2024.11.0
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MQTT Switch

The mqtt switch platform lets you control your MQTT enabled switches.

Configuration

In an ideal scenario, the MQTT device will have a state_topic to publish state changes. If these messages are published with a RETAIN flag, the MQTT switch will receive an instant state update after subscription, and will start with the correct state. Otherwise, the initial state of the switch will be unknown. A MQTT device can reset the current state to unknown using a None payload.

When a state_topic is not available, the switch will work in optimistic mode. In this mode, the switch will immediately change state after every command. Otherwise, the switch will wait for state confirmation from the device (message from state_topic). The initial state is set to False / off in optimistic mode.

Optimistic mode can be forced, even if the state_topic is available. Try to enable it, if experiencing incorrect switch operation.

To enable this switch in your installation, add the following to your configuration.yamlThe configuration.yaml file is the main configuration file for Home Assistant. It lists the integrations to be loaded and their specific configurations. In some cases, the configuration needs to be edited manually directly in the configuration.yaml file. Most integrations can be configured in the UI. [Learn more] file:

# Example configuration.yaml entry
mqtt:
  - switch:
      command_topic: "home/bedroom/switch1/set"

Configuration Variables

Looking for your configuration file?
availability list (Optional)

A list of MQTT topics subscribed to receive availability (online/offline) updates. Must not be used together with availability_topic.

payload_available string (Optional, default: online)

The payload that represents the available state.

payload_not_available string (Optional, default: offline)

The payload that represents the unavailable state.

topic string Required

An MQTT topic subscribed to receive availability (online/offline) updates.

value_template template (Optional)

Defines a template to extract device’s availability from the topic. To determine the devices’s availability result of this template will be compared to payload_available and payload_not_available.

availability_mode string (Optional, default: latest)

When availability is configured, this controls the conditions needed to set the entity to available. Valid entries are all, any, and latest. If set to all, payload_available must be received on all configured availability topics before the entity is marked as online. If set to any, payload_available must be received on at least one configured availability topic before the entity is marked as online. If set to latest, the last payload_available or payload_not_available received on any configured availability topic controls the availability.

availability_template template (Optional)

Defines a template to extract device’s availability from the availability_topic. To determine the devices’s availability result of this template will be compared to payload_available and payload_not_available.

availability_topic string (Optional)

The MQTT topic subscribed to receive availability (online/offline) updates. Must not be used together with availability.

command_template template (Optional)

Defines a template to generate the payload to send to command_topic. The switch command template accepts the parameters value. The value parameter will contain the configured value for either payload_on or payload_off.

command_topic string Required

The MQTT topic to publish commands to change the switch state.

device map (Optional)

Information about the device this switch is a part of to tie it into the device registry. Only works when unique_id is set. At least one of identifiers or connections must be present to identify the device.

configuration_url string (Optional)

A link to the webpage that can manage the configuration of this device. Can be either an http://, https:// or an internal homeassistant:// URL.

connections list (Optional)

A list of connections of the device to the outside world as a list of tuples [connection_type, connection_identifier]. For example the MAC address of a network interface: "connections": [["mac", "02:5b:26:a8:dc:12"]].

hw_version string (Optional)

The hardware version of the device.

identifiers string | list (Optional)

A list of IDs that uniquely identify the device. For example a serial number.

manufacturer string (Optional)

The manufacturer of the device.

model string (Optional)

The model of the device.

model_id string (Optional)

The model identifier of the device.

name string (Optional)

The name of the device.

serial_number string (Optional)

The serial number of the device.

suggested_area string (Optional)

Suggest an area if the device isn’t in one yet.

sw_version string (Optional)

The firmware version of the device.

via_device string (Optional)

Identifier of a device that routes messages between this device and Home Assistant. Examples of such devices are hubs, or parent devices of a sub-device. This is used to show device topology in Home Assistant.

device_class device_class (Optional)

The type/class of the switch to set the icon in the frontend. The device_class can be null.

enabled_by_default boolean (Optional, default: true)

Flag which defines if the entity should be enabled when first added.

encoding string (Optional, default: utf-8)

The encoding of the payloads received and published messages. Set to "" to disable decoding of incoming payload.

entity_category string (Optional)

The category of the entity.

entity_picture string (Optional)

Picture URL for the entity.

icon icon (Optional)

Icon for the entity.

json_attributes_template template (Optional)

Defines a template to extract the JSON dictionary from messages received on the json_attributes_topic. Usage example can be found in MQTT sensor documentation.

json_attributes_topic string (Optional)

The MQTT topic subscribed to receive a JSON dictionary payload and then set as sensor attributes. Usage example can be found in MQTT sensor documentation.

name string (Optional, default: MQTT Switch)

The name to use when displaying this switch. Can be set to null if only the device name is relevant.

object_id string (Optional)

Used instead of name for automatic generation of entity_id

optimistic boolean (Optional)

Flag that defines if switch works in optimistic mode.

