Local Execution Question

One question I have (slightly off topic). Most of my rules are setup as automations in ST. Is there a good reason to convert my automations over to SharpTools rules? I haven’t actually looked into whether my automations run on my hub or not, but I figured I had the greatest chance of running them locally if I used automations.

Thanks for the feedback, I am also wondering if a search bar at top would help filter based on the keywords in the rule name and description.

At this moment, keeping the simple automation in the ST may have the benefit of local execution as long as the device handler supports local execution. Automation like turning light on when motion detected without further conditions can be those to keep in ST at this point. (~200ms vs ~1sec difference in the rule execution performance)

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You made a comment in a Samsung dev con YouTube video I watched that you were looking into running Rule Engine rules locally in the hub, if I understood that correctly. Is that really a possibility? Can you do that in Hubitat? (I’m thinking about switching)

We implemented a proof of concept using the new SmartThings Rule API leading up to the Samsung Developer conference. SmartThings has indicated that they have plans to introduce local support for the Rule API, so it’s something we might revisit in the future once local support is added to the API. :grinning:

Hubitat offers their own rule feature called ‘Rule Machine’. It runs locally on the hub, but it’s not exposed as an API that we could build on.

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Do you know if Hubitat has plans to open their API so rules could get executed locally? I just bought a Hubitat hub and still have most devices on SmartThings and was thinking about migrating to Hubitat only so things could run locally but the SmartThings plan to support local rule execution now has me reconsidering.

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Rules built with Hubitat’s own Rule Machine execute locally. I don’t know if they have any plans to open up an API for creating Rule Machine rules, but that is a neat suggestion!

Yes, but I like the sharptools rule engine better, seems to be more customizable as far as tiles go. Can I have a tile for a Hubitat rule? I guess it would just act as a virtual button to execute the rule and the rule would execute locally on my Hubitat, right?

Since I still have a SmartThings hub with devices, I’m using sharptools to aggregate all of my devices so I’m using sharptools for all rules.

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A common approach is to create a Virtual Switch or Virtual Momentary device. Then you can control that device from your SharpTools dashboard or rules… and use it as a trigger in your Hubitat Rules.

Not sure I’m following this. You’re talking about a virtual button in my Hubitat to execute the rule, right? Is that a “device” that can be seen by sharptools?

Yes, you can create a virtual device in Hubitat and then authorize that in SharpTools.

So from SharpTools, you could flip the Virtual Switch on… then in Hubitat’s Rule Machine, you could build a rule that would react to the switch turning on.

You could either have the Hubitat rule turn the virtual switch back off or Hubitat’s Virtual Switch can be configured with an ‘Auto Off’ Setting which makes it act like a bit like a button (stateless):