tried two solutions:

Direct Association - I used the UID for the bulb in groups 2 and 3 of the dimmer. It sort of works but has some strange behaviors: It slowly ramps up and down when turning on and off (I want instant on/off). It will not dim or brighten when holding the paddles. Also when turning it on it turns on the last set level (very dim) instead of 100%. I don't see where I can adjust these settings. Also the bulb flickers a bit when ramping up/down. I think I'd prefer direct accociation for the offline usage if I can get it to work.

Rule Machine - I have rules set up based on button trigger events and everything works but...

The extra wrinkle is here is I'd also like to control this light with Google Home in either scenario. Adjusting the dimmer with GH does not turn the light on. Adjusting the bulb with GH does work, but the dimmer does not update it's status.

Any help?

Since you have them both setup as dimmers in Hubitat, I would try [RELEASE] Switch Bindings rather than either method. This should work the way you want it to and with Google Home.

With the above said, are both on the same circuit? The flickering of the bulb would most likely be caused by this.

Thanks for this! I just discovered the built-in mirror app - how do these two apps compare?

They are fairly similar. Switch bindings is a two way sync so you could control either bulb or dimmer and the other would follow. Mirror me is one way (leader and follower). Switch bindings can be set up in a similar manner.

Only reason I recommended switch bindings is because I use it to sync Hue bulb groups with smart switches. I can control either and the other follows. I share the Hue bulbs to Google and the switches follow based on the commands given.