Free integration: automate Shabbat + trying to unlock Samsung fridge "Sabbath mode" via API (looking for testers)

Devices & Integrations Connected Things
1

Hi all,

I built a free SmartThings Schema Connector called Shabbat Switch — it creates a virtual switch that turns on automatically a few minutes before candle-lighting and off after Havdalah. All the timing comes from the Hebcal API, which calculates the actual astronomical candle-lighting and Havdalah times for your specific location (not a fixed weekly schedule) — it also correctly handles Yom Tov, including standalone mid-week holidays and multi-day chagim that run straight into Shabbat, as one continuous period. Useful for anyone who wants to trigger their own Routines (lights, plugs, etc.) around Shabbat/Yom Tov without manual scheduling. It’s free, self-hosted on my own AWS account, and works for anyone via a simple invite link — no coding needed on your end.

What I’m actually posting about: I’m now extending it to also control a Samsung fridge/freezer’s Sabbath mode directly (samsungce.sabbathMode), since that capability isn’t exposed to SmartThings Routines at all. I’ve fully built and tested the mechanism — OAuth device-scope authorization, token refresh, and sending the actual on/off command via the Devices API all work correctly, verified against a real device.

The catch: I know from this community that Samsung has been observed to explicitly disable this exact capability server-side on some models (returns 422/NOT_FOUND even though it’s visibly listed) — the Dacor-branded units seem to be a known case of this. I don’t yet know how widespread that restriction is across the rest of the Samsung fridge/freezer lineup.

So I’m looking for a few people with different Samsung fridge/freezer models to try it and report back whether it actually works for their specific model. If you’re interested:

  1. Use the invite link below, sign into your SmartThings account
  2. Set your candle-lighting/Havdalah offsets (or skip if you just want the fridge part)
  3. On the fridge-connection step, select your fridge if it shows up
  4. Reply here with your model number and whether Sabbath mode actually toggled

:link: SmartThings Channel and Drivers

One tip that’ll save you a headache: open this link in a real browser (Safari/Chrome), not inside Facebook/Messenger/Instagram’s built-in in-app browser if you’re clicking through from one of those apps. In-app browsers often break OAuth logins partway through (a known issue with embedded WebViews) - one tester hit a confusing “could not connect to account” error every time from Messenger’s browser, and it worked immediately once he switched to a real browser.

Appreciate any data points, even “didn’t work” ones — that’s useful too for mapping which models are actually usable via the API.

2

This is amazing! I don’t have a smartthings fridge, but the basic start stop Shabbas switch is great! I currently have a virtual switch that turns on and off via a raspberry pi application that knows the start and stop time. I’d much rather use this! Is this going to end up costing money with the changes coming soon by Samsung and using external api?

Regarding feedback for your driver, it did find my Samsung robot vacuum during the selection process. I’m not sure if that is something you intended.

Any chance you know if a way we can turn on / off Shabbas mode for a ge fridge? Right know I have virtual buttons triggering Google scenes, triggering ifttt, triggering GE!

3

Send you a PM

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i have fridge rm70f63rew can you send me permission?

5

The invite link had ended - it only lasts 30 days. Here’s a new invite link:

invitations.smartthings.com/schemaApp/b127a0f3-98d3-402a-80a7-84fdd6fcc768

Heads up - I haven’t tested this specifically on the RM70F63 model yet, so I honestly don’t know if it’ll work (Samsung disables the Sabbath mode capability server-side on some models, even when it looks available). Would be great if you could try it and report back either way - that helps map out which models actually work.

Let me know if you have any issues!

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Hi. Does this work with Dacor column fridge and freezer? Specifically DRR36980RAP/DA and DRZ36980LAP/DA.

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Hi! Honestly, Dacor units are exactly the category I’d be most cautious about. During my own research building this, I found reports of Samsung explicitly disabling the samsungce.sabbathMode capability server-side on some Dacor-branded models specifically - it can show up as present in the API but return a NOT_FOUND-style error when you actually try to command it, even though it’s visibly listed.

I haven’t tested your exact models (DRR36980RAP/DA or DRZ36980LAP/DA) myself, so I can’t say for certain either way - it’s possible your specific units aren’t affected, since this seems to vary by model/firmware rather than being a blanket Dacor restriction.

The only way to know for sure is to try it - it’s free and takes a couple of minutes. If it turns out to be blocked on your units, you’ll likely see the switch/basic automation work fine, but the fridge command specifically will just silently fail (nothing will happen to the fridge, no harm done). Would really appreciate you reporting back either way - that’s genuinely useful data for figuring out which Dacor models are affected.

8

Can you add multiple devices to your Shabbos switch? Because I don’t see that option.

Also after you install the shabbos switch, if you click power on, does that mean the switch is sabbath mode is supposed to be on (testing during weekday) or do you need to wait til candle lighting Friday?

Lastly, does this include Yom Tov?

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Is there any guidance you can give me to get Samsung to add it? Or specific verbiage for Samsung support

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Great questions, let me go through each:

Multiple devices - Shabbat Switch itself is a single virtual switch, not a multi-device picker. The way it’s meant to work: you connect it to whatever other devices you want automated (lights, plugs, etc.) using SmartThings’ own Routines feature - something like “when Shabbat Switch turns on, turn on these lights” - completely separate from my integration. The Samsung fridge is the one exception and gets handled differently: samsungce.sabbathMode isn’t exposed to SmartThings Routines at all, so for the fridge specifically, my integration talks directly to it via its own connection rather than through a Routine like everything else.

Testing during the week - yes, tapping the switch on manually does the real thing immediately, not just a cosmetic display change. If you have a fridge connected, tapping “on” will actually send the real Sabbath-mode-on command to it right away, any day of the week - it’s not waiting for Friday to “arm.” So it’s totally fine to test, just know that a manual “on” tap is genuinely activating things for real, not simulating.

Yom Tov - yes, this is covered, including multi-day cases that run straight into Shabbat (like Rosh Hashana this year, which starts Friday and runs through Sunday night) - it’s treated as one continuous period, not separate on/off cycles.

On getting Samsung to add support - honestly, this is trickier since it looks like a deliberate restriction on their end rather than a bug, so I can’t promise it’ll work, but it’s worth trying both angles. For the hardware/product side, I’d contact Samsung’s own consumer support directly (Contact Us | Official Samsung Support US) with your fridge’s exact model number, and specifically ask them to enable the samsungce.sabbathMode capability for your unit - mention that it’s visible in the SmartThings API but returns a NOT_FOUND-style error when commanded, and that it works fine on other Samsung models. Framing it as “this feature is present but non-functional on my unit” rather than a general feature request might get further, since it’s arguably a defect for your specific unit rather than a design change.

Worth also trying SmartThings’ own developer support (Contact Us - SmartThings Developers) - I actually used this exact form for a different issue recently and got a real, helpful response from their team, so it’s a legitimate channel, not a dead end. It’s possible this restriction lives more on the platform/API side than the hardware side, so it may be worth them investigating too. No guarantees either way, but worth a shot on both fronts.