Skill: Automation Debugging

Purpose

Systematically diagnose and fix broken Home Assistant automations using a structured troubleshooting approach.

When to Use

• Automations not firing as expected
• Automations firing at wrong times
• Automation actions failing silently
• Entity state not updating as expected
• Template/condition logic producing unexpected results

Debugging Workflow

Step 1: Reproduce the Issue

1. Identify the automation ID: automation.<name>
2. Check current state: Developer Tools → States → find entity
3. Check last triggered: Developer Tools → States → last_triggered attribute
4. Manually trigger: Developer Tools → Automations → three dots → Trigger

Step 2: Check Triggers

Common trigger issues:
- State trigger waiting for wrong value (on/off vs true/false)
- Time-based triggers with wrong format (24h, no timezone)
- Template trigger syntax errors
- Event trigger missing event_type or event_data

Verify:

• Trigger values match actual entity states
• Time formats are correct ("23:30:00", not "11:30 PM")
• Template triggers have valid Jinja2 syntax
• Event triggers match actual event payloads

Step 3: Check Conditions

Common condition issues:
- State condition checking wrong entity
- Time condition with inverted before/after
- Template condition returning unexpected boolean
- Numeric state condition comparing string vs int

Verify:

• Condition entities are available and have correct state
• Template conditions return true/false (not null)
• Numeric comparisons use correct types
• and vs or grouping is correct

Step 4: Check Actions

Common action issues:
- Service name typo (light.turn_on vs light.turnON)
- Target entity doesn't exist
- Data template referencing wrong state attribute
- Variable scope issues in repeat/for loops

Verify:

• Service names are valid (check Developer Tools → Services)
• Target entities exist and are accessible
• Data templates evaluate correctly
• mode setting matches expected behavior (single, restart, queued)

Step 5: Check Templates

Common template issues:
- Undefined variable (missing from context)
- Wrong state attribute (state vs attributes.value)
- Type coercion issues (string "25" vs int 25)
- Jinja2 syntax errors

Test templates in Developer Tools → Templates before applying.

Logging and Diagnostics

Enable Debug Logging

logger:
  default: warn
  logs:
    homeassistant.components.automation: debug
    homeassistant.helpers.template: debug

Check Automation Log

# Check Home Assistant logs for automation errors
ha logs --log-level debug | grep automation

Use input_boolean for Testing

Create a test boolean to manually control automation flow:

input_boolean:
  automation_test_mode:
    name: 'Automation Test Mode'

Common Fix Patterns

| Issue | Fix | | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | --------------- | -------------- | | Automation not triggering | Check initial_state — may be off | | Template returning undefined | Use | default('')or | int(0) filter | | State trigger not firing | Check actual state value in States panel | | Action fails silently | Add mode: restart or mode: queued | | Time trigger wrong timezone | Set time_zone in homeassistant: config | | Condition always true | Check and/or grouping with parentheses |

Output Format

Debug Results for automation.kitchen_night_light:

❌ ISSUE (trigger): State trigger expects "on" but sensor reports "active"
⚠️  WARNING (condition): Template references undefined variable 'states.sensor.kitchen_humidity'
ℹ️  INFO: Automation mode is 'single' — rapid triggers will be ignored

FIX:
- Change trigger to: to: "active"
- Add null check: {{ states('sensor.kitchen_humidity') | default(0) > 60 }}
- Consider mode: 'restart' if rapid triggers are expected

Notes

• Always test changes in Developer Tools → YAML Configuration → Reload before restarting
• Call action: automation.trigger to test without waiting for real conditions
• Template debugging is the #1 source of automation issues — test templates in isolation first