home-assistant.io/source/_integrations/command_line.markdown

title	description	ha_category	ha_release	ha_iot_class	ha_domain	ha_platforms	ha_integration_type	ha_codeowners	related	ha_quality_scale
Command line	Instructions on how to integrate the command line utility within Home Assistant.	Binary sensor Cover Notifications Sensor Utility	0.12	Local Polling	command_line	binary_sensor cover notify sensor switch	integration	@gjohansson-ST	docs title /docs/configuration/ Configuration file	legacy

The Command line {% term integration %} offers functionality that issues specific commands to get data or to control a device.

{% tip %} It's highly recommended to enclose the command in single quotes ' as it ensures all characters can be used in the command and reduces the risk of unintentional escaping. To include a single quote in a command enclosed in single quotes, double it: ''. {% endtip %}

{% configuration %} command_line: description: The platforms to use for you command_line integration. required: true type: list keys: binary_sensor: description: Binary sensor platform. required: false type: map keys: command: description: The action to take to get the value. required: true type: template command_timeout: description: Defines number of seconds for command timeout. required: false type: integer default: 15 device_class: description: Sets the class of the device, changing the device state and icon that is displayed on the frontend. required: false type: string name: description: Let you overwrite the name of the device. required: false type: string default: "Binary Command Sensor" icon: description: Defines a template for the icon of the entity. required: false type: template payload_on: description: The payload that represents enabled state. required: false type: string default: 'ON' unique_id: description: An ID that uniquely identifies this binary sensor. Set this to a unique value to allow customization through the UI. required: false type: string payload_off: description: The payload that represents disabled state. required: false type: string default: 'OFF' value_template: description: Defines a template to extract a value from the payload. required: false type: string availability: description: Defines a template to get the available state of the entity. If the template either fails to render or returns True, "1", "true", "yes", "on", "enable", or a non-zero number, the entity will be available. If the template returns any other value, the entity will be unavailable. If not configured, the entity will always be available. Note that string comparisons are not case sensitive; "TrUe" and "yEs" are allowed. required: false type: template default: true scan_interval: description: Define time in seconds between each update. required: false type: integer default: 60 cover: description: Cover platform. required: false type: map keys: command_close: description: The action to close the cover. required: true default: true type: string command_open: description: The command to open the cover. required: true default: true type: string command_state: description: If given, this will act as a sensor that runs in the background and updates the state of the cover. If the command returns a 0 the indicates the cover is fully closed, whereas a 100 indicates the cover is fully open. required: false type: string command_stop: description: The action to stop the cover. required: true default: true type: string command_timeout: description: Defines number of seconds for command timeout. required: false type: integer default: 15 device_class: description: Sets the class of the device, changing the device state and icon that is displayed on the frontend. required: false type: string name: description: The name used to display the cover in the frontend. required: true type: string icon: description: Defines a template for the icon of the entity. required: false type: template
unique_id: description: An ID that uniquely identifies this cover. Set this to a unique value to allow customization through the UI. required: false type: string value_template: description: if specified, command_state will ignore the result code of the command but the template evaluating will indicate the position of the cover. For example, if your command_state returns a string "open", using value_template as in the example configuration above will allow you to translate that into the valid state 100. required: false type: template availability: description: Defines a template to get the available state of the entity. If the template either fails to render or returns True, "1", "true", "yes", "on", "enable", or a non-zero number, the entity will be available. If the template returns any other value, the entity will be unavailable. If not configured, the entity will always be available. Note that string comparisons are not case sensitive; "TrUe" and "yEs" are allowed. required: false type: template default: true scan_interval: description: Define time in seconds between each update. required: false type: integer default: 15 notify: description: Notify platform. required: false type: map keys: name: description: Setting the optional parameter name allows multiple notifiers to be created. The notifier will bind to the notify.NOTIFIER_NAME action. required: false default: notify type: string command: description: The action to take. required: true type: string command_timeout: description: Defines number of seconds for command timeout. required: false type: integer default: 15 sensor: description: Sensor platform. required: false type: map keys: command: description: The action to take to get the value. required: true type: template command_timeout: description: Defines number of seconds for command timeout required: false type: integer default: 15 json_attributes: description: Defines a list of keys to extract values from a JSON dictionary result and then set as sensor attributes. required: false type: [string, list] json_attributes_path: description: A JSONPath that references the location of the json_attributes in the JSON content. required: false type: string name: description: Name of the command sensor. required: false type: string default: "Command Sensor" icon: description: Defines a template for the icon of the entity. required: false type: template unique_id: description: An ID that uniquely identifies this sensor. Set this to a unique value to allow customization through the UI. required: false type: string unit_of_measurement: description: Defines the unit of measurement of the sensor, if any. required: false type: string value_template: description: "Defines a template to extract a value from the payload." required: false type: string availability: description: Defines a template to get the available state of the entity. If the template either fails to render or returns True, "1", "true", "yes", "on", "enable", or a non-zero number, the entity will be available. If the template returns any other value, the entity will be unavailable. If not configured, the entity will always be available. Note that string comparisons are not case sensitive; "TrUe" and "yEs" are allowed. required: false type: template default: true device_class: description: Sets the class of the device, changing the device state and icon that is displayed on the UI (see below). It does not set the unit_of_measurement. required: false type: device_class default: None state_class: description: "The state_class of the sensor." required: false type: string default: None scan_interval: description: Define time in seconds between each update. required: false type: integer default: 60 device_class: description: Sets the class of the device, changing the device state and icon that is displayed on the UI (see below). It does not set the unit_of_measurement. required: false type: device_class state_class: description: "The state_class of the sensor. This will display the value based on the Number Format defined in the user profile." required: false type: string switch: description: Switch platform. required: false type: map keys: command_on: description: The action to take for on. required: true type: string command_off: description: The action to take for off. required: true type: string command_state: description: "If given, this command will be run. Returning a result code 0 will indicate that the switch is on." required: false type: string command_timeout: description: Defines number of seconds for command timeout. required: false type: integer default: 15 name: description: The name used to display the switch in the frontend. required: true type: string icon: description: Defines a template for the icon of the entity. required: false type: template unique_id: description: An ID that uniquely identifies this switch. Set this to a unique value to allow customization through the UI. required: false type: string value_template: description: "If specified, command_state will ignore the result code of the command but the template evaluating to true will indicate the switch is on." required: false type: string availability: description: Defines a template to get the available state of the entity. If the template either fails to render or returns True, "1", "true", "yes", "on", "enable", or a non-zero number, the entity will be available. If the template returns any other value, the entity will be unavailable. If not configured, the entity will always be available. Note that string comparisons are not case sensitive; "TrUe" and "yEs" are allowed. required: false type: template default: true scan_interval: description: Define time in seconds between each update. required: false type: integer default: 30 {% endconfiguration %}