Default:

true if no state_topic defined, else false.

payload_available string (Optional, default: online)

The payload that represents the available state.

payload_not_available string (Optional, default: offline)

The payload that represents the unavailable state.

payload_off string (Optional, default: OFF)

The payload that represents off state. If specified, will be used for both comparing to the value in the state_topic (see value_template and state_off for details) and sending as off command to the command_topic.

payload_on string (Optional, default: ON)

The payload that represents on state. If specified, will be used for both comparing to the value in the state_topic (see value_template and state_on for details) and sending as on command to the command_topic.

platform string Required

Must be switch. Only allowed and required in MQTT auto discovery device messages.

qos integer (Optional, default: 0)

The maximum QoS level to be used when receiving and publishing messages.

retain boolean (Optional, default: false)

If the published message should have the retain flag on or not.

state_off string (Optional)

The payload that represents the off state. Used when value that represents off state in the state_topic is different from value that should be sent to the command_topic to turn the device off.

Default:

payload_off if defined, else OFF

state_on string (Optional)

The payload that represents the on state. Used when value that represents on state in the state_topic is different from value that should be sent to the command_topic to turn the device on.

Default:

payload_on if defined, else ON

state_topic string (Optional)

The MQTT topic subscribed to receive state updates. A “None” payload resets to an unknown state. An empty payload is ignored.By default, valid state payloads are OFF and ON. The accepted payloads can be overridden with the payload_off and payload_on config options.

unique_id string (Optional)

An ID that uniquely identifies this switch device. If two switches have the same unique ID, Home Assistant will raise an exception. Required when used with device-based discovery.

value_template template (Optional)

Defines a template to extract device’s state from the state_topic. To determine the switches’s state result of this template will be compared to state_on and state_off.

Important

Make sure that your topic matches exactly. some-topic/ and some-topic are different topics.

Examples

In this section, you will find some real-life examples of how to use this sensor.

Full configuration

The example below shows a full configuration for a switch.

# Example configuration.yaml entry
mqtt:
  - switch:
      unique_id: bedroom_switch
      name: "Bedroom Switch"
      state_topic: "home/bedroom/switch1"
      command_topic: "home/bedroom/switch1/set"
      availability:
        - topic: "home/bedroom/switch1/available"
      payload_on: "ON"
      payload_off: "OFF"
      state_on: "ON"
      state_off: "OFF"
      optimistic: false
      qos: 0
      retain: true

For a check, you can use the command line tools mosquitto_pub shipped with mosquitto to send MQTT messages. This allows you to operate your switch manually. First, we can simulate the availability message sent for the switch:

mosquitto_pub -h 127.0.0.1 -t home/bedroom/switch1/available -m "online"

We can simulate the switch being turned on by publishing the ON command message:

mosquitto_pub -h 127.0.0.1 -t home/bedroom/switch1/set -m "ON"

Finally, we can simulate the switch reporting back the changed state to Home Assistant:

mosquitto_pub -h 127.0.0.1 -t home/bedroom/switch1 -m "ON"

Set the state of a device with ESPEasy

Assuming that you have flashed your ESP8266 unit with ESPEasy. Under “Config” is a name (“Unit Name:”) set for your device (here it’s “bathroom”). A configuration for a “Controller” for MQTT with the protocol “OpenHAB MQTT” is present and the entries (“Controller Subscribe:” and “Controller Publish:”) are adjusted to match your needs. In this example, the topics are prefixed with “home”. There is no further configuration needed as the GPIOs can be controlled with MQTT directly.

Manually you can set pin 13 to high with mosquitto_pub or another MQTT tool:

mosquitto_pub -h 127.0.0.1 -t home/bathroom/gpio/13 -m "1"

The configuration will look like the example below:

# Example configuration.yaml entry
mqtt:
  - switch:
      name: bathroom
      state_topic: "home/bathroom/gpio/13"
      command_topic: "home/bathroom/gpio/13"
      payload_on: "1"
      payload_off: "0"