Automation examples

This guide provides practical automation examples for the HAEO integration. These automations help you respond to optimization events, manage energy systems, and create custom workflows based on optimization results.

Overview

HAEO provides real-time optimization of your energy network. You can create automations that:

• Respond to optimization completion or failure
• Apply HAEO's power recommendations to real hardware
• Curtail solar or flexible loads when optimization suggests
• Notify you when optimization outputs change significantly
• Stage safe hand-offs between optimization and manual control

Example 1: Notification on optimization failure

This automation sends a notification when the optimization fails, helping you quickly identify and resolve issues.

automation:
  - alias: "HAEO: Notify on optimization failure"
    description: "Send notification when energy optimization fails"
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: sensor.haeo_network_optimization_status
        to: "failed"
    action:
      - service: notify.persistent_notification
        data:
          title: "Energy optimization failed"
          message: >
            The HAEO energy optimization has failed.
            Please check the system logs for details.
      - service: notify.mobile_app_phone
        data:
          title: "HAEO Alert"
          message: "Energy optimization failed - check Home Assistant"
          data:
            priority: high
            ttl: 0

What this automation does

1. Trigger: Monitors the optimization status sensor
2. Condition: Activates when status changes to "failed"
3. Actions:
4. Creates a persistent notification in Home Assistant
5. Sends a mobile notification with high priority
6. Uses TTL=0 to ensure delivery even if phone is offline

Customization options

• Add conditions to only notify during certain hours
• Include the failure reason in the message if available
• Send to multiple notification services
• Create a counter to track failure frequency

Example 2: Apply battery power recommendation

This automation writes HAEO's recommended battery power directly to a controllable setpoint entity when the optimization completes successfully.

automation:
  - alias: "HAEO: Apply battery power recommendation"
    description: "Set battery power limit to the optimization recommendation"
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: sensor.haeo_battery_recommended_power
    condition:
      - condition: template
        value_template: >
          {{ trigger.to_state.state not in ['unavailable', 'unknown'] }}
      - condition: state
        entity_id: sensor.haeo_network_optimization_status
        state: "success"
      - condition: template
        value_template: >
          {{ (trigger.to_state.state | float(0)) | abs <= states('number.battery_max_safe_power') | float(5) }}
    action:
      - service: number.set_value
        target:
          entity_id: number.battery_power_setpoint
        data:
          value: "{{ trigger.to_state.state | float(0) }}"
      - service: logbook.log
        data:
          name: "HAEO battery dispatch"
          message: >-
            Applied {{ trigger.to_state.state | float(0) | round(2) }} kW recommendation to
            {{ state_attr('number.battery_power_setpoint', 'friendly_name') }}.
      - service: notify.mobile_app_phone
        data:
          title: "Battery output updated"
          message: >-
            Battery now set to {{ trigger.to_state.state | float(0) | round(2) }} kW
            based on HAEO recommendation.

What this automation does

1. Trigger: Runs whenever sensor.haeo_battery_recommended_power changes.
2. Safety checks: Ensures the optimization succeeded, the recommendation is valid, and the value stays within a user-defined number.battery_max_safe_power control.
3. Actions: Writes the new setpoint, records a log entry, and sends a confirmation notification.

Customization options

• Replace number.battery_power_setpoint with the entity that controls your battery inverter or dispatch service.
• Use numeric_state triggers if you only want to react to significant changes.
• Swap the notification for an input boolean or scene activation if you prefer silent updates.

