Unexpected Results from Hue Lighting Trace

[SearchCz]

HI Karl,

I am hoping you can help me understand some weird behaviour I'm seeing on some of my hue lights. As you know the logging is generous for hue lights, so I decided to zero in on one in particular.

This is a light that was at 52% (BRI:133). I tried to set it to 39% @ 11:29:19 as you can see near the top of the trace. It seems to have reported that brightness back several times. Then at about 11:30:07 it reports in at 52% again. I can't figure out why. FWIW the hue app showed it at 52% as well.

The other three bulbs in this room, they all are the same model, got sent the same instruction, settled in at 39% as expected. But this particular bulb, when it showed up in deviceUpdate() at an unexpected brightness, in my plugin that *looks like* some person or process stepped in and set that light at 52% intentionally.

I am hoping you see something in this log file that I didn't that might explain why this light apparently reverted back to its 52% brightness? Or any intuition about why the 39% maybe didn't stick?

Your persepcive on this is most appreciated!

-Daniel

oops - here's the log file trace:

Code: Select all

Ok …office nw just disrupted. Here’s the trace. Try to ignore anything that doesn’t explicitly mention office.

   Roomify                         @11:29:19: 'Office phase change invoked: initial -> delayed
   Roomify                         @11:29:19: Roomify -> Office/True/On 
   Hue Lights                      Command is SetBrightness, Bulb is 8
   Hue Lights                      device set brightness:
actionValue : 39
configured : True
delayAmount : 900
description : brighten device to 39%
deviceAction : SetBrightness
deviceId : 1943124704
replaceExisting : True
textToSpeak : 
   Hue Lights                      Sent Hue Lights  "Office Northwest"  to 39, at ramp rate:0.5 sec
   Hue Lights                      parseOneHueLightDataV1  hubNumber0 -> {'0': '1', '1': '1', '2': '1', '3': '1', '4': '1'}, False 
   Hue Lights                       dev :Office Northwest bulb:{'state': {'on': True, 'bri': 99, 'hue': 10306, 'sat': 16, 'effect': 'none', 'xy': [0.3867, 0.3824], 'ct': 258, 'alert': 'select', 'colormode': 'ct', 'mode': 'homeautomation', 'reachable': True}, 'swupdate': {'state': 'noupdates', 'lastinstall': '2026-04-24T22:37:59'}, 'type': 'Extended color light', 'name': 'Office Northwest', 'modelid': 'LCA009', 'manufacturername': 'Signify Netherlands B.V.', 'productname': 'Hue color lamp', 'capabilities': {'certified': True, 'control': {'mindimlevel': 200, 'maxlumen': 1680, 'colorgamuttype': 'C', 'colorgamut': [[0.6915, 0.3083], [0.17, 0.7], [0.1532, 0.0475]], 'ct': {'min': 153, 'max': 500}}, 'streaming': {'renderer': True, 'proxy': True}}, 'config': {'archetype': 'sultanbulb', 'function': 'mixed', 'direction': 'omnidirectional', 'startup': {'mode': 'safety', 'configured': True}}, 'uniqueid': '00:17:88:01:0d:95:a1:23-0b', 'swversion': '1.145.1', 'swconfigid': '5A997151', 'productid': 'Philips-LCA009-1-A21ECLv1'}
   Hue Lights                       into Extended color light
   Hue Lights                      parseOneHueLightDataV1  hubNumber0 -> {'0': '1', '1': '1', '2': '1', '3': '1', '4': '1'}, False 
   Hue Lights                       dev :Office Northwest bulb:{'state': {'on': True, 'bri': 99, 'hue': 10306, 'sat': 16, 'effect': 'none', 'xy': [0.3867, 0.3824], 'ct': 258, 'alert': 'select', 'colormode': 'ct', 'mode': 'homeautomation', 'reachable': True}, 'swupdate': {'state': 'noupdates', 'lastinstall': '2026-04-24T22:37:59'}, 'type': 'Extended color light', 'name': 'Office Northwest', 'modelid': 'LCA009', 'manufacturername': 'Signify Netherlands B.V.', 'productname': 'Hue color lamp', 'capabilities': {'certified': True, 'control': {'mindimlevel': 200, 'maxlumen': 1680, 'colorgamuttype': 'C', 'colorgamut': [[0.6915, 0.3083], [0.17, 0.7], [0.1532, 0.0475]], 'ct': {'min': 153, 'max': 500}}, 'streaming': {'renderer': True, 'proxy': True}}, 'config': {'archetype': 'sultanbulb', 'function': 'mixed', 'direction': 'omnidirectional', 'startup': {'mode': 'safety', 'configured': True}}, 'uniqueid': '00:17:88:01:0d:95:a1:23-0b', 'swversion': '1.145.1', 'swconfigid': '5A997151', 'productid': 'Philips-LCA009-1-A21ECLv1'}
   Hue Lights                       into Extended color light
   Hue Lights                      parseOneHueLightDataV1  hubNumber0 -> {'0': '1', '1': '1', '2': '1', '3': '1', '4': '1'}, False 
