Hey everyone, I wanted to share my journey in setting up a two-way automation between two devices. It’s been quite the learning curve, but I think I’ve figured it out! 
So, the goal was simple: changing a value on Device A should update Device B, and vice versa. But as anyone who’s worked with automations knows, loops can be a real pain. I didn’t want Device A’s change to trigger Device B’s automation and then have Device B trigger Device A’s again, creating an endless loop.
What I needed was a way to check if the value had changed within a certain time frame and then decide whether to proceed or not. After some research, I realized I needed a delayed trigger, not just a delayed execution. This way, the automation could pause, check if the value had changed on the other device, and then decide its next move.
The challenge was finding the right settings in the visual editor. I tried using two separate automations, but they kept looping back on each other. I ended up experimenting with time delays and conditional checks. It wasn’t straightforward, but after a few trial and error sessions, I managed to set it up correctly!
For anyone else tackling similar issues, here’s what worked for me:
- Use a time delay to pause the automation after detecting a change.
- After the delay, check if the value on the other device has changed.
- If it hasn’t, proceed with updating the other device.
- If it has, cancel the automation to avoid the loop.
It’s a bit of a workaround, but it’s reliable and keeps things running smoothly. I’m really happy with how it turned out and can’t wait to expand this setup to other devices! 
Any tips or alternative methods you’ve used to prevent loops would be awesome to hear! Let’s keep the learning going! 