Philips Hue Binding

This binding integrates the Philips Hue Lighting system (opens new window). The integration happens through the Hue bridge, which acts as an IP gateway to the ZigBee devices.

Supported Things

The Hue bridge is required as a "bridge" for accessing any other Hue device. It supports the ZigBee LightLink protocol as well as the upwards compatible ZigBee 3.0 protocol. There are two types of Hue bridges, generally referred to as v1 (the rounded version) and v2 (the squared version). Only noticeable difference between the two generation of bridges is the added support for Apple HomeKit in v2. Both bridges are fully supported by this binding.

Almost all available Hue devices are supported by this binding. This includes not only the "Friends of Hue", but also products like the LivingWhites adapter. Additionally, it is possible to use OSRAM Lightify devices as well as other ZigBee LightLink compatible products, including the IKEA TRÅDFRI lights (when updated). Beside bulbs and luminaires the Hue binding also supports some ZigBee sensors. Currently only Hue specific sensors are tested successfully (Hue Motion Sensor and Hue Dimmer Switch). Please note that the devices need to be registered with the Hue bridge before it is possible for this binding to use them.

The Hue binding supports all seven types of lighting devices defined for ZigBee LightLink (see page 24, table 2 (opens new window). These are:

Device type	ZigBee Device ID	Thing type
On/Off Light	0x0000	0000
On/Off Plug-in Unit	0x0010	0010
Dimmable Light	0x0100	0100
Dimmable Plug-in Unit	0x0110	0110
Colour Light	0x0200	0200
Extended Colour Light	0x0210	0210
Colour Temperature Light	0x0220	0220

All different models of Hue, OSRAM, or other bulbs nicely fit into one of these seven types. This type also determines the capability of a device and with that the possible ways of interacting with it. The following matrix lists the capabilities (channels) for each type:

Thing type	On/Off	Brightness	Color	Color Temperature
0000	X
0010	X
0100	X	X
0110	X	X
0200	X		X
0210	X		X	X
0220	X	X		X

Beside bulbs and luminaires the Hue binding supports some ZigBee sensors. Currently only Hue specific sensors are tested successfully (e.g. Hue Motion Sensor, Hue Dimmer Switch, Hue Tap, CLIP Sensor). The Hue Motion Sensor registers a ZLLLightLevel sensor (0106), a ZLLPresence sensor (0107) and a ZLLTemperature sensor (0302) in one device. The Hue CLIP Sensor saves scene states with status or flag for HUE rules. They are presented by the following ZigBee Device ID and Thing type:

Device type	ZigBee Device ID	Thing type
Light Sensor	0x0106	0106
Occupancy Sensor	0x0107	0107
Temperature Sensor	0x0302	0302
Non-Colour Controller	0x0820	0820
Non-Colour Scene Controller	0x0830	0830
CLIP Generic Status Sensor	0x0840	0840
CLIP Generic Flag Sensor	0x0850	0850
Geofence Sensor		geofencesensor

The Hue Dimmer Switch has 4 buttons and registers as a Non-Colour Controller switch, while the Hue Tap (also 4 buttons) registers as a Non-Colour Scene Controller in accordance with the ZLL standard.

Also, Hue bridge support CLIP Generic Status Sensor and CLIP Generic Flag Sensor. These sensors save state for rules and calculate what actions to do. CLIP Sensor set or get by JSON through IP.

Finally, the Hue binding also supports the groups of lights and rooms set up on the Hue bridge.

Discovery

The Hue bridge is discovered through UPnP in the local network. Once it is added as a Thing, its authentication button (in the middle) needs to be pressed in order to authorize the binding to access it. Once the binding is authorized, it automatically reads all devices and groups that are set up on the Hue bridge and puts them into the Inbox.

