Input Select

The input_select component allows the user to define a list of values that can be selected via the frontend and can be used within conditions of automation. When a user selects a new item, a state transition event is generated. This state event can be used in an automation trigger.

To enable this platform in your installation, add the following lines to your configuration.yaml:

# Example configuration.yaml entry
input_select:
  who_cooks:
    name: Who cooks today
    options:
     - Paulus
     - Anne Therese
    initial: Anne Therese
    icon: mdi:panda
  living_room_preset:
    options:
      - Visitors
      - Visitors with kids
      - Home Alone

Configuration variables:

[alias] array (Required): Alias for the input. Multiple entries are allowed..
- name (Optional): Friendly name of the input.
- options array (Required): List of options to choose from.
- initial (Optional): Initial value when Home Assistant starts.
- icon (Optional): Icon for entry.

Pick an icon that you can find on materialdesignicons.com to use for your input and prefix the name with mdi:. For example mdi:car, mdi:ambulance, or mdi:motorbike.

Because YAML defines booleans as equivalent, any variations of ‘On’, ‘Yes’, ‘Y’, ‘Off’, ‘No’, or ‘N’ (regardless of case) used as option names will be replaced by True and False unless they are defined in quotation marks.

Services

This components provide three services to modify the state of the input_select:

input_select.select_option: This can be used to select a specific option. The option is passed as option attribute in the service data.
input_select.select_previous: Select the previous option.
input_select.select_next: Select the next option.

The following example shows the usage of the input_select.select_option service in an automation:

# Example configuration.yaml entry
automation:
  - alias: example automation
    trigger:
      platform: event
      event_type: MY_CUSTOM_EVENT
    action:
      - service: input_select.select_option
        data:
          entity_id: input_select.who_cooks
          option: Paulus

To dynamically set the input_select options you can call input_select.set_options. The following example can be used in an automation rule:

# Example configuration.yaml entry
automation:
  - alias: example automation
    trigger:
      platform: event
      event_type: MY_CUSTOM_EVENT
    action:
      - service: input_select.set_options
        data:
          entity_id: input_select.who_cooks
          options: ["Item A", "Item B", "Item C"]

Scenes

To specify a target option in a Scene you have to specify the target as option attribute:

# Example configuration.yaml entry
scene:
  - name: Example1
    entities:
      input_select.who_cooks:
        option: Paulus

Example of input_select being used in a bidirectional manner, both being set by and controlled by an MQTT action in an automation.


# Example configuration.yaml entry using 'input_select' in an action in an automation
   
# Define input_select
input_select:
  thermostat_mode:
    name: Thermostat Mode
    options:
      - "auto"
      - "off"
      - "cool"
      - "heat"
    icon: mdi:target

# Automation.     
 # This automation script runs when a value is received via MQTT on retained topic: thermostatMode
 # It sets the value selector on the GUI. This selector also had its own automation when the value is changed.
- alias: Set Thermostat Mode Selector
  trigger:
    platform: mqtt
    topic: "thermostatMode"
   # entity_id: input_select.thermostat_mode
  action:
     service: input_select.select_option
     data_template:
      entity_id: input_select.thermostat_mode
      option: '{{ trigger.payload }}'

 # This automation script runs when the thermostat mode selector is changed.
 # It publishes its value to the same MQTT topic it is also subscribed to.
- alias: Set Thermostat Mode
  trigger:
    platform: state
    entity_id: input_select.thermostat_mode
  action:
    service: mqtt.publish
    data_template:
      topic: "thermostatMode"
      retain: true
      payload: '{{ states.input_select.thermostat_mode.state }}'