home-assistant-blueprints/Outdoor_Lighting_with_Manual_Override_UniFi.yaml

blueprint:
  name: Outdoor Lighting with Manual Override ("Is Dark" mode)
  description: >
    Turns lights on when an occupancy group sensor indicates presence AND
    a UniFi Protect camera reports darkness (its built-in "Is Dark" binary
    sensor). Turns lights off when the group becomes inactive for the
    configured delay.

    A physical switch toggle suppresses sensor-based automation for a
    configurable period using a timer helper. This automation never
    commands the light directly in response to the switch - it assumes
    your switch/relay (e.g. a Shelly in edge/detached input mode) already
    controls the light locally and instantly, independent of Home
    Assistant. HA only watches for the switch event to start the override
    window, so it never fights a manual on/off.

    Create a 'Binary Sensor Group' helper for your occupancy sensors
    (e.g. camera motion or a dedicated PIR), and one timer helper per
    light/zone. If you have multiple outdoor cameras whose "Is Dark"
    readings might disagree (e.g. one is aimed near a porch light or a
    neighbor's floodlight), create a Binary Sensor Group with "all"
    logic over their isDark sensors instead of pointing at just one
    camera, so a single glare-affected camera can't force lights on.
  domain: automation
  input:
    light_target:
      name: Light
      selector:
        target:
          entity:
            domain: light

    occupancy_group:
      name: Occupancy Sensor / Group
      description: Select a single binary sensor or a Binary Sensor Group helper (camera motion, PIR, etc.) covering this zone.
      selector:
        entity:
          domain: binary_sensor

    is_dark_sensor:
      name: Darkness Sensor / Group
      description: Select a UniFi Protect camera's "Is Dark" binary sensor, or a Binary Sensor Group helper (all-logic) combining several if their readings might disagree.
      selector:
        entity:
          domain: binary_sensor

    switch_input:
      name: Physical switch input
      description: >
        Select the switch/relay's INPUT entity (e.g. a Shelly's input
        binary_sensor reporting the physical toggle), NOT the light entity
        itself and not a mirror of the light's on/off state. If this is
        wired to something that also changes state whenever this
        automation calls light.turn_on/off, you'll get a feedback loop
        where the automation's own actions look like manual switch events.
      selector:
        entity:
          domain: binary_sensor

    override_timer:
      name: Override timer
      selector:
        entity:
          domain: timer

    override_duration:
      name: Override duration (minutes)
      default: 30
      selector:
        number:
          min: 1
          max: 1440
          step: 1
          mode: box
          unit_of_measurement: minutes

    off_delay:
      name: Off delay (seconds)
      default: 5
      selector:
        number:
          min: 0
          max: 300
          step: 1
          mode: box
          unit_of_measurement: seconds

mode: restart

variables:
  occupancy_entity: !input occupancy_group
  is_dark_entity: !input is_dark_sensor
  timer_entity: !input override_timer
  duration_minutes: !input override_duration

trigger:
  - id: occupancy_change
    platform: state
    entity_id: !input occupancy_group

  - id: manual_switch
    platform: state
    entity_id: !input switch_input

  - id: timer_finished
    platform: event
    event_type: timer.finished
    event_data:
      entity_id: !input override_timer

  # Re-evaluate if it gets dark while someone/something is already
  # triggering occupancy (e.g. dusk falls while a car is still parked
  # in view of a camera-based occupancy sensor).
  - id: darkness_change
    platform: state
    entity_id: !input is_dark_sensor
    for:
      seconds: 10

action:
  - variables:
      override_active: "{{ is_state(timer_entity, 'active') }}"
      occupied: "{{ is_state(occupancy_entity, 'on') }}"
      is_dark: "{{ is_state(is_dark_entity, 'on') }}"

  - choose:
      # Case 1: Manual physical switch flipped (either direction).
      # The Shelly's edge input mode has already flipped the relay locally -
      # HA must NOT issue a light.turn_on/off here, or it will fight the
      # person's manual action. We only start the override timer so that
      # occupancy/darkness logic stays out of the way for the configured window.
      - conditions:
          - condition: template
            value_template: "{{ trigger.id == 'manual_switch' }}"
        sequence:
          - action: timer.start
            target:
              entity_id: !input override_timer
            data:
              # We multiply by 60 because timer.start data maps natively to HH:MM:SS or raw seconds
              duration: "{{ duration_minutes * 60 }}"

      # Case 2: Occupancy or darkness changed, but manual override is currently active (Do Nothing)
      - conditions:
          - condition: template
            value_template: "{{ (trigger.id in ['occupancy_change', 'darkness_change']) and override_active }}"
        sequence: []

      # Case 3: Occupancy detected, override NOT active, and it's dark out
      - conditions:
          - condition: template
            value_template: "{{ occupied and is_dark }}"
        sequence:
          - action: light.turn_on
            target: !input light_target

    # Default Case: Not occupied, or occupied-but-daylight, or timer finished -> sequence handles turning off
    default:
      - delay:
          seconds: !input off_delay
      - condition: template
        value_template: >
          {{
            not is_state(timer_entity, 'active')
            and (not is_state(occupancy_entity, 'on') or not is_state(is_dark_entity, 'on'))
          }}
      - action: light.turn_off
        target: !input light_target