What are some cool maker api and homebridge automations you’ve done?

Just curious. Mine is my MyQ garage door to a virtual switch for open/close. I also plan on a dummy lock that turns on and sends a notification through iOS. Basically I could do a whole automation with h.e, then connect it to a dummy lock and receive HomeKit notifications that it ran. How about you?

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You could just send a push in the rule on HE to send a notification that it ran. I use Homebridge for the interface and quick look at the status of the system and if any lights windows or doors aren't in the expected state when we are away. I also have it notify when certain doors open while we are away but that is almost more work than it is worth since it remembers which doors I marked for notification from device to device but it doesn't remember that I only wanted to be notified when everyone was away so I have to go to each new device and set that up manually.

The reason I want it this way is because none of my family have the h.e app, this way, they get HomeKit notifications

Nicely done! I don't have homebridge, but I make a ton of use out of the Maker API (and also the event sockets). Just a few off the top of my head:

I have all my logs going to a MySQL server so that I can search and then graph metrics.

I have NodeRed doing some of my more complex automations and also tying together things like my Pixel holidays lights and controllers to HE.

I have a NodeJS app using the Maker API and event sockets to enable control of individual devices on my Harmony hubs.

I also use the Maker API to have my camera system post alerts to virtual motion sensors. We have cameras all over the interior and exterior of the house. So, instead of buying motion sensors for each room of the house, I have a virtual motion sensor created for each camera and when the camera detects motion, it sets the motion sensor to active through the Maker API and then inactive when motion stops.

There's so many more ideas that I have that I have yet to implement. LOL

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Use it to control and get indications from my esp8266,s.

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That's what I am doing with my Pixels. When my Pixels come on to various patterns, I have color bulbs on HE that I trigger from my NodeMCUs.

Curious. There would be no need for the MyQ app doing it like this then?

Basically you hit open on the virtual switch and under HomeKit it sees open so it opens the garage door ??

1st make a virtual switch in maker api. (On/off)
2) import it to homebridge using maker api.
3) in homekit make two automations. When myq garage door opens, turn virtual switch on and another when it closes turn switch off.

On the h.e side that virtual switch will immediately toggle from off to on, so you can do rules from there.

I use, when garage virtual switch is open, flash my lights to alert me
And if my garage is left open for 20mins, it sends me a notification

And I use the native MyQ homebridge hub, so I’m not sure if using the homebridge plugin if you’d still need the myq app but I wouldn’t think so. If you need any help, feel free to ask.

I just got what you’re saying, and yes it will if u open 2 way communication which I haven’t tried yet. I’d rather just use the HomeKit ur, but It’d look like this

Sweet.

Got it all setup! No need for custom drivers or apps now...

I like to minimize custom apps/drivers as much as possible.

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Cool stuff

Some neat ideas in this thread!

With homebridge I set up Presence detection which seems light-years more reliable than Alexa or any other app out there as an iPhone users.

Specifically I have automations that set a switch on/off through Homekit that goes into my Combined Presence App setup.

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Could you please elaborate how you setup presence detection with homebridge? Thanks in advance

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Sure @mraz.camren
So I'll make a few assumptions first.

  1. You have Homebridge running, connected to HE and you know how to use it on iOS.
  2. You know how to create a virtual switch device in Hubitate.

So the first thing I did was;

Overview:

  • I have Homekit turn a virtual switch on and off based on my home presence. I set up another for my wife as well.
  • I use the excellent Combined Presence App to coordinate my presence along with the iPhone Wifi Presence Sensor App for an enhanced presence including: a. Knowing if anyone is home and b. an override for if guests are visting. This will prevent my mode from automatically switching to away.

Steps-ish (from memory and post setup)

  1. Create a VirtualSwitch with Presence by this fantastic community driver by @ogiewon . Let's just assume you are doing one and can set up more like I did if needed.
    Let's call this NAMEHomeKitPresence
    (note: You don't have to use this combined driver, but it's way better than just a switch as you can use it to inform presence on dashboards or in specific flows without having to think about on/off which should be commands)

  2. Expose this Switch to Homekit so it shows up there.

  3. In your Homekit Home app, set up a automation that looks like this where the switch is turned on.

  4. Set up a 2nd automation around "When I leave home" and turn the same switch off. After that you should have two like this (or 4 or 6 if you have more people).

You are good to go. Now you have a super reliable switch -combined- Presence sensor around your presence coming from Home kit that you can do all sorts of things with in HE.

Bonus:
5. I then setup Combined Presence app to handle a few other inputs like the iPhone Wifi driver for even more enhanced performance and to have a better understanding if "someone" is home. Including a manual over-ride switch I have called "guest is here" on my dashboard.

Hope this was helpful, the Combined Presence App thread has a ton of good info. Originally I did this exact same thing for Alexa, but I'm finding homekit with iPhone to be so much more reliable.

Bonus:
And here is what my dashboard looks like where I can easily see if someone is home and who.

Bonus #2
Likewise I created a Presence Dashboard so I could monitor the status for debuging.. which is how I found out that Alexa is crap compared to HomeKit for presence on iOS (*isHomeSwitch is coming from Alexa). This is also where I have the guest override, or I also exposed the "someone is home" switch here which I could also force override (which I did a lot with Alexa).

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Thank you so much!! Your write-up will be VERY helpful when I set this up. Much appreciated

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All good, let me know if you have any questions or run into issues when you get into it.

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