A nightstand noise generator based on M5Stack Atom Echo and integrating with Home Assistant
button entity now shows idle/short/long/double instead of "Unknown"
Switch the button discovery from `event` to `sensor`. Event entities
are designed for fire-and-forget transient triggers and don't carry a
meaningful "current state", so the device card was always showing
"Unknown" — useless for a glance at what just happened.
The sensor entity holds a stable resting value of "idle". On a
gesture, firmware publishes the event_type briefly (non-retained), and
the network task schedules a retained "idle" republish 800ms later
so the card snaps back to rest. Existing MQTT-trigger automations
(payload `{"event_type":"short"}` etc.) keep working unchanged — same
topic, same payload, just bracketed by idle states.
The retired-entities list now also clears the old `event` discovery
config so HA drops the placeholder entity automatically on first boot
of the new firmware.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
+64
-11
+7
-3
firmware/src/discovery.rs
+7
-3
firmware/src/discovery.rs
···
40
40
}
41
41
42
42
fn button(device_id: &str, topic_prefix: &str, avail: &str, sw_version: &str) -> DiscoveryEntry {
43
-
let topic = format!("homeassistant/event/{device_id}/button/config");
43
+
// Sensor (not event) entity. State values: idle / short / long / double.
44
+
// The firmware publishes "idle" retained on connect and again ~800 ms
45
+
// after each gesture, so the entity has a stable resting state instead
46
+
// of the "Unknown" event entities show.
47
+
let topic = format!("homeassistant/sensor/{device_id}/button/config");
44
48
let payload = format!(
45
49
concat!(
46
50
r#"{{"name":"Button","unique_id":"{device_id}_button","#,
47
51
r#""state_topic":"{topic_prefix}/button","#,
48
-
r#""event_types":["short","double","long"],"#,
49
52
r#""value_template":"{{{{ value_json.event_type }}}}","#,
53
+
r#""icon":"mdi:gesture-tap-button","#,
50
54
r#""device":{{"identifiers":["{device_id}"],"name":"Nightstand","#,
51
55
r#""manufacturer":"guid.foo","model":"Sound Machine","sw_version":"{sw_version}"}},"#,
52
56
r#""availability_topic":"{avail}"}}"#,
···
128
132
let entries = all("aabbccddeeff", "0.2.0");
129
133
assert_eq!(entries.len(), 4);
130
134
let topics: Vec<&str> = entries.iter().map(|e| e.topic.as_str()).collect();
131
-
assert!(topics.contains(&"homeassistant/event/nightstand_aabbccddeeff/button/config"));
135
+
assert!(topics.contains(&"homeassistant/sensor/nightstand_aabbccddeeff/button/config"));
132
136
assert!(topics.contains(&"homeassistant/switch/nightstand_aabbccddeeff/white_noise/config"));
133
137
assert!(topics.contains(&"homeassistant/number/nightstand_aabbccddeeff/volume/config"));
134
138
assert!(topics.contains(&"homeassistant/sensor/nightstand_aabbccddeeff/uptime/config"));
+57
-8
firmware/src/network.rs
+57
-8
firmware/src/network.rs
···
208
208
let mut last_snapshot: Option<StateSnapshot> = None;
209
209
let mut online = false;
210
210
let boot_at = Instant::now();
211
+
// After publishing a button gesture, set this to "now + reset window" so
212
+
// we know to publish a retained "idle" once the deadline lapses. The
213
+
// sensor-style button entity in HA needs a stable resting state to show
214
+
// instead of the "Unknown" of the old event entity.
215
+
let mut button_idle_at: Option<Instant> = None;
211
216
212
217
info!("network task: entering main loop");
213
218
214
219
loop {
215
-
let msg = match msg_rx.recv() {
216
-
Some(m) => m,
217
-
None => {
218
-
warn!("network task: queue receive returned none unexpectedly");
219
-
continue;
220
+
// Wait for either a queued message or, if a button reset is pending,
221
+
// the moment we owe an idle publish.