{% note %} For sensors, while value_template is optional, if you set json_attributes because the output is a JSON, it is suggested to provide a template in the value_template field to provide a state to the sensor or the state will always be unknown. See example below. {% endnote %}

Troubleshooting

As Command line {% term integration %} is a yaml only integration, turning on extended logging needs to be done by setting the logging information in your {% term "configuration.yaml" %} file.

Entering this example in your configuration sets the default logging to info, and for command_line to debug. Once done, restart Home Assistant to enable.

{% raw %}

# Set logging
logger:
  default: info
  logs:
    homeassistant.components.command_line: debug

{% endraw%}

{% note %}

While command is accepting a template for sensor and binary_sensor, it's only the arguments that can be a template. This means the command name itself cannot be generated by a template, but it must be literally provided.

{% endnote %}

{% include integrations/using_templates.md %}

Binary sensor

To use your Command binary sensor in your installation, add the following to your {% term "configuration.yaml" %} file:

{% raw %}

# Example configuration.yaml entry
command_line:
  - binary_sensor:
      command: "cat /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward"
  - binary_sensor:
      command: "echo 1"

{% endraw%}

Cover

A command_linecover platform that issues specific commands when it is moved up, down and stopped. It allows anyone to integrate any type of cover into Home Assistant that can be controlled from the command line.

