Scan Automations

Scan Automations Service

Overview

The Scan Automations service helps you discover which of your Home Assistant automations use time or date-based triggers and conditions. This is useful for:

• Understanding which automations might benefit from Clockwork calculations
• Identifying automations that rely on time-based logic
• Planning migration of existing automation logic to Clockwork entities

How to Use

Via Configuration Menu

1. Go to Settings > Devices & Services
2. Find Clockwork in the integrations list
3. Click Configure
4. Select Scan Automations for Time Patterns
5. The scan results will display immediately, showing:
   • Number of automations detected
   • Automation names
   • Detected time/date patterns (e.g., time triggers, conditions)

Via Service Call

You can also call the service directly from Developer Tools:

1. Go to Developer Tools > Services
2. Search for and select clockwork.scan_automations
3. Click Call Service
4. Results will appear in the notification area showing JSON with all detected automations

What Patterns Are Detected?

The scanner looks for:

• at: triggers - Time-specific triggers
• platform: time triggers - Recurring time triggers
• Time conditions - before, after, weekday conditions
• time() functions - now() and utcnow() function usage
• Time fields - Hour, minute, second conditions or triggers
• Date functions - Functions that manipulate dates/times

Example Results

When you run the scan, you might see results like:

Found 3 automations with time/date patterns:

• **Evening Lights**: at, platform: time
• **Workday Check**: before, after
• **Sunset Trigger**: platform: sun

Using Results with Clockwork

Once you identify automations with time/date patterns, you can:

1. Create corresponding Clockwork calculations for the same logic
2. Replace the time/date conditions with Clockwork sensors
3. Simplify your automation conditions by using the calculated entities

Example: Garage Door Open Too Long Alert

Once you identify an automation that monitors your garage door, you can use a Clockwork Offset Calculation to handle delayed triggering:

Traditional Approach:

---
automation:
  - alias: "Garage Door Alert"
    trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.garage_door
      to: "on"
    action:
      - delay: "00:30:00"  # Wait 30 minutes
      - condition: state
        entity_id: binary_sensor.garage_door
        state: "on"  # Still open?
      - service: notify.send_alert
        data:
          message: "Garage door has been open for 30 minutes"

With Clockwork:

1. Create an Offset Calculation:

   • Name: "Garage Door Open 30min"
   • Entity: binary_sensor.garage_door
   • Time Offset: "30 minutes"
   • Behavior Mode: "pulse" (or "duration" to keep alert active)
   • Trigger Event: "on"

2. Simplify your automation:

automation:
  - alias: "Garage Door Alert"
    trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.garage_door_open_30min
      to: "on"
    action:
      service: notify.send_alert
      data:
        message: "Garage door has been open for 30 minutes"

Key Benefits:

• The offset calculation survives Home Assistant restarts - the 30-minute timer continues accurately even after a restart
• Your automation trigger is simple: just when the binary sensor activates after the offset time has elapsed
• Clockwork handles all the timing logic automatically with "latch", "pulse", or "duration" modes
• No delays or extra conditions cluttering your automation logic
• Easy to adjust the delay time without modifying automation logic

Technical Details

Service Name

clockwork.scan_automations

Response Format

The service returns JSON with the following structure:

{
  "automations": [
    {
      "id": "automation_id_123",
      "alias": "Automation Name",
      "patterns": ["pattern1", "pattern2"]
    }
  ]
}

Where Results Appear

• Config Flow: Results display in the UI form
• Service Call: Results logged to Settings > Logs
• Actions Page: Results shown in the notification panel

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Next: Get started with Clockwork →