Google Assistant action to be discontinued

Hi everyone. Unfortunately Google have decided to decommission the Actions on Google services, which means that at some point in June you will no longer be able to interact with SEQUEmatic via the Google Assistant.

I wish I could do something about this, but this impacts all applications currently provided via the Actions on Google catalogue.

If you're currently using the Google Assistant to trigger sequences, this will no longer be possible from June.

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New method of linking eWeLink account

eWeLink have recently launched a new method of authenticating accounts when linking to SEQUEmatic.  Using the new method, when you link your eWeLink account to SEQUEmatic, you enter your eWeLink credentials directly into the eWeLink site and then a secret token is passed back to SEQUEmatic.

The new linking method also opens up additional options for controlling devices which I will start to add into SEQUEmatic over the coming months.

Accounts which were linked previously will continue to work, however eWeLink will be phasing out this link at some point. To ensure there's no interruption to your sequences, and so you can benefit from the new features early next year, be sure to relink your account!

It's easy to do and can be completed in 2 steps!

Step 1: Unlink your eWeLink account

First, navigate to the services page and click unlink account under the eWeLink / Sonoff logo:

Step 2: Link your eWeLink account

Now, click the purple link account button that appears under eWeLink/Sonoff. This will take you to the secure eWeLink login page where you can authenticate your account.

And that's it!  You don't need to do anything to your existing sequences.  Your devices will be refreshed and will automatically continue to work in your existing sequences.

If you run into any issues or have any questions, please comment below or send an email via the contact page.

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November 2020 updates

Hi everyone, a number of updates again in the month of November!  Here's a summary of what has changed. As always, if you have any feedback let me know.

Improved sequence log

The sequence log has been enhanced making it much easier to search and filter through the logs.  In particular I had received feedback that seeing disabled sequences in the log made it difficult to find relevant entries for active sequences. Now you can hide disabled sequences, and apply many more filters!

On the sequence log page just click the show filters button at the top and you'll then be able to filter by sequence, variable and status.  Here's a preview of what it looks like now. As always, click the magnifying glass icon next to an entry to see specific details of what ran.  The update in August also improved the detailed logs so you can see additional information, such as new variable values, through the sequence log.


Status page

SEQUEmatic works with an increasing number of external services, and sometimes they may not be available. You can now check on these services from the status page. If your external devices aren't triggering or your weather steps don't seem to be working, check this page to see if there is a problem with one of external services.

Text comparison

The text comparison step was previously case sensitive. Now you have the option to make this case insensitive which means values such as open and Open can be considered the same.

Pause step

When setting a pause you can either set a pause time or use the value of a variable. Previously if using the value of a variable the pause was in seconds. Depending on where the variable value comes from, you may not be able to convert it to seconds so now you can select either seconds, minutes or hours when using a variable value in a pause.

Periodic trigger

One of the more common triggers people use is to run a sequence at regular intervals.  You can do this with the periodically trigger, however when this was added it set the frequency from the moment you saved the step.  If you were setting up the sequence at 1:15pm but wanted it to run every hour on the hour you would have needed to come back and edit it again at 2pm so it would run on the hour.

Now, it's possible to set the first instance the sequence will run. Subsequent runs then occur based on the frequency you set so you could schedule it hourly from the next hour and it will always run on the hour!

Variable webhooks

When calling a variable webhook, previously it provided a status such as success.  The output now includes the previous and new values of the variable which you could then reference back in the calling system as well. Below is an example of the new JSON structure of the variable webhook response.


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October 2020 updates

A number of updates have been implemented over the month of October. Read on to learn more.

Philips Hue integration

Adding to the list of supported smart devices, you can now link your Philips Hue account from the linked services page and control your Philips Hue lights directly from your sequence. You can trigger individual devices, as well as activitate scenes to trigger your present Philips Hue settings.

Improved search for help site

The help site has been growing and it was becoming difficult to find content. Now from the new help homepage just type your question into the search box and it will search across the documentation as well as the Q&A site. If you can't find what you're looking for, you can easily convert your search into a question so others can help.

The chat bot has also been trawling the help site and if he doesn't know how to answer your question he'll do a quick search and provide some suggested results to try and help you out.

If you have any feedback on the help site or if there's something you'd like more information on, let me know so I can expand on the help library.

Manually trigger sequence

When you add a new sequence, it can be helpful to test it out. From the edit sequence page, you can now manually trigger any sequence using the Run sequence now button shown below.

Updated edit sequence pages

The different steps available to use in sequences has grown over time and the editor has started to become a bit confusing. The form has now been updated and steps are grouped into categories such as webhooks, variables, time and smart devices making it easier to browse the different types of steps available. These changes are also in preparation for some new step templates which will be coming soon, allowing you to add prebuilt sets of steps to your sequences. If there's a step template you'd like to see leave a comment below or contact me to provide feedback.


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September 2020 updates

I'm please to announce a number of new features which were released throughout September, all based on valuable user feedback. Read on to learn more.

Stop running sequences from another sequence

A long running sequence can now be cancelled from another sequence using the stop sequence step. An example of where this is useful would be if a motion sensor turns on a light, then pauses for 5 minutes before turning off the light. If the motion sensor is triggered again and you want the timer to restart, you would stop the original sequence next time the motion sensor fires.

Email trigger

Sequences can be triggered via email using the new email trigger.  Send an email to the SEQUEmatic email trigger mailbox as you're leaving work and kick off a sequence to adjust your heater, turn on the outdoor lights and prepare your home to welcome you.

This is also a useful way of integrating external services that don't have a webhook into your sequences, as any email can be forwarded to the SEQUEmatic email trigger mailbox to trigger your sequence. You could try changing the colour of a light when you receive an email from Amazon announcing a parcel is arriving today.

Variable 'does not contain'

It's been possible to check if a variable contains a value since February this year, but now you can also check that a variable does not contain a value. This has been added to the variable value condition.  This is particularly useful if you receive a long string from something like a weather service and want to ensure it doesn't contain text like cloudy.

As always, if you have any feature requests or feedback let me know via the Q&A forum or the contact page.

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The SEQUEmatic bot is still new and learning. If you don't get the answer you need, just ask to speak with Derek and your chat will be transferred.