cync2mqtt

Bridge Cync bluetooth mesh to mqtt. Includes auto-discovery for HomeAssistant. Tested on Raspberry Pi3B+,Pi-Zero-W and x86-64 linux docker

Features

• Supports home assistant MQTT Discovery
• Supports mesh notifications (bulb status updates published to mqtt regardless of what set them).
• Cleanly recovers from communication errors both with the BLE mesh as well as MQTT broker.

Requirements

• Linux like OS with bluez bluetooth stack. Has been tested on a number of X86 and ARM (Raspberry Pi) configurations. It might work on Windows but as far as I know no one has tried.
• MQTT broker (my config is mosquitto from Entware running on router).
• GE/Savant Cync Switches, Bulbs.
• Optional (but recommended): Home Assistant

Setup

See also Docker Instructions

Create a python3 virtual env

python3 -mvenv ~/venv/cync2mqtt

install into virtual environment

~/venv/cync2mqtt/bin/pip3 install git+https://github.com/juanboro/cync2mqtt.git

Note Python3.10+

AMQTT does not yet have a released version for Python3.10+. To run with Python3.10, you can currently install in virtual environment like this:

git clone https://github.com/juanboro/cync2mqtt.git src_cync2mqtt
~/venv/cync2mqtt/bin/pip3 install -r src_cync2mqtt/requirements.python3.10.txt  src_cync2mqtt/

Download Mesh Configuration from CYNC using 2FA

Make sure your devices are all configured in the Cync app, then:

~/venv/cync2mqtt/bin/get_cync_config_from_cloud ~/cync_mesh.yaml

You will be prompted for your username (email) - you'll then get a onetime passcode on the email you will enter as well as your password.

Edit generated configuration

Edit the generated yaml file as necessary. The only thing which should be necessary at a minimum is to make sure the mqtt_url definition matches your MQTT broker. Also see: cync_mesh_example.yaml

Test Run

Run the script with the config file:

~/venv/cync2mqtt/bin/cync2mqtt  ~/cync_mesh.yaml

If it works you should see an INFO message similar to this:

cync2mqtt - INFO - Connected to mesh mac: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

You can view MQTT messages on the topics: acyncmqtt/# and homeassistant/# ...i.e:

mosquitto_sub -h $meship  -I rx -v -t 'acyncmqtt/#' -t 'homeassistant/#'

Install systemd service (optional example for Raspberry PI OS)

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/cync2mqtt.service

[Unit]
Description=cync2mqtt
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/home/pi/venv/cync2mqtt/bin/cync2mqtt /home/pi/cync_mesh.yaml
Restart=always
User=pi

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

sudo systemctl enable cync2mqtt.service

MQTT Topics

I recommend using a GUI like mqqt-spy to work with your MQTT broker. Below are some basic mosquitto command line topic examples. You need to also be subscribed with mosquitto command abvoe to see the responses.

Get list of devices - publish 'get' to topic acyncmqtt/devices, i.e:

mosquitto_pub  -h $mqttip -t 'acyncmqtt/devices' -m get

You will receive a response on the topic homeassistant/devices/<meshid>/<deviceid> for every defined mesh and device.

Devices can be controlled by sending a message to the topic: acyncmqtt/set/<meshid>/<deviceid>, i.e:

Turn on:

mosquitto_pub  -h $mqttip -I tx -t "acyncmqtt/set/$meshid/$deviceid" -m on

Turn off:

mosquitto_pub  -h $mqttip -I tx -t "acyncmqtt/set/$meshid/$deviceid" -m off

Set brightness:

mosquitto_pub  -h $mqttip -I tx -t "acyncmqtt/set/$meshid/$deviceid" -m '{"state": "on", "brightness" : 50}' 

Issues

Certain direct connect devices (those with WIFI) have trouble connecting with the Linux Bluez-DBUS bluetooth-LE stack (can not connect/receive notiications). If possible - the best workaround is to have at least one device in your mesh cync2mqtt can connect to that does not have these issues. As a workaround, it is also possible to use bluepy which does not have these issues. See the cync_mesh_example.yaml for how to enable this.

Notes

Outside of the initial setup of downloading the mesh credentials from your cloud account, this has no dependencies on the cloud. If neccessary, in the future a standalone pairing script can also be written to remove all cloud depdendencies. Generally though for my own setup - I find having the cloud connectivity good to have for Alexa/Google Home support and then having HomeAssistant support via this mqtt bridge to bluetooth. Several other alternatives also exist out there depending on what your own needs may be:

• cync_lights - Home assistant custom component that does all communication with the cloud server.
• cbyge - Standalone app to communicate with the cloud server. I believe this also has a mqtt wrapper interface which has been developed.
• cync-lan - A good proof of concept of direct wifi connection to cync devices. This almost makes me want to block the official cloud access to my Cync devices :-).

Acknowledgments

• Telink-Mesh python: https://github.com/google/python-laurel
• 2FA Cync login: https://github.com/unixpickle/cbyge/blob/main/login.go
• Async BLE python: https://pypi.org/project/bleak/
• Async MQTT: https://amqtt.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html
• zimmra for docker container, debug, and testing.