To enable a command line cover in your installation, add the following to your {% term "configuration.yaml" %} file:

{% raw %}

# Example configuration.yaml entry
command_line:
  - cover:
      command_open: move_command up garage
      command_close: move_command down garage
      command_stop: move_command stop garage
      name: Garage

{% endraw%}

Notify

The command_line platform allows you to use external tools for notifications from Home Assistant. The message will be passed in as STDIN.

To enable those notifications in your installation, add the following to your {% term "configuration.yaml" %} file:

{% raw %}

# Example configuration.yaml entry
command_line:
  - notify:
      command: "espeak -vmb/mb-us1"

{% endraw%}

To use notifications, please see the getting started with automation page.

Sensor

To enable it, add the following lines to your {% term "configuration.yaml" %}:

{% raw %}

# Example configuration.yaml entry
command_line:
  - sensor:
      command: SENSOR_COMMAND
  - sensor:
      command: SENSOR_COMMAND_2

{% endraw%}

Switch

The command_line switch platform issues specific commands when it is turned on and off. This might very well become our most powerful platform as it allows anyone to integrate any type of switch into Home Assistant that can be controlled from the command line, including calling other scripts!

To enable it, add the following lines to your {% term "configuration.yaml" %}:

{% raw %}

# Example configuration.yaml entry
command_line:
  - switch:
      name: Kitchen Light
      command_on: switch_command on kitchen
      command_off: switch_command off kitchen

{% endraw%}

{% note %}

A note on name for cover and switch:

The use of friendly_name and object_id has been deprecated and the slugified name will also be used as identifier.

Use unique_id to enable changing the name from the UI and if required, use the slugified name as identifier.

{% endnote %}

Execution

The command is executed within the configuration directory.

{% note %}

If you are using Home Assistant Operating System, the commands are executed in the homeassistant container context. So if you test or debug your script, it might make sense to do this in the context of this container to get the same runtime environment.

{% endnote %}

With a 0 exit code, the output (stdout) of the command is used as value. In case a command results in a non 0 exit code or is terminated by the command_timeout, the result is only logged to Home Assistant log and the sensors value is not updated.

Examples binary sensor platform

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

SickRage

Check the state of an SickRage instance.

{% raw %}

# Example configuration.yaml entry
command_line:
  - binary_sensor:
      command: 'netstat -na | find "33322" | find /c "LISTENING" > nul && (echo "Running") || (echo "Not running")'
      name: "sickragerunning"
      device_class: moving
      payload_on: "Running"
      payload_off: "Not running"

{% endraw%}

Check RasPlex

Check if RasPlex is online.

{% raw %}

command_line:
  - binary_sensor:
      command: 'ping -c 1 rasplex.local | grep "1 received" | wc -l'
      name: "is_rasplex_online"
      device_class: connectivity
      payload_on: 1
      payload_off: 0

{% endraw%}

An alternative solution could look like this:

{% raw %}

command_line:
  - binary_sensor:
      name: Printer
      command: 'ping -W 1 -c 1 192.168.1.10 > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo success || echo fail'
      device_class: connectivity
      payload_on: "success"
      payload_off: "fail"

{% endraw%}

Consider to use the ping sensor as an alternative to the samples above.