   Hue Lights                       dev :Office Northwest bulb:{'state': {'on': True, 'bri': 99, 'hue': 10306, 'sat': 16, 'effect': 'none', 'xy': [0.3867, 0.3824], 'ct': 258, 'alert': 'select', 'colormode': 'ct', 'mode': 'homeautomation', 'reachable': True}, 'swupdate': {'state': 'noupdates', 'lastinstall': '2026-04-24T22:37:59'}, 'type': 'Extended color light', 'name': 'Office Northwest', 'modelid': 'LCA009', 'manufacturername': 'Signify Netherlands B.V.', 'productname': 'Hue color lamp', 'capabilities': {'certified': True, 'control': {'mindimlevel': 200, 'maxlumen': 1680, 'colorgamuttype': 'C', 'colorgamut': [[0.6915, 0.3083], [0.17, 0.7], [0.1532, 0.0475]], 'ct': {'min': 153, 'max': 500}}, 'streaming': {'renderer': True, 'proxy': True}}, 'config': {'archetype': 'sultanbulb', 'function': 'mixed', 'direction': 'omnidirectional', 'startup': {'mode': 'safety', 'configured': True}}, 'uniqueid': '00:17:88:01:0d:95:a1:23-0b', 'swversion': '1.145.1', 'swconfigid': '5A997151', 'productid': 'Philips-LCA009-1-A21ECLv1'}
   Hue Lights                       into Extended color light
   Hue Lights                      parseOneHueLightDataV1  hubNumber0 -> {'0': '1', '1': '1', '2': '1', '3': '1', '4': '1'}, False 
   Hue Lights                       dev :Office Northwest bulb:{'state': {'on': True, 'bri': 99, 'hue': 10306, 'sat': 16, 'effect': 'none', 'xy': [0.3867, 0.3824], 'ct': 258, 'alert': 'select', 'colormode': 'ct', 'mode': 'homeautomation', 'reachable': True}, 'swupdate': {'state': 'noupdates', 'lastinstall': '2026-04-24T22:37:59'}, 'type': 'Extended color light', 'name': 'Office Northwest', 'modelid': 'LCA009', 'manufacturername': 'Signify Netherlands B.V.', 'productname': 'Hue color lamp', 'capabilities': {'certified': True, 'control': {'mindimlevel': 200, 'maxlumen': 1680, 'colorgamuttype': 'C', 'colorgamut': [[0.6915, 0.3083], [0.17, 0.7], [0.1532, 0.0475]], 'ct': {'min': 153, 'max': 500}}, 'streaming': {'renderer': True, 'proxy': True}}, 'config': {'archetype': 'sultanbulb', 'function': 'mixed', 'direction': 'omnidirectional', 'startup': {'mode': 'safety', 'configured': True}}, 'uniqueid': '00:17:88:01:0d:95:a1:23-0b', 'swversion': '1.145.1', 'swconfigid': '5A997151', 'productid': 'Philips-LCA009-1-A21ECLv1'}
   Hue Lights                       into Extended color light
   Hue Lights                      parseOneHueLightDataV1  hubNumber0 -> {'0': '1', '1': '1', '2': '1', '3': '1', '4': '1'}, False 
   Hue Lights                       dev :Office Northwest bulb:{'state': {'on': True, 'bri': 99, 'hue': 10306, 'sat': 16, 'effect': 'none', 'xy': [0.3867, 0.3824], 'ct': 258, 'alert': 'select', 'colormode': 'ct', 'mode': 'homeautomation', 'reachable': True}, 'swupdate': {'state': 'noupdates', 'lastinstall': '2026-04-24T22:37:59'}, 'type': 'Extended color light', 'name': 'Office Northwest', 'modelid': 'LCA009', 'manufacturername': 'Signify Netherlands B.V.', 'productname': 'Hue color lamp', 'capabilities': {'certified': True, 'control': {'mindimlevel': 200, 'maxlumen': 1680, 'colorgamuttype': 'C', 'colorgamut': [[0.6915, 0.3083], [0.17, 0.7], [0.1532, 0.0475]], 'ct': {'min': 153, 'max': 500}}, 'streaming': {'renderer': True, 'proxy': True}}, 'config': {'archetype': 'sultanbulb', 'function': 'mixed', 'direction': 'omnidirectional', 'startup': {'mode': 'safety', 'configured': True}}, 'uniqueid': '00:17:88:01:0d:95:a1:23-0b', 'swversion': '1.145.1', 'swconfigid': '5A997151', 'productid': 'Philips-LCA009-1-A21ECLv1'}
   Hue Lights                       into Extended color light
   Hue Lights                      parseOneHueLightDataV1  hubNumber0 -> {'0': '1', '1': '1', '2': '1', '3': '1', '4': '1'}, False 
   Hue Lights                       dev :Office Northwest bulb:{'state': {'on': True, 'bri': 133, 'hue': 10306, 'sat': 16, 'effect': 'none', 'xy': [0.3867, 0.3824], 'ct': 258, 'alert': 'select', 'colormode': 'ct', 'mode': 'homeautomation', 'reachable': True}, 'swupdate': {'state': 'noupdates', 'lastinstall': '2026-04-24T22:37:59'}, 'type': 'Extended color light', 'name': 'Office Northwest', 'modelid': 'LCA009', 'manufacturername': 'Signify Netherlands B.V.', 'productname': 'Hue color lamp', 'capabilities': {'certified': True, 'control': {'mindimlevel': 200, 'maxlumen': 1680, 'colorgamuttype': 'C', 'colorgamut': [[0.6915, 0.3083], [0.17, 0.7], [0.1532, 0.0475]], 'ct': {'min': 153, 'max': 500}}, 'streaming': {'renderer': True, 'proxy': True}}, 'config': {'archetype': 'sultanbulb', 'function': 'mixed', 'direction': 'omnidirectional', 'startup': {'mode': 'safety', 'configured': True}}, 'uniqueid': '00:17:88:01:0d:95:a1:23-0b', 'swversion': '1.145.1', 'swconfigid': '5A997151', 'productid': 'Philips-LCA009-1-A21ECLv1'}
   Hue Lights                       into Extended color light
   Hue Lights                      Updated:  Office Northwest                            to 52
   Roomify                         AUTHORITY DECISION @11:30:07: DISRUPTION: Device Office Northwest [1943124704] in an apparent disruptinve state
   Roomify                         @11:30:07: Unexpected device update detected in room Office 
   Roomify                         @11:30:07: Office Northwest (id: 1943124704) / Change in brightness from 39 to 52
   Roomify                         @11:30:07: AUTHORITY DECISION@11:30:07: Office: surrendering automation authority per 'Office Northwest changed'