Thing Configuration

The Hue bridge requires the IP address as a configuration value in order for the binding to know where to access it. In the thing file, this looks e.g. like

Bridge hue:bridge:1 [ ipAddress="192.168.0.64" ]

A user to authenticate against the Hue bridge is automatically generated. Please note that the generated user name cannot be written automatically to the .thing file, and has to be set manually. The generated user name can be found, after pressing the authentication button on the bridge, with the following console command: hue <bridgeUID> username. The user name can be set using the userName configuration value, e.g.:

Bridge hue:bridge:1 [ ipAddress="192.168.0.64", userName="qwertzuiopasdfghjklyxcvbnm1234" ]

Parameter	Description
ipAddress	Network address of the Hue bridge. Mandatory
port	Port of the Hue bridge. Optional, default value is 80 or 443, derived from protocol, otherwise user-defined.
userName	Name of a registered Hue bridge user, that allows to access the API. Mandatory
pollingInterval	Seconds between fetching light values from the Hue bridge. Optional, the default value is 10 (min="1", step="1").
sensorPollingInterval	Milliseconds between fetching sensor-values from the Hue bridge. A higher value means more delay for the sensor values, but a too low value can cause congestion on the bridge. Optional, the default value is 500. Default value will be considered if the value is lower than 50. Use 0 to disable the polling for sensors.

Devices

The devices are identified by the number that the Hue bridge assigns to them (also shown in the Hue App as an identifier). Thus, all it needs for manual configuration is this single value like

0210 bulb1 "Lamp 1" @ "Office" [ lightId="1" ]

or

0107 motion-sensor "Motion Sensor" @ "Entrance" [ sensorId="4" ]

You can freely choose the thing identifier (such as motion-sensor), its name (such as "Motion Sensor") and the location (such as "Entrance").

The following device types also have an optional configuration value to specify the fade time in milliseconds for the transition to a new state:

• Dimmable Light
• Dimmable Plug-in Unit
• Colour Light
• Extended Colour Light
• Colour Temperature Light

Parameter	Description
lightId	Number of the device provided by the Hue bridge. Mandatory
fadetime	Fade time in Milliseconds to a new state (min="0", step="100", default="400")

Groups

The groups are identified by the number that the Hue bridge assigns to them. Thus, all it needs for manual configuration is this single value like

group kitchen-bulbs "Kitchen Lamps" @ "Kitchen" [ groupId="1" ]

You can freely choose the thing identifier (such as kitchen-bulbs), its name (such as "Kitchen Lamps") and the location (such as "Kitchen").

The group type also have an optional configuration value to specify the fade time in milliseconds for the transition to a new state.

Parameter	Description
groupId	Number of the group provided by the Hue bridge. Mandatory
fadetime	Fade time in Milliseconds to a new state (min="0", step="100", default="400")

Channels

The devices support some of the following channels:

Channel Type ID	Item Type	Description	Thing types supporting this channel
switch	Switch	This channel supports switching the device on and off.	0000, 0010, group
color	Color	This channel supports full color control with hue, saturation and brightness values.	0200, 0210, group
brightness	Dimmer	This channel supports adjusting the brightness value. Note that this is not available, if the color channel is supported.	0100, 0110, 0220, group
color_temperature	Dimmer	This channel supports adjusting the color temperature from cold (0%) to warm (100%).	0210, 0220, group
color_temperature_abs	Number	This channel supports adjusting the color temperature in Kelvin. Advanced	0210, 0220, group
alert	String	This channel supports displaying alerts by flashing the bulb either once or multiple times. Valid values are: NONE, SELECT and LSELECT.	0000, 0100, 0200, 0210, 0220, group
effect	Switch	This channel supports color looping.	0200, 0210, 0220
dimmer_switch	Number	This channel shows which button was last pressed on the dimmer switch.	0820
illuminance	Number:Illuminance	This channel shows the current illuminance measured by the sensor.	0106
light_level	Number	This channel shows the current light level measured by the sensor. Advanced	0106
dark	Switch	This channel indicates whether the light level is below the darkness threshold or not.	0106
daylight	Switch	This channel indicates whether the light level is below the daylight threshold or not.	0106
presence	Switch	This channel indicates whether a motion is detected by the sensor or not.	0107
enabled	Switch	This channel activated or deactivates the sensor	0107
temperature	Number:Temperature	This channel shows the current temperature measured by the sensor.	0302
flag	Switch	This channel save flag state for a CLIP sensor.	0850
status	Number	This channel save status state for a CLIP sensor.	0840
last_updated	DateTime	This channel the date and time when the sensor was last updated.	0820, 0830, 0840, 0850, 0106, 0107, 0302
battery_level	Number	This channel shows the battery level.	0820, 0106, 0107, 0302
battery_low	Switch	This channel indicates whether the battery is low or not.	0820, 0106, 0107, 0302
scene	String	This channel activates the scene with the given ID String. The ID String of each scene is assigned by the Hue bridge.	bridge, group

To load a hue scene inside a rule for example, the ID of the scene will be required. You can list all the scene IDs with the following console commands: hue <bridgeUID> scenes and hue <groupThingUID> scenes.

