Notification Scenes

Notification Scenes

Notification scenes are a signature feature of Ava, displaying beautiful full-screen animated notifications when smart home events occur.

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Overview

Notification scenes display full-screen animated notifications including:

• Aurora animation background
• Icon animation
• Title and description text
• Custom theme colors
• Live Home Assistant sensor values (via placeholders)

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How It Works

Scene Loading

Scenes are loaded from the network based on language:

• Chinese: scenes_zh.json
• English: scenes_en.json

Scene files are hosted on GitHub and downloaded automatically when Ava starts. Scenes cache locally for offline use.

Triggering Scenes

Scenes are triggered through a dropdown select entity in Home Assistant:

service: select.select_option
target:
  entity_id: select.your_device_name_notification_scene
data:
  option: "Doorbell Ring"

The scene options are a dropdown list containing all available scene titles.

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Built-in Scenes

Ava includes 70+ built-in scenes:

Scene ID	Scene Name	Purpose
morning	Good Morning	Daily greeting
doorbell	Doorbell Ring	Doorbell alert
water_leak	Water Leak	Water sensor triggered
smoke	Smoke Alarm	Smoke sensor triggered
someone_home	Someone Home	Presence detection
package	Package Arrived	Delivery notification
timer	Timer Finished	Timer reminder
weather_alert	Weather Alert	Severe weather warning

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Scene Settings

Go to Settings -> Interaction -> Scenes

Setting	Description	Default
Display Duration	How long notification shows (5-30s)	10s
Notification Sound	Play sound when showing	On
Custom Scene URL	URL to load custom scenes	Empty

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Sensor Placeholders in Scene Text

You can embed live Home Assistant sensor values into a scene's title, description, and sub-description. Values refresh while the scene is on screen. Unknown or unsubscribed values render as "--".

Syntax

Syntax	Result
{{entity_id}}	Entity state
{{entity_id|attribute}}	Attribute value
{{entity_id|unit}}	unit_of_measurement (shortcut)

Example

Living room: {{sensor.living_room_temperature}}{{sensor.living_room_temperature|unit}}

This renders as: Living room: 23.5 °C

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Custom Scenes

You can create your own scenes by hosting a JSON file.

JSON Format

Custom scenes must be a JSON array:

[
  {
    "id": "my_scene",
    "icon": "fa-bell",
    "iconColor": "#fbbf24",
    "title": "My Scene",
    "desc": "Description text",
    "subDesc": "Sub description",
    "themeColors": ["#f59e0b", "#d97706", "#92400e"],
    "beamColor": "rgba(251, 191, 36, 0.8)",
    "dividerColor": "rgba(251, 191, 36, 0.8)",
    "dotColor": "#fcd34d"
  }
]

Required Fields

Field	Description
id	Unique scene identifier
icon	FontAwesome icon name (e.g., fa-bell)
title	Scene title text

Optional Fields

Field	Description	Default
iconColor	Icon color (hex or Tailwind)	text-amber-200
desc	Description text	Empty
subDesc	Sub description text	Empty
themeColors	Array of theme colors	Amber gradient
beamColor	Light beam color	Amber
dividerColor	Divider line color	Amber
dotColor	Dot indicator color	Amber

Loading Custom Scenes

Method 1: Using External URL

1. Host your JSON file on a web server
2. Go to Settings -> Interaction -> Scenes
3. Enter the URL in Custom Scene URL
4. Custom scenes will have custom_ prefix added to their IDs

Method 2: Using Home Assistant Local Files

1. Place your JSON file in Home Assistant's www folder
2. Use URL: http://your-ha-ip:8123/local/my_scenes.json
3. This allows fast loading within local network without external server

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Timer and Alarm

Ava includes a timer feature with alarm sound.

Timer Sound

1. Go to Settings -> Interaction -> Scenes
2. Find Change Alarm Sound
3. Select a default or external audio file

Stop Alarm Button

When the timer alarm is ringing:

• Say the stop word "Stop" (or "Ok Stop" with vs wake engine) to dismiss it
• Tap the time on screen to dismiss
• If recognition is unreliable while the alarm plays, enable Software echo cancellation in Voice Config settings

Enable Show Stop Alarm Button to also show a Stop Alarm button in Home Assistant:

service: button.press
target:
  entity_id: button.your_device_name_stop_alarm

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Automation Examples

Doorbell Notification

automation:
  - alias: "Doorbell Notification"
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: binary_sensor.doorbell
        to: "on"
    action:
      - service: select.select_option
        target:
          entity_id: select.ava_notification_scene
        data:
          option: "Doorbell Ring"

Water Leak Alert

automation:
  - alias: "Water Leak Alert"
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: binary_sensor.water_leak
        to: "on"
    action:
      - service: select.select_option
        target:
          entity_id: select.ava_notification_scene
        data:
          option: "Water Leak"

Timer with Sensor Values

automation:
  - alias: "Morning Report"
    trigger:
      - platform: time
        at: "07:00:00"
    action:
      - service: select.select_option
        target:
          entity_id: select.ava_notification_scene
        data:
          option: "Good Morning"

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Supported Colors

Ava supports multiple color formats:

Format	Example
Hex	#f59e0b
RGBA	rgba(251, 191, 36, 0.8)
Tailwind	amber-500, blue-400, etc.

Tailwind Color Names

Supported color names include:

• amber, yellow, orange, red, rose, pink
• fuchsia, purple, violet, indigo, blue
• sky, cyan, teal, emerald, green, lime
• stone, neutral, gray, slate

Each with levels: 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700

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FAQ

Scenes not loading?

1. Check network connection
2. Scenes are downloaded from GitHub on startup
3. Try restarting Ava
4. Scenes cache locally, next startup loads from cache first

Custom scenes not showing?

1. Check if URL is accessible
2. Verify JSON format is correct
3. Required fields: id, icon, title
4. Custom scene IDs are prefixed with custom_

Sensor placeholders show "--"?

1. Check if the entity_id is correct
2. Check if the entity exists in Home Assistant
3. Check if Ava is subscribed to that entity
4. Unknown or unsubscribed values render as "--"

Timer alarm doesn't stop?

1. Say "Stop" (or "Ok Stop" with vs engine) clearly
2. Tap the time on screen
3. Enable Software echo cancellation if recognition is unreliable during alarm
4. Enable Show Stop Alarm Button for a HA button

How to hide notification?

Notifications auto-hide after the configured duration. You can also:

• Touch the notification to dismiss
• Use the hide service

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