Routines - Can they be put on hold or "disabled"?

[marathoner]

I’ve got a morning routine that launches a bunch of actions if motion is detected between certain hours. It works great. However, they are some days that I’d like to be able to “disable” the routine so that it would not execute. Is there any way to “disable” routine without simply deleting it?

[rontalley]

I would suggest using webCoRE to add whatever restriction you like such as:
If motion changes to active
And
Time is between blah blah blah
And
Switch is on (Virtual Switch)
Then
Execute Routine

You can create Virtual Switches for pretty much anything you like. In this case, the VS would be always on which allows for the Routine to execute. Whenever you turn it off, then the Routine will not execute.

You could even make another webCoRE rule to automate when the VS turns on/off!

[Automated_House (Jimmy)]

Create a mode call Automations Off and set the routine to not run in that mode.

[rontalley]

In my experience, creating Modes to disable individual automations is not advisable. Modes effect your HA in its entirety. However, that would work if you wanted to quickly set everything back to a dumb house!

[JDRoberts]

@marathoner

I’ve got a morning routine that launches a bunch of actions if motion is detected between certain hours. It works great. However, they are some days that I’d like to be able to “disable” the routine so that it would not execute. Is there any way to “disable” routine without simply deleting it?

Once we are all migrated to the new app, this option will be available. (But don’t start using the new app until support tells you directly that your account has been migrated or you can run into problems. )

Meanwhile, I think a lot of people just use modes.

Setup using SmartThings Classic

1. create a mode to represent your disable condition, calling it whatever you want to. For example some people have a mode for “guests,” some have a mode for “test’,” some have a Mode for “sick day,” etc.

FAQ: How to Add a New Location Mode, or Manually Change from One Location Mode to Another (Classic App)

on September 15, 2016, an update was released to the android and iOS smartthings mobile apps which removed the ability to add a new mode through the app. Hopefully this was just a glitch and it will be re-added soon. Meanwhile, you can still add a new mode through the IDE. Instructions in the following thread. ======================================================= Many people use modes to manage which actions are automatically triggered. To begin with, Smartthings starts you out with a few basic modes, like Home and Away. However, many people like to add additional modes. For example, I distinguish between Night, which is when we have a lot of lights turn on when there is motion, and Asleep, when the same movement will not turn on the ceiling lights, but will turn on a soft night li…

2. Then change your routine settings so that particular routine will not run in that particular mode.

3. Now create a new routine which does nothing except change to your disable condition mode.

Using your new disable condition Mode in SmartThings Classic

Now it’s simple. Anytime you want to disable your usual routines, just run the routine that changes to the disable mode. (You can also make that a widget if you want to.)

You can also use webcore if you like, but that’s sort of overkill for this particular use case If you aren’t already using it.

[marathoner]

Thanks everyone. I had considered using WebCore (I use it for other things) but I wanted to keep this Morning Routine simple so that my wife could change it if needed (she doesn’t do WebCore). I had considered using a different mode as suggest but was aware that it effected everything else as was mentioned above.

I ended up solving this by replacing the Routine with a SmartLighting Automation to do the same thing as the Routine did. I then created a mode called “Hold” and set the SmartLighting Automation to only run when in “Hold” mode (which means it won’t run and is effectively now hold). When I later want to take it out of hold-mode then I will simply which it from “Hold” mode to “Home” mode. Mission accomplished (in a rather backward way).