Hi everyone! I wanted to share some insights and tips I’ve gathered while working with MQTT device tracking and integrating Emby with Home Assistant. Hopefully, this can help others who are exploring similar setups!
MQTT Device Tracking
I recently upgraded to Home Assistant 2022.6 and noticed some changes in how MQTT device tracking works. Previously, I was using the consider_home parameter globally, which allowed a configurable delay before marking a device as away. However, with the new setup, I had to switch to sending a not_home payload instead of deleting the retained message. This change was a bit tricky to adapt to, but it’s working smoothly now. I also had to ensure my automations account for the device state defaulting to unknown when no retained message is present.
Emby Integration
Another project I’ve been working on is integrating my Emby Media Server with Home Assistant using webhooks. Initially, I faced some challenges since Emby sends play events via PUT requests, while most examples I found were for GET requests. After some research and experimentation, I managed to set up a custom driver to handle PUT requests and process the JSON data effectively. This integration now allows me to trigger scenes or notifications based on media playback events, which is really handy!
Tips for Others
If you’re working with MQTT or Emby, here are a few tips:
- MQTT: Make sure your payloads are correctly formatted and test your device tracking logic thoroughly. It’s also a good idea to use retained messages to maintain consistent states between restarts.
- Emby: Familiarize yourself with the webhook documentation and consider setting up custom drivers if the default integrations don’t meet your needs. Testing with different payloads can help identify any issues early on.
I’d love to hear how others are using MQTT and Emby in their setups! Feel free to share your experiences or ask questions below. Happy automating! 