[kw123]

I am busy until Monday. Will look at it then


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[SearchCz]

I am busy until Monday. Will look at it then


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No worries. I don’t think your plugin did it. I think it’s a hue inherently, and I’ve programmed with that expectation in mind.

[kw123]

And you are using the latest plugin v and the hue bridge v2? Not pro?


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[kw123]

quick look:
could you turn on debug #6 "send commands to bridge" and set the lamp group to a number, eg 25%.

if there is only "set the group to 25% (=64/255)" and no other send command, then the plugin is "innocent" .
Must be some other action you have defined in the hue bridge or home Assistant.
Do you have sensors to switch on off lights?


ps:
the new bridge (pro) does not calculate the color for group lamps anymore in the API. the V2 bridge still does. I guess they don't want to send wrong numbers, you might have different lamps with different capabilities, then it is difficult to calculate color values. But brightness is calculated

[SearchCz]

Sorry for the late reply. I think my problem was that I was issuing an ON command where it wasn't needed, and invoking a default rightness that I really didn't want. I changed my code to simply set the brightness to whatever the current desired state might be, and got the outcome I expected.

I did see an odd behaviour this morning. though, and I wonder if I could run it past you.

When I entered my living room, my Roomify plugin set the occupancy state as expected and sent instructions out to the 11 devices in the room. (8 hue bulbs, 3 Insteon devices). I was there to witness all but one device execute those instructions. The light I call Sofa Left remained off while all the others came on to a brightness of 20% as expected. This isn't the weird part yet. I know this kind of thing can happen at the device or bridge level, so no biggie.

But here's the weird part: even though the device did not change, Indigo seems to have received a report that it had. I know this because my deviceUpdated method (in the Roomify plugin) reacts to device reports from these 11 devices to figure out when lights are changed to something other than what my automations wanted.

In this case, about 1.4 seconds after the instruction(s) were sent, all the devices in the room reported that they had changed to the desired brightness. (Sofa Left had not changed at all, and remained off). About 44 seconds later, my deviceUpdated got a fresh report about Sofa Left accurately showing that it was actually off.

So I have two questions about this phenomenon.

