Share data directly between ESPHome nodes¶
In certain special cases it might be desired to avoid placing any middleware like an MQTT or a home automation server just to transfer small bits of data from one node to another. Direct data polling is possible using HTTP, but beware that the involved components are resource hungry and may be less stable on long term. The webserver embedded in the node is not designed to constantly serve a large amount of requests.
The primary node holding the data we need to retrieve from will be the server, and the others polling for it will be the clients (can be multiple).
Server part¶
Setting up a webserver using the Web Server Component on the primary node will make available the required sensor data through a REST API interface.
web_server:
port: 80
Client part¶
On the client nodes we need an HTTP Request with an id set, and a Template Sensor to make it accessible locally.
http_request:
sensor:
- platform: template
name: "Template sensor on client"
id: template_sensor_id
Pulling the data¶
To automate the request for data, we use an Interval Component requesting the URL pointing to the sensor id for which the state is needed. See REST API on how to build up the URL for your sensors.
In the example below we request the value of a sensor from the server node, and after parsing the resulted JSON string we publish it to the local template sensor:
interval:
- interval: 60s
then:
- http_request.get:
url: http://ip or nodename.local/sensor/ID_of_the_sensor
on_response:
then:
- lambda: |-
json::parse_json(id(http_request_id).get_string(), [](JsonObject root) -> bool {
id(template_sensor_id).publish_state(root["value"]);
return true;
});
Result¶
Server side real sensor¶
Client side template sensor¶
Increasing security¶
For security reasons, it’s always recommended to protect the web interface of the nodes with authentication, even if you’re using them on your local network.
Server part¶
Add authentication to the web_server component on the primary node:
web_server:
port: 80
auth:
username: !secret admin
password: !secret web_server_password
Client part¶
Add an Authorization header to your http_request.get action. The simplest way to determine a working authorization header is to visit the password-protected REST URL of the primary node using a browser while watching the network traffic in the browser’s developer tools. If you look at the headers of the request sent by the browser, you’ll find the Authorization header it sends to the node, and you can copy it for your own replay:
interval:
- interval: 60s
then:
- http_request.get:
url: http://ip or nodename.local/sensor/ID_of_the_sensor
headers:
Authorization: 'Digest username="admin", realm="asyncesp", nonce="xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx", uri="/sensor/ID_of_the_sensor", response="xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx", opaque="xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx", qop=auth, nc=xxxxxxxx, cnonce="xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"'
on_response:
then:
- lambda: |-
json::parse_json(id(http_request_id).get_string(), [](JsonObject root) -> bool {
id(template_sensor_id).publish_state(root["value"]);
return true;
});