Template entity with device_class timestamp displays as 'Unknown' following 2021.12 update

[robertwigley]

The problem

Following the update to 2021.12 template entities with a device_class of timestamp show as unknown. I have a ton of these for converting input_datetime helpers into read-only sensors for display in Lovelace and they all now display as Unknown:

template:
# Template Sensors
  - sensor:
  # Front Door Lock sensors
      # Front Door Lock Last Activity sensor
      - name: Front Door Lock Last Activity
        device_class: timestamp
        icon: mdi:history
        state: "{{ states('input_datetime.front_door_lock_last_activity') }}"

What version of Home Assistant Core has the issue?

2021.12

What was the last working version of Home Assistant Core?

2021.11.5

What type of installation are you running?

Home Assistant OS

Integration causing the issue

No response

Link to integration documentation on our website

No response

Example YAML snippet

template:
# Template Sensors
  - sensor:
  # Front Door Lock sensors
      # Front Door Lock Last Activity sensor
      - name: Front Door Lock Last Activity
        device_class: timestamp
        icon: mdi:history
        state: "{{ states('input_datetime.front_door_lock_last_activity') }}"

Anything in the logs that might be useful for us?

No response

Additional information

Potentially related: https://community.home-assistant.io/t/sunset-sunrise-sensor-stopped-working-while-template-does/366287

[martusi61]

Same problem with all my timestamp sensors, only from 2021.12.0

[Petro31]

@martusi61 @robertwigley You need your template to output a datetime object or a timestamp integer. Strings no longer work.

[Petro31]

There should be an error or warning in your logs mentioning this.

[robertwigley]

I already tried adding the as_timestamp filter and also as a function. This produces an "Entity not available" error:

[Petro31]

Please check your logs, not the entity in the frontend. Thanks.

[martusi61]

Sorry. It's true:
2021-12-13 08:16:02 ERROR (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.template.template_entity] TemplateError('TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for -: 'NoneType' and 'float'') while processing template 'Template("{{ ((as_timestamp(states.sensor.cert_expiry_timestamp_xxxxxx_xxxxx_org.state) - as_timestamp(utcnow()) ) / 86400) | round }}")' for attribute '_attr_native_value' in entity 'sensor.scadenza_ssl_hassio'

[Petro31]

@martusi61 you have sensitive data in that post, remove it.

Fix your template with

{{ ((as_timestamp(states('sensor.xyz'), 0) - as_timestamp(0)) / 86400) | round }}

However you probably want to remove the timestamp device_class because it won't have an accurate time. What are you trying to display? The last cert refresh value?

[robertwigley]

The only related entry I can see is this, which was not showing before the update to 2021.12:

2021-12-13 10:29:27 WARNING (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.sensor.helpers] sensor.front_door_lock_last_activity rendered timestamp without timezone: 2021-12-12 15:40:15

Is this something to do with the change to timestamp_local?

[Petro31]

The only related entry I can see is this, which was not showing before the update to 2021.12:

2021-12-13 10:29:27 WARNING (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.sensor.helpers] sensor.front_door_lock_last_activity rendered timestamp without timezone: 2021-12-12 15:40:15

Is this something to do with the change to timestamp_local?

no. If that's a timestamp device, it needs a TZ.

        state: "{{ states('input_datetime.front_door_lock_last_activity') | as_datetime | as_local }}"

[robertwigley]

state: "{{ states('input_datetime.front_door_lock_last_activity') | as_datetime | as_local }}"

Resolves the issue. Thank you! There was no mention of this in the breaking changes, not that I could see anyway.

[Petro31]

It is mentioned, but you probably didn't see/understand it. It's this Breaking change here:

Timestamp/Date device class value changes
When using datetime and date device classes in sensors, the returned native value must (respectively) be a datetime or date Python object.

Returning an iso formatted date(time) string in these cases is now deprecated and will write a deprecation warning in the logs. This fallback/backward compatibility will be removed in Home Assistant 2022.2.

(@frenck - #52671)

[Petro31]

Can this be closed then?

[robertwigley]

Thanks for the link. Maybe I am being blind, but I still can't find/see it in the Release Notes.

[robertwigley]

I have found it. It's under "Updates for custom integration developers". No wonder I never saw it. This should be in the main breaking changes. Yes, this can be closed. Thanks for your assistance.

[martusi61]

@martusi61 you have sensitive data in that post, remove it.

Fix your template with

{{ ((as_timestamp(states('sensor.xyz'), 0) - as_timestamp(0)) / 86400) | round }}

However you probably want to remove the timestamp device_class because it won't have an accurate time. What are you trying to display? The last cert refresh value?

I needed the difference in days between a timestamp and today's date, however your suggestion brought up the sensor, but as "unknow", I followed your advice and it worked by removing the "device_class: timestamp", in fact the template returns a number of days not another timestamp. Thanks for everything, now is OK.

[Petro31]

@martusi61 you have sensitive data in that post, remove it.
Fix your template with

{{ ((as_timestamp(states('sensor.xyz'), 0) - as_timestamp(0)) / 86400) | round }}

However you probably want to remove the timestamp device_class because it won't have an accurate time. What are you trying to display? The last cert refresh value?

I needed the difference in days between a timestamp and today's date, however your suggestion brought up the sensor, but as "unknow", I followed your advice and it worked by removing the "device_class: timestamp", in fact the template returns a number of days not another timestamp. Thanks for everything, now is OK.

Just remove the timestamp as a device class then. No need for it if you want the number of days.

[martusi61]

@martusi61 you have sensitive data in that post, remove it.
Fix your template with

{{ ((as_timestamp(states('sensor.xyz'), 0) - as_timestamp(0)) / 86400) | round }}

However you probably want to remove the timestamp device_class because it won't have an accurate time. What are you trying to display? The last cert refresh value?

I needed the difference in days between a timestamp and today's date, however your suggestion brought up the sensor, but as "unknow", I followed your advice and it worked by removing the "device_class: timestamp", in fact the template returns a number of days not another timestamp. Thanks for everything, now is OK.

Just remove the timestamp as a device class then. No need for it if you want the number of days.

Exac

[arifroni]

i have a uptime sensor setup like this

- unique_id: intel_nuc5i3_uptime
      device_class: timestamp
      state:
        "{% set d, h, m, s = states('sensor.intel_nuc5i3_system_uptime').split(':')  | map('int') %}
        {{ as_datetime(states('sensor.date_time_iso')) - timedelta(days=d, hours=h, minutes=m, seconds=s) }}"

but i get following error
sensor.template_intel_nuc5i3_uptime rendered timestamp without timezone: 2021-12-30 08:28:14
how can i fix this?

[robertwigley]

but i get following error sensor.template_intel_nuc5i3_uptime rendered timestamp without timezone: 2021-12-30 08:28:14 how can i fix this?

It looks to be the same as the error I was getting. Try adding | as_local to the end to give it your local timezone.

[arifroni]

It looks to be the same as the error I was getting. Try adding | as_local to the end to give it your local timezone.

I get following error
AttributeError: 'datetime.timedelta' object has no attribute 'tzinfo'