1) Where do you think that first (false) on/20% report originated, when the light was in fact off/0% in that moment?

2) If I were to issue a status request on that Sofa left device any after it has reported that on/20% but is in fact off, would the mechanisms that generate a response get at the actual off/0% data I'm interested in, or just repeat the errant on/20% ?

I guess I have a 3rd question. Or maybe my second question should have been ... how can I either eliminate that inaccurate on/20% report, or get the accurate off/0% to arrive at indigo (and therefore, at my plugin) faster? Like, within 10 seconds max? I'm trying to distinguish between a device that really changed state and one that just reported a change that hasn't really happened.

[kw123]

Questions:
What plugin version and which hue bridge?


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[SearchCz]

It was on 2022.32.112 with the original(?) white hub (not pro) model# 3241312018A

[kw123]

The old hue bridge is being polled ever xx secs
There are 2 parameters one for sensors the are done more often lights less frequently
The idea is that a sensor could trigger an indigo action. Changes in brightness levels have time

You can set this to much more frequently - in plugin config - but it can stress the hue bridge and the indigo plugin

The new pro bridge sends updates -only changes- to the plugin. That is done in less than 0.5 secs


I have moved all my devices from 4 old hue bridges to one new probridge and Ivan not looking back.

Karl.


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[SearchCz]

trying to understand this ... if I get you right, you're saying that the update frequency/speed are bottlenecked at the old bridge in a way that the new bridge does not suffer. I was going to adjust my polling frequency but I'm at 7.5 seconds for lights already, and it took about 45 seconds to get an accurate report. I dont think polling with greater frequency would get me an accurate report any faster in this case. I still wonder where that optimistic but inaccurate 25% came from.

I heard that Philips were working on a migration path for people with multiple bridges. any idea if thats in place yet?

[kw123]

I migrated all my old 4 bridges to one new bridge
It worked well. Only issue are foh switches they have to be migrated manually.

The new bridge is not polled.
The plugin subscribes to changes. The bride SENDS any change and the plugin receives them and then updates the device states in my case about one change every 5 secs( have a lot of sensors )

Once every 2 minutes the plugin reads the whole setup from the hue bridge just to make sure nothing got missed

The old one has to be read completely as the plugin does not know what value has changed. In order to minimize the load it prioritizes what it should read ie sensors more often than lamps.


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[SearchCz]

So that 20% is the value read from the bridge on that polling interval ?

Does the status request method ask the bulb for info, or just the bridge?

[kw123]

The plugin only talks to the bridge - through http.

The protocol bridge to lamp is zigbee.

There are several other bridges that could talk to the lamps and sensors. Like ikea. Also homeassistant with the proper usb stick can do that.

As long as you only have hue devices I would stick with the hue bridge.

Again the new hue bridge is a big improvement in reaction time and other functions like motion detection just using hue lamps

That should be expected as the old bridge is > 6 years old


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[SearchCz]

I get it ... I did some digging and realized that the funky *wrong* brightness report is something that the bridge is reporting, not something popping up in the plugin or Indigo. I tried device.statusRequest() hoping to get a better number, but it seems that whatever number is on record in the bridge at that moment is the number that comes back.

Is there by any chance something in the Hue API that amounts to a request that the bridge check the bulb(s) again?

[kw123]

By the way if you ask Claude about the plugin „How does the indigo plugin huelights communicate with a hue bridge“ you get

Over the local network via the bridge's HTTP REST API — no cloud, no Philips servers. Two generations of that API are in play:

**API v1 (classic bridges, and still supported by the Pro bridge)**
- You pair once by pressing the bridge's link button; the bridge issues a username/application key that the plugin stores in its prefs.
- After that it's plain HTTP to `http://<bridge-ip>/api/<key>/lights`, `/groups`, `/sensors`, etc. — GETs to read state, PUTs to set on/off, brightness, hue/sat, or colour temp.
- State updates come from **polling**. The plugin polls roughly every 3 seconds, pulling and parsing on the order of 500 KB of data each time.

**API v2 (Hue Pro bridge)**The current plugin supports both classic bridges via API v1 and the Hue Pro Bridge via API v2 with Server-Sent Events. Instead of polling, it holds an open SSE connection and the bridge pushes only what changed. That drops traffic to roughly 500 bytes per event with sub-second response, versus the polling approach. In the transitional releases, v2 events covered lights and sensors while groups and scenes still used v1, and actions were sent over v1.

Two practical notes: the plugin runs separate background threads for the SSE listener (one per v2 bridge), the v1 poll loop, an offline watchdog, and a delayed-action queue, and the Pro bridge tends to drop and recycle its long-lived SSE connection about once an hour, so the listener has to reconnect.


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