The previous alpha version has been tested with a small group of users. This project will now move to an open beta. The driver supports the discovery of Philips Hue Hubs on your local network as well as devices that are connected. There are a few portions that are still a work in progress given the evolution of the Edge framework. Here are the top level features:
Features:
Import Rooms and Zones defined in the Hue app and allow group level control. No more popcorn effect
Import individual lights (needs to be enabled in settings)
Import motion sensors (needs to be enabled in settings, work in progress currently sensing temperature and illuminance)
Import switches and buttons (needs to be enabled in settings, work in progress)
Access to scenes defined in the Hue app for use with rooms/zones
Access to lighting effects (candle, fire, etc) for use with individual lights (needs to be enabled in settings)
Access to a alerts/blinking for use in notification automations. This can only run for 15 second intervals due to the design within Hue. Works with rooms/zones/lights (needs to be enabled in settings)
Color and color temperature control of rooms/zones/light via automations
Ability to prevent deleted devices from being rediscovered (needs to be enabled in settings)
Known Issues:
Changes made outside of ST, such as in the Hue app, take some amount of time to sync up. This can be expedited by refreshing the device of interest, or the Hub device
The Hue scenes API produces a very large amount of data. If you have too many scenes on your hub, it will cause the driver to crash and restart in a loop. This currently cannot be avoided. If it occurs, the fix is to remove some scenes within the Hue app itself. The symptom associated with this will be complete unresponsiveness of the driver. This should not be confused with slowness.
To install the driver, enroll in the beta channel via this invite, and install the Hue driver. Then discover new devices within ST and they should appear. For discovery, put the Hue hub into pairing mode by pressing the button on top. This can be done just before or during discovery. After you discover the Hue hub, you do not need to put it in pairing mode to find additional devices, just for the initial connection to the hub itself. If you have many devices, you may need to go through discovery multiple times due to limits in the number of devices we can create in a single discovery session. You do not need to put the hub into pairing mode each time.
Sensor Device (Coming Soon)
Works other than motion. Get temp and light level updates for use in automations. Motion sensors can also be enabled/disabled.
There was an issue with the original invite link and it was linking to the wrong channel. The original post has been fixed. Please use this link if you previously used the original.
Just trying this now and canât discover any devices using the âscan nearbyâ function. I can see the driver is installed correctly on the ST hub.
Do I need to delete the existing Hue devices and hubs from ST first?
I am asking you before I do that, as I have quite a few devices and associated routines, so donât want to risk a mass deletion if in fact I am doing something else wrong. Thanks!
I was working on the driver and forgot the most important part in the directions. You need to press the button on your hue hub to put it in pairing mode. I updated the directions above:
What affect will putting the hub into pairing mode have on existing Hue devices? Again, quite a few existing devices, and while Iâd love to add the rooms and scenes in, I donât want it to mess up the devices and routines I already have set.
It should not effect them. It is a security feature of the Hue system that allows it to be controlled by third parties. The driver is designed to run alongside the existing Hue integration if desired. Discovery of lights is disabled by default in the settings for this reason. You later have the option to enable it if you want to remove the ST implementation
Thanks I have it working now and itâs great. So much easier to import a group from Hue, rather than a load of individual lights into ST. It also is a lot faster, and no âpopcornâ as you say.
One immediate thought/request - can a dimmer slider be added, as is available in the Hue app? Using your new driver I can switch on/off, play a favourite, use an effect, but not dim:
Also just doing some tinkering and noticed in a Routine I am unable to play a favourite - when I select it in the routine, rather than a menu to pick which favourite I want, I get a blank text box
Itâs a text field and you need to type in the name of the scene. Case doesnât matter. ST will not currently allow that menu to be presented in routines.
Thank you so much for this driver - I was right on the edge of the 200 device and routine limits and now⌠plenty to spare
Way fewer and simpler routines, no actual bulbs in ST, all scenes now handled by Hue and virtually no need for Smart Lighting either. All this and faster, smoother and inclusive transitions!
That is what I call a result - even if it has taken all day , canât wait for the inclusion of motion and buttons
(If there is any chance of a refresh option to update favourites, that would be the icing on the cake!)
Refreshing the room/zone should pull over the latest scenes. It will also occasionally pull them over by itself to stay in sync. I have seen a refresh bug in ST where the event is sent, but the driver is never called. If it isnât working, you may be hitting that. That issue is true for all drivers, not just this one.
So if I install this what happens to what I currently have installed. I have the hue hub already on my ST and have all of you bulbs from hue over on ST too. What happens to all of them and what they are all associated with ( automations etc )
@blueyetisoftware When you say refresh is this a scan for new devices?
I am not seeing scenes being updated without first deleting the Room/Zone prior to scan. I have all discovery options checked on the Hubs except for lights. I am running driver version:
Refreshing a device in ST can be done by going into the detail view of a device and performing a pull-to-refresh. If you do that to a room/zone device, it will look for the latest scenes. If you donât do anything, it should automatically sync them every hour. The scenes API is very data intensive, so the syncing is setup to be pretty lazy for now.
I actually have a version that allows you to control the dimmer and color. The issue is that Hue will not report it back to ST, so the status is inaccurate. Since it is a group of lights, there isnât a single brightness or color value to report back.
So it can be controlled, but the status isnât accurate when you have multiple lights with different settings. I have been thinking about a reasonable way to set the status for a group. Currently thinking of using the average brightness and color. Itâs a lot of work to manage though, so I want to make sure itâs worth it.
Yes. It will be available on individual lights soon. Not all bulbs support color and Iâm looking for a clean way to support those that do without cluttering the UI for those that donât.
Thnak you!!
When controlling on the dimmerswitch or hue app, the status (ON, OFF) is not refreshed on st.
Lighting on HUE app â>> ST app status continuous off (doesnât match.)
Lighting off HUE app â>> ST app status off (match.)
Lighting on ST app â>> HUE app status on (match.)
Lighting off ST app â>> HUE app status off (match.)
Lighting on HUE dial switch â>> HUE app status on (match.), ST app status off (doesnât match)
, canât wait for the inclusion of motion and buttons 
