Universal Notifier - User Guide

This guide walks you through installing, configuring, and getting started with Universal Notifier via the Home Assistant web interface.

🚀 Installation & Initial Setup

Step 1: Add the Integration

1. Settings → Devices & Services
2. Click "+ ADD INTEGRATION"
3. Search for "Universal Notifier"
4. Click the integration

Step 2: Complete the Wizard

📝 Step 2/1: General Settings

Available fields:

Field	Default	Description
Assistant Name	(empty)	Name of the assistant (e.g. "Home Assistant")
Date/Time Format	`%H:%M:%S`	Timestamp format used in notifications
Include Time	✓	Appends the current time to messages
Bold Prefix	✓	Renders the message prefix in bold
Ignore Voice Title	✗	When enabled, voice titles are skipped
Priority Volume	0.9 (90%)	Volume level used when `priority=True`
Person Entity	(empty)	`person.*` entity to link to this integration
Weekend Days	Sat, Sun	Days treated as weekend (Mon=0 ... Sun=6)

📝 Step 2/2: Do Not Disturb (DND)

Available fields:

Field	Weekday Default	Weekend Default
DND Start	23:00	00:00
DND End	06:00	08:00

Note: DND schedules are configured independently for weekdays and weekends.

Click SUBMIT

📝 Step 2/3: Time Slots

Set up time slots for weekdays and weekends separately. For each slot, specify a start time and a volume level (0.0 – 1.0).

Weekdays:

Slot	Default Time	Default Volume
Morning (`morning`)	07:00	0.35 (35%)
Afternoon (`afternoon`)	12:00	0.40 (40%)
Evening (`evening`)	19:00	0.30 (30%)
Night (`night`)	21:30	0.10 (10%)

Weekend:

Slot	Default Time	Default Volume
Morning (`morning`)	08:00	0.30 (30%)
Afternoon (`afternoon`)	14:00	0.40 (40%)
Evening (`evening`)	19:00	0.30 (30%)
Night (`night`)	22:30	0.10 (10%)

Click SUBMIT

📝 Step 2/4: Greetings

Define the greetings used in voice notifications for each time slot. Enter one greeting per line in the text area.

Defaults:

Slot	Greetings
Morning	Good morning, Rise and shine, Hello, Good day
Afternoon	Good afternoon, Hi, Welcome back
Evening	Good evening, Good night, Welcome home
Night	Goodnight, Sweet dreams, It's late

Note: A random greeting is picked from the corresponding list each time a notification is sent.

Click SUBMIT

📝 Step 2/5: Channel Menu

Configured channels:
(none yet)

Action: [Add new channel]

Click SUBMIT

📝 Step 2/6: Add a Channel (repeat for each channel)

Field	Required	Description
Alias	✓	A unique name for the channel (e.g. `alexa_living_room`)
Service	✓	Full Home Assistant service name (e.g. `notify.alexa_media_echo_dot`)
Target	✗	Service target (leave blank if not needed)
Is Voice	✗	Whether the channel uses voice / TTS
Fallback Services	✗	JSON object with fallback services, e.g. `{"fallback": "notify.xxx"}`
Default Media Player	✗	`media_player.*` entity selector for audio output

Alexa example:

Channel name: alexa_living_room
Service: notify.alexa_media_echo_dot
Target: (leave blank)
Entity ID: (leave blank)
Is Voice: ✓

Click SUBMIT → Returns to the channel menu

Google Home example:

Channel name: gh_kitchen
Service: tts.google_translate_say
Target: tts.google_translate_it_it
Entity ID: media_player.kitchen
Is Voice: ✓

Click SUBMIT → Returns to the channel menu

Mobile App example:

Channel name: mobile_app_user
Service: notify.mobile_app_phone
Target: (leave blank)
Entity ID: (leave blank)
Is Voice: ✗

Click SUBMIT → Returns to the channel menu

Once all channels have been added:

Action: [Finish setup]

Click SUBMIT

📝 Step 2/7: Done

The wizard closes and the integration is ready to use!

🎯 Verifying the Installation

1. Check the Integration

Settings → Devices & Services

You should see:
┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│ Universal Notifier (Home Ass... │
│ 10 entities                     │
│ 1 service                       │
└─────────────────────────────────┘

2. Check the Entities

Developer Tools → States

Search for:
✓ binary_sensor.universal_notifier_dnd
✓ sensor.universal_notifier_volume
✓ sensor.universal_notifier_family
✓ sensor.universal_notifier_default_player
✓ select.universal_notifier_priority_volume
✓ select.universal_notifier_text_format
✓ select.universal_notifier_notification_mode
✓ number.universal_notifier_voice_buffer
✓ text.universal_notifier_last_message_sent
✓ switch.universal_notifier_dnd_override

3. Check the Service

Developer Tools → Services

Search for:
✓ universal_notifier.send

4. Send a Test Notification

# Developer Tools → Services
service: universal_notifier.send
data:
  message: "Test notification from the UI!"
  targets:
    - alexa_living_room
    - mobile_app_user

Click CALL SERVICE

If the notification arrives → ✅ Installation complete!