Example 3: Curtail solar generation based on forecast

This automation caps inverter output when HAEO predicts excess solar that would force grid export at high prices.

automation:
  - alias: "HAEO: Solar curtailment when forecast is high"
    description: "Limit inverter output according to HAEO recommendation"
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: sensor.haeo_solar_recommended_power
    condition:
      - condition: template
        value_template: >
          {{ trigger.to_state.state not in ['unavailable', 'unknown'] }}
      - condition: state
        entity_id: sensor.haeo_network_optimization_status
        state: "success"
      - condition: template
        value_template: >
          {{ trigger.to_state.state | float(0) < states('sensor.haeo_solar_power') | float(0) }}
    action:
      - choose:
          - conditions:
              - condition: template
                value_template: >
                  {{ trigger.to_state.state | float(0) <= 0.5 }}
            sequence:
              - service: switch.turn_on
                target:
                  entity_id: switch.solar_inverter_export_block
              - service: notify.mobile_app_phone
                data:
                  title: "Solar curtailed"
                  message: "Inverter export fully blocked due to negative pricing forecast."
        default:
          - service: select.select_option
            target:
              entity_id: select.solar_inverter_mode
            data:
              option: "limited"
          - service: number.set_value
            target:
              entity_id: number.solar_inverter_limit_kw
            data:
              value: >-
                {{ [trigger.to_state.state | float(0), states('number.solar_inverter_limit_max') | float(15)] | min }}
          - service: notify.mobile_app_phone
            data:
              title: "Solar limit updated"
              message: >-
                Inverter capped at {{ trigger.to_state.state | float(0) | round(2) }} kW
                to follow HAEO recommendation.

What this automation does

1. Trigger: Monitors sensor.haeo_solar_recommended_power for new curtailment values.
2. Conditions: Validates the recommendation and checks actual solar output.
3. Actions: Either blocks export entirely when the recommendation is near zero, or sets a numeric cap via inverter entities and notifies you.

Customization options

• Replace the inverter entities with services from your specific hardware vendor.
• Add for: options on the trigger to debounce brief fluctuations.
• Combine with grid price sensors to only curtail when export prices go negative.

Best practices

Safely apply optimization recommendations

• Always confirm sensor.haeo_network_optimization_status shows success before writing recommendations to hardware.
• Compare the recommendation against live feedback sensors such as sensor.haeo_battery_power to detect drift or actuator limits.
• Use choose blocks to define fallback behaviors when recommendations exceed your safety thresholds.
• Keep a manual override helper (for example, input_boolean.haeo_manual_override) and add it as a condition to skip automations when you need manual control.

Handle frequent optimization result changes

• Add for: options to state triggers or use templates that ignore small deltas to avoid thrashing hardware.
• Persist the last applied value in an input_number and only write a new setpoint when the change is meaningful.
• Rate-limit notifications with automation trace insights to make sure informative alerts are not muted by constant updates.
• Group related actions with the script.turn_on service so multiple automations share the same debounce logic.

Protect real hardware

• Enforce min and max limits using dedicated number entities exposed by your inverter or charger.
• Add a final verification step that confirms the actuator accepted the change (for example, compare sensor.haeo_battery_power after a short delay).
• Log every applied recommendation to the Logbook so you can audit changes if the device misbehaves.
• During commissioning, keep automations in "monitor only" mode by replacing actuator calls with notifications until you are confident in the behavior.

Troubleshooting

Automation not triggering

Check these common issues:

1. Entity ID typo: Verify exact sensor entity IDs in Developer Tools → States
2. State format: Some sensors use strings ("success"), others use numbers (50.5)
3. Trigger conditions: Ensure the trigger actually changes to the specified value
4. Automation disabled: Check that the automation toggle is on

Getting the current state value

Use Developer Tools → States to inspect sensor values:

sensor.haeo_network_optimization_status: "success"
sensor.haeo_battery_recommended_power: 3.2
sensor.haeo_battery_power: 3.0
sensor.haeo_solar_recommended_power: 4.5

Debugging with traces

Enable automation traces to see execution history:

1. Go to Settings → Automations & Scenes
2. Click on your automation
3. Click the three dots → "Traces"
4. Review the execution path and variable values

Additional resources

• Home Assistant Automation Documentation
• Template Documentation
• HAEO Sensor Reference
• Optimization Status Values

Need help?

If you have questions or need help creating automations:

• Check the HAEO GitHub Discussions
• Review existing automation examples from the community
• Ask in the Home Assistant Community forums with the haeo tag