Check if a system service is running

The services running is listed in /etc/systemd/system and can be checked with the systemctl command:

{% raw %}

$ systemctl is-active home-assistant@rock64.service
active
$ sudo service home-assistant@rock64.service stop
$ systemctl is-active home-assistant@rock64.service
inactive

{% endraw%}

A binary command line sensor can check this:

{% raw %}

command_line:
  - binary_sensor:
      command: '/bin/systemctl is-active home-assistant@rock64.service'
      payload_on: "active"
      payload_off: "inactive"

{% endraw%}

Example cover platform

{% raw %}

# Example configuration.yaml entry
command_line:
  - cover:
      name: Garage door
      command_open: move_command up garage
      command_close: move_command down garage
      command_stop: move_command stop garage
      command_state: state_command garage
      value_template: >
        {% if value == 'open' %}
        100
        {% elif value == 'closed' %}
        0
        {% endif %}

{% endraw%}

Examples sensor platform

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

CPU temperature

Thanks to the proc file system, various details about a system can be retrieved. Here the CPU temperature is of interest. Add something similar to your {% term "configuration.yaml" %} file:

{% raw %}

# Example configuration.yaml entry
command_line:
  - sensor:
      name: CPU Temperature
      command: "cat /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp"
      # If errors occur, make sure configuration file is encoded as UTF-8
      unit_of_measurement: "°C"
      value_template: "{{ value | multiply(0.001) | round(1) }}"

{% endraw%}

Monitoring failed login attempts on Home Assistant

If you'd like to know how many failed login attempts are made to Home Assistant, add the following to your {% term "configuration.yaml" %} file:

{% raw %}

# Example configuration.yaml entry
command_line:
  - sensor:
      name: Badlogin
      command: "grep -c 'Login attempt' /home/hass/.homeassistant/home-assistant.log"

{% endraw%}

Make sure to configure the Logger integration to monitor the HTTP integration at least the warning level.

{% raw %}

# Example working logger settings that works
logger:
  default: critical
  logs:
    homeassistant.components.http: warning

{% endraw%}

Details about the upstream Home Assistant release

You can see directly in the frontend (Developer tools -> About) what release of Home Assistant you are running. The Home Assistant releases are available on the Python Package Index. This makes it possible to get the current release.

{% raw %}

command_line:
  - sensor:
      command: python3 -c "import requests; print(requests.get('https://pypi.python.org/pypi/homeassistant/json').json()['info']['version'])"
      name: HA release

{% endraw%}

Read value out of a remote text file

If you own devices which are storing values in text files which are accessible over HTTP then you can use the same approach as shown in the previous section. Instead of looking at the JSON response we directly grab the sensor's value.

{% raw %}

command_line:
  - sensor:
      command: python3 -c "import requests; print(requests.get('http://remote-host/sensor_data.txt').text)"
      name: File value

{% endraw%}

Use an external script

The example is doing the same as the aREST sensor but with an external Python script. It should give you an idea about interfacing with devices which are exposing a RESTful API.

The one-line script to retrieve a value is shown below. Of course it would be possible to use this directly in the {% term "configuration.yaml" %} file but need extra care about the quotation marks.

{% raw %}

python3 -c "import requests; print(requests.get('http://10.0.0.48/analog/2').json()['return_value'])"

{% endraw%}

The script (saved as arest-value.py) that is used looks like the example below.

{% raw %}

#!/usr/bin/python3
from requests import get

response = get("http://10.0.0.48/analog/2")
print(response.json()["return_value"])

{% endraw%}

To use the script you need to add something like the following to your {% term "configuration.yaml" %} file.

{% raw %}

# Example configuration.yaml entry
command_line:
  - sensor:
      name: Brightness
      command: "python3 /path/to/script/arest-value.py"

{% endraw%}

Usage of templating in command:

Templates are supported in the command configuration variable. This could be used if you want to include the state of a specific sensor as an argument to your external script.

{% raw %}

# Example configuration.yaml entry
command_line:
  - sensor:
      name: Wind direction
      command: "sh /home/pi/.homeassistant/scripts/wind_direction.sh {{ states('sensor.wind_direction') }}"
      unit_of_measurement: "Direction"

{% endraw%}

Usage of JSON attributes in command output

The example shows how you can retrieve multiple values with one sensor (where the additional values are attributes) by using value_json and json_attributes.

