[APP][Pro][SHS] Zigbee Monitor - notice and repair unresponsive Zigbee routers automatically

Apps
1

Zigbee device suddenly not responding until you restart Homey? Zigbee Monitor notices it first — and lets a flow fix it.

Zigbee routers are your mains-powered lamps, plugs and relays: they pass on the signals of all your other Zigbee devices. When one of them gets stuck, it often still looks available in Homey, but it no longer reacts — and devices behind it can drop out too. Usually you only notice when a light doesn’t turn on… and the fix is restarting the app or Homey.

What it does

  • Tests every router actively — every few minutes (default 10) it gives each router its current state again (on/off or dim). Nothing changes, but the command really travels over Zigbee, so a router that stopped responding is noticed right away
  • No false alarms from a single hiccup — one failure is re-tested after a minute; only several failures in a row count as does not respond
  • Works with routers of any app — Philips Hue without bridge, IKEA Home smart, Aqara & Xiaomi, Tuya, SONOFF, Innr and more. Homey marks mains-powered Zigbee devices as routers; Zigbee Monitor finds them automatically
  • Notifications when a router stops and starts responding again, and a log of all events in the app settings
  • One overview device with a red dot when a router does not respond
  • Flow cards — [router] does not respond · A router of [app] does not respond · [router] responds again · [router] responds (tests right away) · A router of [app] still does not respond · Zigbee Monitor is running longer than [minutes] minutes · Test [router] / the routers of [app] / all routers now

Repair it automatically with a flow

Apps can’t restart other apps or Homey themselves, but a flow can with Homey’s own cards. Example Advanced Flow (one lane per app):

WHEN  A router of [Philips Hue] does not respond
THEN  Restart app [Philips Hue]  →  wait 30 seconds
AND   A router of [Philips Hue] still does not respond
AND   Zigbee Monitor is running longer than 60 minutes   (prevents a restart loop)
THEN  Notification + Restart Homey
ELSE  Notification "repaired by restarting the app"

On my own Homey it caught three routers (Hue and IKEA) that stopped responding at night — the flow restarted the apps and they were back within 30 seconds, before anyone noticed.

Getting started

  1. Install the app
  2. Optional: Settings → Apps → Zigbee Monitor → Configure to choose which routers to monitor, the interval and the notifications
  3. Add the Zigbee Monitor overview device and build the repair flow above
  4. Tip: to get notifications as push messages, turn them on in Homey → Settings → Notifications → Zigbee Monitor

Install

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Zigbee Monitor in the Homey App Store (test) — feedback is very welcome!

Works on Homey Pro (2023 or later), Homey Pro mini and Homey Self-Hosted Server.

Note: the app uses the Homey Web API permission to find your routers and send them their current state. Most lamps and plugs ignore a command that doesn’t change anything; if a device does react to it, switch off monitoring for that router in the settings. No cloud, everything stays on your Homey.

Links

Questions, ideas or bugs? Just reply in this topic. :slightly_smiling_face: