homekit_controller: Support events so HA can respond to accessory state changes in real time

[tomascrespo]

Home Assistant release with the issue: 0.97.2
Last working Home Assistant release (if known): 0.96.5
Operating environment (Hass.io/Docker/Windows/etc.): Raspberry Pi with Raspbian / Debian Linux 9 Stretch
Component/platform: Homekit
Description of problem:
Hi! I have a very basic alarm system, only an Aqara Hub and an Aqara window/door sensor. I installed Home Assistant 0.96.5 and added the Aqara Hub as a HomeKit accesory (the UI detected it automatically, I only had to enter the code in the label). All was working perfectly, when I pressed ARM AWAY or DISSARM button it was almost instantaneously, and when someone opened the door the state changed to TRIGGERD (and I got the notification) very quickly.

Now I have installed from scratch (the SD card died) with latest version, 0.97.2, and I have added the alarm, but I having an tremendous lag. It takes about one minute any change, ARM, DISSARM or TRIGGER.

Any clue?

Lot of thanks

[tomascrespo]

I have downgraded to 0.96.5 and all works instantaneously, so the lag is only present newer versions

[Jc2k]

It sounds like this is about homekit_controller rather than homekit (the homekit integration is for using the HomeKit protocol between your iPhone etc and HomeAssistant, homekit_controller is for using the HomeKit protocol between a device (like the Aqara Hub) and home assistant). Can you confirm that is the case? I can retag to the right area if so.

Also, if its homekit_controller:

The homekit_controller integration is poll only, and it polls once a minute. It has only ever polled once a minute. If it used to seem faster then that was just luck - it must have been triggered near the 1 minute timer running out.

On newer builds there is some times a race on start up where the first poll is missed. But this has no other impact on a running system.

The dev branch i'm working on will replace the blocking homekit client with an asyncio one. The main aim of this work is support for HomeKit events which means that things like this will update near instantaneously, but the current synchronous client is incapable of supporting events. This is all working in my dev environment but relies on a PR getting accepted upstream, then a release happening, then a PR to home assistant to use the new release, then a library, and a good amount of QA needs to be done at each stage. So it will be a few releases probably.

[deetox]

Hello Jc2k !

Wouow ! It looks like wonderful !

Is there any chance you make your dev branch public for the ones who want to work with ? I just can’t wait to test it ! 😋

Anyway: a huge Thank you !

[Jc2k]

Does that mean you agree this ticket is for homekit_controller and not homekit? :-)

The code should all be on my GitHub but it involves dev versions of HA and homekit_python so i'm reluctant to describe or support how to try it out just yet! When the homekit_python part is released onto pypi i'll open up a PR on the home-assistant side and ping this ticket.

[deetox]

Hello again.

From my side, I talk about homekit_controller but I am not the first author: your projet sounds like interesting and I wonder if I could try it somewhere.

I understand about support problem. So I will be patient.

Thank you again.

[adrum]

@Jc2k I paired a Honeywell Lyric Controller via HomeKit Controller and noticed the same behavior. The updates would take some time. When I paired them with my phone, the state changes showed instantly.

Just chiming in to add in my experience with homekit_controller.

[gargomoma]

Hi everyone,
Having the same issue here.
In my case updates are slow, but also, after a couple of hours (2 to 3) I stop receiving ANY update from any of the devices.

The only solution I've come up with is to restart the container to have it back to normal.

v0.100.2 -- Docker
Xiaomi Aqara Bridge [China Server]
(3 - Temp sensors; 1 - Motion sensor; 1 - Door sensor)

[Jc2k]

@gargomoma can you please confirm what you mean by slow? As explained, a delay of about a minute is normal and won't be changing for a while until the work to support events is ready. Longer than that is a sign of a problem.

The 2nd part of your comment - stopping after a few hours is definitely not normal, could you please raise a seperate ticket for that though. It's a seperate problem. Please could you check your logs too and post those on the new ticket. It's likely that the connection is timing in a way that we haven't seen before and we'll need to handle that case better than we currently do. Feek free to @Jc2k on the new ticket so I get notified.

[brucysNZ]

@Jc2k Hey mate. Any update on this slow response issue with HomeKit controller with regards to sensors taking up to 1min to respond?
I am also waiting for the fix. Thanks heaps for your efforts

[Jc2k]

Hey bud. it’s not really a fix, the code is working as designed. The plan is to moving from a simple synchronous polling model to a fully asynchronous event based model. While I have done a lot of work to prepare for this that is merged and the remaining patch won’t be that large the effect will be like I rewrote the thing entirely. With that level of change is the risk that every bug I fixed for the old code might be reintroduced.

I’ve run out of spare time and while I have this working for myself more or less it would be irresponsible to drop it on HA and run.

So for now you are kinda stuck, sorry.

[brucysNZ]

Hey bud. Thanks heaps for your efforts for sure. I am not a programmer so I can only imagine the challenges you face with coming up with a solution. Sounds like a huge amount of work you have done. I know you will do the right thing and only release something when you can and when you are confident of success. It would be amazing if other knowledgeable programmers could assist you.
I paired my hub directly to iOS app initially and everything was perfect with instant response from all door sensors and motion sensors, 8 devices operating perfectly and instant. The only issue was getting devices into HA. So unpaired and paired to HA successful with all devices showing in HA, only problem not, Speed of detection, around 1 min to detect sadly.....
I sure hope something can be achieved soon as it is basically unusable in its current state
Also
Tried unpairing from HA to connect directly back to HomeKit iOS and now it won’t connect or pair back to HomeKit iOS, so now definitely unusable.
I know the community of users having this issue would appreciate a resolution when one ready to deploy. Well done and good luck bud

[Jc2k]

Yeah, if you are using door and motion sensors homekit_controller is really not for you until the async stuff lands. There is only a motion sensor at all so that I can do dev work on support for HomeKit BLE (I have an Eve bluetooth motion sensor). A workaround is to use the homekit integration to export switches to your iOS devices and iOS automations to trigger the switches when something is sensed. I use a similar trick so that I can use HomeKit home arrival triggers in HA.

You have to unpair on both sides. On simpler devices this might mean a full reset, but hubs that speak multiple protocols (like Hue) often have a "reset homekit" menu option somewhere. We should be able to tell the devices when HA removes it pairing data, but it's low down the list - I think most users would have e.g. async / events rather than a silightly easier unpair.

[brucysNZ]

Hey bud. Yes I agree most users would want Async/events rather than easier unpair. Async is priority. I cannot work out why I cannot setup new pair with IOS device again, as the little trick of using HA Switches is exactly what I was initially doing to get actions into HA. Worked OK just not ideal.
BLE however is another option. I use Xiaomi Bluetooth Temp and Humidity sensors with BLE Tracker. I do not have any other Bluetooth devices other than these temp/hum and they work flawlessly. They are very solid and reliable using ESP32 board as BLE tracker.
I will try unpair both sides, that is Homekit, and HA and try to setup Aqara Hub directly with IOS Aqara app. Hope it works as using the switches will be fine until and solution is found.
Will look at the Eve Bluetooth Motion Sensors also

[Jc2k]

To be clear Eve / Bluetooth homekit stuff doesn’t work with HA natively yet, it’s next on my list after async.