Trigger Channels

The dimmer switch additionally supports a trigger channel.

Channel ID	Description	Thing types supporting this channel
dimmer_switch_event	Event for dimmer switch pressed.	0820
tap_switch_event	Event for tap switch pressed.	0830

The dimmer_switch_event can trigger one of the following events:

Button	State	Event
Button 1 (ON)	INITIAL_PRESSED	1000
	HOLD	1001
	SHORT RELEASED	1002
	LONG RELEASED	1003
Button 2 (DIM UP)	INITIAL_PRESSED	2000
	HOLD	2001
	SHORT RELEASED	2002
	LONG RELEASED	2003
Button 3 (DIM DOWN)	INITIAL_PRESSED	3000
	HOLD	3001
	SHORT RELEASED	3002
	LONG RELEASED	3003
Button 4 (OFF)	INITIAL_PRESSED	4000
	HOLD	4001
	SHORT RELEASED	4002
	LONG RELEASED	4003

The tap_switch_event can trigger one of the following events:

Button	State	Event
Button 1	Button 1	34
Button 2	Button 2	16
Button 3	Button 3	17
Button 4	Button 4	18

Rule Actions

This binding includes a rule action, which allows to change a light channel with a specific fading time from within rules. There is a separate instance for each light or light group, which can be retrieved e.g. through

val hueActions = getActions("hue","hue:0210:00178810d0dc:1")

where the first parameter always has to be hue and the second is the full Thing UID of the light that should be used. Once this action instance is retrieved, you can invoke the fadingLightCommand(String channel, Command command, DecimalType fadeTime) method on it:

hueActions.fadingLightCommand("color", new PercentType(100), new DecimalType(1000))

Parameter	Description
channel	The following channels have fade time support: brightness, color, color_temperature, switch
command	All commands supported by the channel can be used
fadeTime	Fade time in milliseconds to a new light value (min="0", step="100")

Full Example

In this example bulb1 is a standard Philips Hue bulb (LCT001) which supports color and color_temperature. Therefore it is a thing of type 0210. bulb2 is an OSRAM tunable white bulb (PAR16 50 TW) supporting color_temperature and so the type is 0220. And there is one Hue Motion Sensor (represented by three devices) and a Hue Dimmer Switch dimmer-switch with a Rule to trigger an action when a key has been pressed.

demo.things:

Bridge hue:bridge:1         "Hue Bridge"                    [ ipAddress="192.168.0.64" ] {
    0210  bulb1              "Lamp 1"        @ "Kitchen"    [ lightId="1" ]
    0220  bulb2              "Lamp 2"        @ "Kitchen"    [ lightId="2" ]
    group kitchen-bulbs      "Kitchen Lamps" @ "Kitchen"    [ groupId="1" ]
    0106  light-level-sensor "Light-Sensor"  @ "Entrance"   [ sensorId="3" ]
    0107  motion-sensor      "Motion-Sensor" @ "Entrance"   [ sensorId="4" ]
    0302  temperature-sensor "Temp-Sensor"   @ "Entrance"   [ sensorId="5" ]
    0820  dimmer-switch      "Dimmer-Switch" @ "Entrance"   [ sensorId="6" ]
}

demo.items:

// Bulb1
Switch  Light1_Toggle       { channel="hue:0210:1:bulb1:color" }
Dimmer  Light1_Dimmer       { channel="hue:0210:1:bulb1:color" }
Color   Light1_Color        { channel="hue:0210:1:bulb1:color" }
Dimmer  Light1_ColorTemp    { channel="hue:0210:1:bulb1:color_temperature" }
String  Light1_Alert        { channel="hue:0210:1:bulb1:alert" }
Switch  Light1_Effect       { channel="hue:0210:1:bulb1:effect" }