{% raw %}

# Example configuration.yaml entry
command_line:
  - sensor:
      name: JSON time
      json_attributes:
        - date
        - milliseconds_since_epoch
      command: "python3 /home/pi/.homeassistant/scripts/datetime.py"
      value_template: "{{ value_json.time }}"

{% endraw%}

JSONPlaceholder provides sample JSON data for testing. In the below example, JSONPath locates the attributes in the JSON document. JSONPath Online Evaluator provides a tool to test your JSONPath.

{% raw %}

command_line:
  - sensor:
      name: JSON user
      command: python3 -c "import requests; print(requests.get('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users').text)"
      json_attributes_path: "$.[0].address"
      json_attributes:
        - street
        - suite
        - city
        - zipcode
      value_template: "{{ value_json[0].name }}"

{% endraw %}

Example switch platform

Change the icon when a state changes

This example demonstrates how to use template to change the icon as its state changes. This icon is referencing its own state.

{% raw %}

command_line:
  - switch:
      name: Driveway outside sensor
      command_on: >
        curl -X PUT -d '{"on":true}' "http://ip_address/api/sensors/27/config/"
      command_off: >
        curl -X PUT -d '{"on":false}' "http://ip_address/api/sensors/27/config/"
      command_state: curl http://ip_address/api/sensors/27/
      value_template: >
        {{value_json.config.on}}
      icon: >
        {% if value_json.config.on == true %} mdi:toggle-switch
        {% else %} mdi:toggle-switch-off
        {% endif %}

{% endraw%}

aREST device

The example below is doing the same as the aREST switch. The command line tool curl is used to toggle a pin which is controllable through REST.

{% raw %}

# Example configuration.yaml entry
command_line:
  - switch:
      command_on: "/usr/bin/curl -X GET http://192.168.1.10/digital/4/1"
      command_off: "/usr/bin/curl -X GET http://192.168.1.10/digital/4/0"
      command_state: "/usr/bin/curl -X GET http://192.168.1.10/digital/4"
      value_template: '{{ value == "1" }}'
      name: Kitchen Lightswitch

{% endraw%}

Given this example, in the UI one would see the friendly_name of "Kitchen Light". However, the identifier is arest_pin_four, making the entity_id switch.arest_pin_four, which is what one would use in automation or in API calls.

Shutdown your local host

This switch will shutdown your system that is hosting Home Assistant.

{% warning %} This switch will shutdown your host immediately, there will be no confirmation. {% endwarning %}

{% raw %}

# Example configuration.yaml entry
command_line:
  - switch:
      name: Home Assistant System Shutdown
      command_off: "/usr/sbin/poweroff"

{% endraw%}

Control your VLC player

This switch will control a local VLC media player (Source).

{% raw %}

# Example configuration.yaml entry
command_line:
  - switch:
      name: VLC
      command_on: "cvlc 1.mp3 vlc://quit &"
      command_off: "pkill vlc"

{% endraw%}

Control Foscam motion sensor

This switch will control the motion sensor of Foscam Webcams which Support CGI Commands (Source). This switch supports statecmd, which checks the current state of motion detection.

{% raw %}

# Example configuration.yaml entry
command_line:
  - switch:
      name: Foscam Motion
      command_on: 'curl -k "https://ipaddress:443/cgi-bin/CGIProxy.fcgi?cmd=setMotionDetectConfig&isEnable=1&usr=admin&pwd=password"'
      command_off: 'curl -k "https://ipaddress:443/cgi-bin/CGIProxy.fcgi?cmd=setMotionDetectConfig&isEnable=0&usr=admin&pwd=password"'
      command_state: 'curl -k --silent "https://ipaddress:443/cgi-bin/CGIProxy.fcgi?cmd=getMotionDetectConfig&usr=admin&pwd=password" | grep -oP "(?<=isEnable>).*?(?=</isEnable>)"'
      value_template: '{{ value == "1" }}'

{% endraw%}

• Replace admin and password with an "Admin" privileged Foscam user
• Replace ipaddress with the local IP address of your Foscam

Actions

Available actions: reload.

Action command_line.reload

Reload all command_line entities.

This action takes no data attributes.