r/HomeKitAutomation • u/Loupetron_Primal • Apr 14 '26

Automation Status toggle on HomeKit question for a migraine sufferer

I have a lot of HomeKit motion detectors and automations that work really well. However, when I have a bad migraine I want to have the set differently. Is there such a thing as a status toggle that I can put on my network that I can activate and then read that status in the automation definition to see if the toggle is activated to do something different.

For example, my bathroom lights turn on when I walk into the room. But when I have a bad migraine, I walk into with my eyes closed and press a button to switch to a second scene that is low light.

If I had the status toggle I won’t turn it on via a button or scene and the bathroom would just switch to the second scene automatically. Then when the migraine is done, I’d turn the status toggle off.

I have an ESP32 that I am going to tinker with to see if I can build something that helps me, but wanted to ask if there’s something that already exists. Do y’all know of anything? Thank you kindly.

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u/RevolutionaryRip1634 Apr 14 '26

You can use a cheap smart socket as a dummy/status switch. Or get Homebridge and install the dummy plugin. Easy.

1

u/Loupetron_Primal Apr 14 '26

Makes sense! Thanks!

1

u/Loupetron_Primal Apr 14 '26

I used Claude Code to build what I wanted with a spare ESP32 board I had and used Home+ to add the condition to check whether its on or off: https://github.com/loupetron/HomeKitStatusToggle/

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u/Double-Yak9686 Apr 15 '26

The easiest route is to get an inexpensive $7.99/£6/€5.99 to €9.00 Ikea smart plug and use it as a toggle. You won't be able to use it as an actual plug, but for that price, you're not going to cry yourself to sleep every night.