🔧 Changing Configuration After Setup

Opening the Options Flow

Settings → Devices & Services
→ Universal Notifier
→ CONFIGURE

Available Sections

○ General settings
  - Assistant name
  - Date format
  - Include time
  - Bold prefix
  - Ignore title
  - Priority volume
  - Person entity
  - Weekend days

○ Do Not Disturb
  - Weekday DND start
  - Weekday DND end
  - Weekend DND start
  - Weekend DND end

○ Time Slots
  - All schedules and volume levels

○ Greetings
  - Morning greetings
  - Afternoon greetings
  - Evening greetings
  - Night greetings

○ Notification Channels
  - Add a new channel
  - Remove existing channels
  - Edit existing channels

📊 Entities Created

1. binary_sensor.universal_notifier_dnd

State: on/off
Icon: mdi:bell-off (on) / mdi:bell-ring (off)
Attributes:
  dnd_start: "23:00"
  dnd_end: "07:00"

Example automation:

trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: binary_sensor.universal_notifier_dnd
    to: "off"
action:
  - service: universal_notifier.send
    data:
      message: "DND ended — good morning!"
      targets: [alexa_living_room]

2. sensor.universal_notifier_volume

State: 35 (%)
Icon: mdi:volume-off/low/medium/high (dynamic)
Attributes:
  current_slot: "morning"
  raw_volume: 0.35
  time_slots: {...}

Example automation:

trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: sensor.universal_notifier_volume
action:
  - service: notify.persistent_notification
    data:
      message: "Volume changed to {{ states('sensor.universal_notifier_volume') }}%"

3. select.universal_notifier_priority_volume

State: "0.9"
Icon: mdi:volume-high
Attributes:
  decimal_value: 0.9
  percentage: "90%"
  description: "Volume used when priority=True"
Options:
  - "0.1" (10%)
  - "0.2" (20%)
  - ...
  - "1.0" (100%)

Example automation:

# Set volume to maximum at night
trigger:
  - platform: time
    at: "23:00:00"
action:
  - service: select.select_option
    target:
      entity_id: select.universal_notifier_priority_volume
    data:
      option: "1.0"

Example notification call:

service: universal_notifier.send
data:
  message: "EMERGENCY!"
  targets: [alexa_living_room]
  priority: true  # Uses the priority volume from the select entity (1.0)

🎨 Dashboard Example

type: vertical-stack
cards:
  # Status card
  - type: entities
    title: Universal Notifier
    entities:
      - entity: binary_sensor.universal_notifier_dnd
        name: Do Not Disturb
      - entity: sensor.universal_notifier_volume
        name: Current Volume
      - entity: select.universal_notifier_priority_volume
        name: Priority Volume
  
  # Volume gauge
  - type: gauge
    entity: sensor.universal_notifier_volume
    name: Volume
    needle: true
    min: 0
    max: 100
    severity:
      green: 0
      yellow: 34
      orange: 67
      red: 90
  
  # Test button
  - type: button
    name: Test Notification
    icon: mdi:bell-ring
    tap_action:
      action: call-service
      service: universal_notifier.send
      service_data:
        message: Test from the dashboard!
        targets:
          - alexa_living_room

🐛 Troubleshooting

The integration doesn't appear

Fix:

# 1. Verify manifest.json
cat /config/custom_components/universal_notifier/manifest.json | grep config_flow
# Expected output: "config_flow": true

# 2. Check the logs
tail -f /config/home-assistant.log | grep universal_notifier

# 3. Restart Home Assistant
# Settings → System → Restart

Entities are missing

Fix:

# Confirm the files are in place
ls -la /config/custom_components/universal_notifier/ | grep -E "(binary_sensor|sensor|select).py"

# Expected output:
# binary_sensor.py
# sensor.py
# select.py

# Check the logs for errors
grep -i "universal_notifier" /config/home-assistant.log | grep -i error

Service calls fail

Fix:

# 1. Make sure at least one channel is configured
# Settings → Devices & Services → Universal Notifier → CONFIGURE

# 2. Try a simple test
service: universal_notifier.send
data:
  message: "Test"
  targets: [configured_channel_name]

# 3. Check the logs
tail -f /config/home-assistant.log | grep UniNotifier

Select entity won't update

Fix:

# Developer Tools → Services
service: homeassistant.reload_config_entry
target:
  entity_id: select.universal_notifier_priority_volume

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USER_GUIDE.md

USER_GUIDE.md

Universal Notifier - User Guide

🚀 Installation & Initial Setup

Step 1: Add the Integration

Step 2: Complete the Wizard

📝 Step 2/1: General Settings

📝 Step 2/2: Do Not Disturb (DND)

📝 Step 2/3: Time Slots

📝 Step 2/4: Greetings

📝 Step 2/5: Channel Menu

📝 Step 2/6: Add a Channel (repeat for each channel)

📝 Step 2/7: Done

🎯 Verifying the Installation

1. Check the Integration

2. Check the Entities

3. Check the Service

4. Send a Test Notification

🔧 Changing Configuration After Setup

Opening the Options Flow

Available Sections

📊 Entities Created

1. binary_sensor.universal_notifier_dnd

2. sensor.universal_notifier_volume

3. select.universal_notifier_priority_volume

🎨 Dashboard Example

🐛 Troubleshooting

The integration doesn't appear

Entities are missing

Service calls fail

Select entity won't update

✅ Final Checklist

Installation

Testing

🎉 All Done!

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Universal Notifier - User Guide

🚀 Installation & Initial Setup

Step 1: Add the Integration

Step 2: Complete the Wizard

📝 Step 2/1: General Settings

📝 Step 2/2: Do Not Disturb (DND)

📝 Step 2/3: Time Slots

📝 Step 2/4: Greetings

📝 Step 2/5: Channel Menu

📝 Step 2/6: Add a Channel (repeat for each channel)

📝 Step 2/7: Done

🎯 Verifying the Installation

1. Check the Integration

2. Check the Entities

3. Check the Service

4. Send a Test Notification

🔧 Changing Configuration After Setup

Opening the Options Flow

Available Sections

📊 Entities Created

1. binary_sensor.universal_notifier_dnd

2. sensor.universal_notifier_volume

3. select.universal_notifier_priority_volume

🎨 Dashboard Example

🐛 Troubleshooting

The integration doesn't appear

Entities are missing

Service calls fail

Select entity won't update

✅ Final Checklist

Installation

Testing

🎉 All Done!