222
+
let msg = match button_idle_at {
223
+
Some(deadline) => {
224
+
let wait = deadline.saturating_duration_since(Instant::now());
225
+
msg_rx.recv_timeout(wait)
226
+
}
227
+
None => msg_rx.recv(),
228
+
};
229
+
230
+
let Some(msg) = msg else {
231
+
// Timed out -> button idle deadline lapsed.
232
+
if online {
233
+
publish_button_idle(&mut client, &button_topic);
220
234
}
235
+
button_idle_at = None;
236
+
continue;
221
237
};
238
+
222
239
match msg {
223
240
NetTaskMsg::Connected => {
224
241
info!("MQTT connected");
···
228
245
&mut client,
229
246
&avail_topic,
230
247
&state_topic,
248
+
&button_topic,
231
249
&cmd_filter,
232
250
&mac_hex,
233
251
sw_version,
···
242
260
}
243
261
NetTaskMsg::Outbound(OutboundEvent::Button(e)) => {
244
262
handle_outbound_button(e, online, &mut client, &button_topic, &audio_tx);
263
+
if online {
264
+
button_idle_at =
265
+
Some(Instant::now() + Duration::from_millis(BUTTON_IDLE_AFTER_MS));
266
+
}
245
267
}
246
268
NetTaskMsg::Outbound(OutboundEvent::State(snap)) => {
247
269
last_snapshot = Some(snap);
···
252
274
}
253
275
}
254
276
}
277
+
278
+
/// How long the button entity holds a gesture state before snapping back
279
+
/// to "idle". Long enough for HA automations to fire on the transition,
280
+
/// short enough that the device card always feels at-rest.
281
+
const BUTTON_IDLE_AFTER_MS: u64 = 800;
255
282
256
283
/// Outbound forwarder: blocking-receive `OutboundEvent` from the rest of the
257
284
/// firmware, re-emit as `NetTaskMsg::Outbound` for the state thread.
···
385
412
client: &mut EspMqttClient<'_>,
386
413
avail_topic: &str,
387
414
state_topic: &str,
415
+
button_topic: &str,
388
416
cmd_filter: &str,
389
417
mac_hex: &str,
390
418
sw_version: &str,
···
399
427
// retained payload on a discovery topic is the documented "remove this
400
428
// entity" signal. Add to this list whenever we remove an entity so the
401
429
// broker stops carrying its retained config.
402
-
let retired = [format!(
403
-
"homeassistant/sensor/nightstand_{mac_hex}/rssi/config"
404
-
)];
430
+
let retired = [
431
+
// v0.2.0 dropped the diagnostic RSSI sensor.
432
+
format!("homeassistant/sensor/nightstand_{mac_hex}/rssi/config"),
433
+
// v0.2.1 changed the button from `event` (no resting state) to
434
+
// `sensor` (idle/short/long/double).
435
+
format!("homeassistant/event/nightstand_{mac_hex}/button/config"),
436
+
];
405
437
for topic in &retired {
406
438
if let Err(e) = client.publish(topic, QoS::AtLeastOnce, true, b"") {
407
439
warn!("publish retired-entity removal {topic} failed: {e}");
···
419
451
}
420
452
}
421
453
454
+
// Seed the button sensor with a retained "idle" so reconnecting clients
455
+
// (and HA on first discovery) see a stable resting state.
456
+
publish_button_idle(client, button_topic);
457
+
422
458
if let Some(snap) = last_snapshot {
423
459
publish_state(client, state_topic, snap, boot_at);
424
460
}
425
461
426
462
if let Err(e) = client.subscribe(cmd_filter, QoS::AtLeastOnce) {
427
463
warn!("subscribe {cmd_filter} failed: {e}");
464
+
}
465
+
}
466
+
467
+
/// Publish a retained "idle" state to the button topic. Called on connect
468
+
/// and after the BUTTON_IDLE_AFTER_MS window following any gesture.
469
+
fn publish_button_idle(client: &mut EspMqttClient<'_>, button_topic: &str) {
470
+
if let Err(e) = client.publish(
471
+
button_topic,
472
+
QoS::AtLeastOnce,
473
+
true,
474
+
br#"{"event_type":"idle"}"#,
475
+
) {
476
+
warn!("publish button idle failed: {e}");
428
477
}
429
478
}
430
479