Absolutely! Here’s a clear, concise draft you can use to post on the Homey Forum. Feel free to edit it if you want to add any personal touches:
Subject: “Ask Question to User” - Answer Token Not Available for Branching in Advanced Flow
Post:
Hi all,
I’m trying to use the new “Ask question to user” card in an Advanced Flow to get a Yes/No answer and then branch accordingly. The basic flow is:
Trigger starts the flow
THEN Ask question to user (Yes/No question)
AND branch on whether the answer is Yes or No
However, I’m running into a problem: after the “Ask question” card, the Answer token (the Yes/No result of the question) does not appear anywhere in the dropdown lists for conditions. Specifically:
Under Logic → Yes/No is equal to, I expect to see “Answer” as a selectable token to compare against Yes, but I only see device states (orange tags) — no “Answer” token.
I also tried looking under Mobile cards and other sections, but can’t find it anywhere.
I’ve tried restarting Homey, updating firmware, and reloading the editor, but no luck.
As a workaround, I created a Yes/No variable and attempted to set it with the answer, but the same token is missing when trying to select the answer to set the variable.
I looked for an option inside the Ask Question card to “store answer in variable,” but it’s either missing or unclear in my version.
My Homey and Mobile app are fully up to date.
Has anyone else encountered this? How do you get access to the Answer token for branching after an Ask Question card?
Thanks in advance for any advice or tips!
Would you like me to help you with any additional info or screenshots to include?
Ehhmm, I wasn’t clear as well: the new “Ask a question” card is a THEN card,
Web app only: under the “Mobile” category
(It’s not available @ mobile app while it’s not suitable for standard flows)
(Thx Sven)
The old “confirmation” card (confirm a question) I mentioned, is an AND card,
Web app: under the “Mobile” category
Mobile app: under “Push notifications” category
Is it also available on the mobile app? AFAIK the only way to return tags is either in an AND (condition) card for standard and advanced Flows or in a THEN card which is only available in Advanced Flows. This is because the Homey standard Flows run all card at the same time (and can start before the card that generates the tag finishes).
Or have they added a trigger card “answer received”?
This doesn’t work as described. My flow is configured so that the red path (response not given) turns off a light, but the following happens…
When I start the flow from my laptop via the web app (essentially “testing” the flow), it works as expected. The flow reaches the message card, waits for a response, and if the response times out, it continues down the red path and performs the configured action (light off).
However, when I start the same flow from my mobile device, tablet, or dashboard (anything other than the web app), the behaviour is different. I still receive the notification as usual, but if I ignore it, nothing happens (light stays on).
To summarise, red path action only executes when the flow is started from the web app in test mode. When the flow is triggered from any other device or by any other method, the red path is never triggered after the timeout.
Any ideas why this behaviour differs depending on how/from where the flow is started?
Thanks all for your help & comments. I’ve got the ‘Ask a Question’ routine working fine now. I guess it would be good if there was a specific “reply” card that allowed different actions depending on the reply.
Good luck Alex_R - your query indicates a strange anomaly.
Thirty minutes is quite extreme, and from what I understand, unfortunately it can’t be changed(?)
I’m using a flow that performs a few actions and, at the end, prompts me with a choice asking whether I want to turn off the light. However, I also need the light to turn off if no choice is made (i.e., if I ignore the notification).
I’ve worked around this by using the Wait and Switch app. It creates a delay (essentially a timer) and turns off the light if the notification hasn’t been acted on within 40 seconds.
No, you cannot change the time-out threshold, as far as I am aware of.
I use several Yes/No push notifications sent to multiple users. If no one responds then a default action is performed by the flow. For my use cases the 30 min delay is not a problem, but I can imagine that you want a shorter timeframe. Good that you found a work-around.
You can always contact Athom and ask, if a configurable time-out can be added, via Support | Homey.
With the latest version of my Gemini AI app now in testing I’ve added a feature that does exactly this: you can use the response to give Gemini a command to manage your home (e.g. “turn off the lights”, “turn on the heating”, “open the door”, …)
