---
layout: page
title: "HTTP Sensor"
description: "Instructions how to integrate HTTP sensors within Home Assistant."
date: 2016-02-05 12:15
sidebar: true
comments: false
sharing: true
footer: true
logo: http.png
ha_category: Sensor
---

The URL for a sensor looks like the example below:

```bash
http://IP_ADDRESS:8123/api/states/sensor.DEVICE_NAME
```

<p class='note'>
You should choose a unique device name (DEVICE_NAME) to avoid clashes with other devices.
</p>

 The JSON payload must contain the new state and should include the unit of measurement and a friendly name. The friendly name is used in the frontend to name the sensor.

```json
{"state": "20", "attributes": {"unit_of_measurement": "°C", "friendly_name": "Bathroom Temperature"}}
```

For a quick test `curl` can be useful to "simulate" a device.

```bash
$ curl -XPOST -H "x-ha-access: YOUR_PASSWORD" \
       -d '{"state": "20", "attributes": {"unit_of_measurement": "°C", "friendly_name": "Bathroom Temp"}}' \
       http://localhost:8123/api/states/sensor.bathroom_temperature
```

Use again `curl` to retrieve the [current state](/developers/rest_api/#get-apistatesltentity_id) to check if the sensor is working.

```bash
$ curl -X GET -H "x-ha-access: YOUR_PASSWORD" \
        http://localhost:8123/api/states/sensor.bathroom_temperature
{
    "attributes": {
        "friendly_name": "Bathroom Temp",
        "unit_of_measurement": "\u00b0C"
    },
    "entity_id": "sensor.bathroom_temperature",
    "last_changed": "09:46:17 06-02-2016",
    "last_updated": "09:48:46 06-02-2016",
    "state": "20"
}
```

For more examples please visit the [HTTP Binary Sensor](/components/binary_sensor.http/#examples) page.
