Set Virtual Accessory

Category: Action

Changes a virtual accessory — a mode, switch, counter, timer or number that your automations own. This is how an automation writes to the state it later reads back with virtual().

When to use

• Put the house into a mode (Home Mode → Away) from a schedule or a location trigger
• Start a cooldown timer so an automation can't re-trigger for a while
• Count something — door opens, motion events, failed requests
• Record a value for other automations to read, without touching a real device

Configuration

• Virtual accessory — which one to change. Create them from the home or room menu; if the list is empty there are none in this home yet.
• Do what — the operation. Only the ones the chosen type can perform are offered:

Type	Operations
Switch	Turn on, Turn off, Toggle, Set to…
Mode	Set to…
Counter	Add one, Subtract one, Reset, Set to…
Timer	Start, Cancel, Pause, Resume, Finish now
Number	Set to…, Increase, Decrease
Text, Date & time	Set to…

• To — the value, for Set to…. A Mode offers its own options; everything else takes free text and supports {{ templates }}.
• For — for a Timer Start only. Overrides the accessory's configured duration; leave blank to use its own.

Changing the selected accessory re-checks the operation and drops it if the new type can't perform it, so a node can't be left asking a counter to pause.

Output data

• {{ nodes['<id>'].data.accessoryId }} — The virtual accessory that was changed
• {{ nodes['<id>'].data.operation }} — The operation performed
• {{ nodes['<id>'].data.state }} — The value after the change
• {{ nodes['<id>'].data.success }} — Whether it succeeded

state is the value after the operation, so a downstream node can branch on the result rather than re-reading it and racing whatever changes it next.

Examples

Cooldown — don't re-trigger for five minutes:

1. Device Changed → porch motion detected
2. IF → {{ virtual('porch-cooldown') != 'active' }}
3. (true) Set Device → porch light on
4. (true) Set Virtual Accessory → Porch Cooldown → Start

Count the door opens, alert past ten:

1. Device Changed → back door contact opens
2. Set Virtual Accessory → Door Opens Today → Add one
3. IF → {{ nodes['virtual1'].data.state > 10 }}
4. (true) Notify → "Back door opened {{ nodes['virtual1'].data.state }} times today"

Reset it overnight:

1. Schedule → 00:00
2. Set Virtual Accessory → Door Opens Today → Reset

Set the mode when everyone leaves:

1. Device Changed → presence sensor inactive
2. Set Virtual Accessory → Home Mode → Set to → Away

Tips

• An automation changing a virtual accessory does not re-trigger itself through it — engine actions don't feed back in as device events.
• Read a virtual accessory anywhere a condition or template is accepted: {{ virtual('home-mode') == 'Night' }}
• A read-only virtual accessory can still be set by this node. Read-only only removes the dashboard control, so people can't knock a value out of step by hand.
• Deleting a virtual accessory leaves any node pointing at it failing. Check what references one before removing it.
• Timers report idle, active or paused — compare against those, not against a number.

Related

• Virtual Accessories — what they are and how to create them
• IF — branch on a virtual accessory's value
• Delay — pauses this automation; a Timer is visible to all of them