// Bulb2
Switch  Light2_Toggle       { channel="hue:0220:1:bulb2:brightness" }
Dimmer  Light2_Dimmer       { channel="hue:0220:1:bulb2:brightness" }
Dimmer  Light2_ColorTemp    { channel="hue:0220:1:bulb2:color_temperature" }

// Kitchen
Switch  Kitchen_Switch      { channel="hue:group:1:kitchen-bulbs:switch" }
Dimmer  Kitchen_Dimmer      { channel="hue:group:1:kitchen-bulbs:brightness" }
Color   Kitchen_Color       { channel="hue:group:1:kitchen-bulbs:color" }
Dimmer  Kitchen_ColorTemp   { channel="hue:group:1:kitchen-bulbs:color_temperature" }

// Light Level Sensor
Number:Illuminance LightLevelSensorIlluminance { channel="hue:0106:1:light-level-sensor:illuminance" }

// Motion Sensor
Switch   MotionSensorPresence     { channel="hue:0107:1:motion-sensor:presence" }
DateTime MotionSensorLastUpdate   { channel="hue:0107:1:motion-sensor:last_updated" }
Number   MotionSensorBatteryLevel { channel="hue:0107:1:motion-sensor:battery_level" }
Switch   MotionSensorLowBattery   { channel="hue:0107:1:motion-sensor:battery_low" }

// Temperature Sensor
Number:Temperature TemperatureSensorTemperature { channel="hue:0302:1:temperature-sensor:temperature" }

// Scenes
String LightScene { channel="hue:bridge:1:scene"}

Note: The bridge ID is in this example 1 but can be different in each system. Also, if you are doing all your configuration through files, you may add the full bridge id to the channel definitions (e.g. channel="hue:0210:00178810d0dc:bulb1:color) instead of the short version (e.g. channel="hue:0210:1:bulb1:color) to prevent frequent discovery messages in the log file.

demo.sitemap:

sitemap demo label="Main Menu"
{
    Frame {
        // Bulb1
        Switch      item=       Light1_Toggle
        Slider      item=       Light1_Dimmer
        Colorpicker item=       Light1_Color
        Slider      item=       Light1_ColorTemp
        Switch      item=       Light1_Alert        mappings=[NONE="None", SELECT="Alert", LSELECT="Long Alert"]
        Switch      item=       Light1_Effect

        // Bulb2
        Switch      item=       Light2_Toggle
        Slider      item=       Light2_Dimmer
        Slider      item=       Light2_ColorTemp

        // Kitchen
        Switch      item=       Kitchen_Switch
        Slider      item=       Kitchen_Dimmer
        Colorpicker item=       Kitchen_Color
        Slider      item=       Kitchen_ColorTemp

        // Motion Sensor
        Switch item=MotionSensorPresence
        Text item=MotionSensorLastUpdate
        Text item=MotionSensorBatteryLevel
        Switch item=MotionSensorLowBattery

        // Light Scenes
        Default item=LightScene label="Scene []"
    }
}

Events

rule "example trigger rule"
when
   Channel "hue:0820:1:dimmer-switch:dimmer_switch_event" triggered <EVENT>
then
   ...
end

The optional <EVENT> represents one of the button events that are generated by the Hue Dimmer Switch. If ommited the rule gets triggered by any key action and you can determine the event that triggered it with the receivedEvent method. Be aware that the events have a '.0' attached to them, like 2001.0 or 34.0. So, testing for specific events looks like this:

if (receivedEvent == "1000.0")) {
    //do stuff
}       

UPnP Discovery: Inbox 'Grace Period'

The Hue Bridge can sometimes be late in sending its UPnP 'ssdp:alive' notifications even though it has not really gone offline. This means that the Hue Bridge could be repeatedly removed from, and (re)added to, the InBox. Which would lead to confusion in the UI, and repeated logger messages. To prevent this, the binding tells the OpenHAB core to wait for a further period of time ('grace period') before actually removing the Bridge from the Inbox. The 'grace period' has a default value of 50 seconds, but it can be fine tuned in the main UI via Settings | Bindings | Hue | Configure.

Caught a mistake or want to contribute to the documentation? Edit this page on GitHub (opens new window)