Configuration Types

ESPHome’s configuration files have several configuration types. This page describes them.

ID

Quite an important aspect of ESPHome are “IDs”. They are used to connect components from different domains. For example, you define an output component together with an ID and then later specify that same ID in the light component. IDs should always be unique within a configuration and ESPHome will warn you if you try to use the same ID twice.

Because ESPHome converts your configuration into C++ code and the IDs are in reality just C++ variable names, they must also adhere to C++’s naming conventions. C++ Variable names …

  • … must start with a letter and can end with numbers.

  • … must not have a space in the name.

  • … can not have special characters except the underscore (“_“).

  • … must not be a keyword.

Note

These IDs are used only within ESPHome and are not translated to Home Assistant’s Entity ID.

Pin

ESPHome always uses the chip-internal GPIO numbers. These internal numbers are always integers like 16 and can be prefixed by GPIO. For example to use the pin with the internal GPIO number 16, you could type GPIO16 or just 16.

Most boards however have aliases for certain pins. For example the NodeMCU ESP8266 uses pin names D0 through D8 as aliases for the internal GPIO pin numbers. Each board (defined in ESPHome section) has their own aliases and so not all of them are supported yet. For example, for the D0 (as printed on the PCB silkscreen) pin on the NodeMCU ESP8266 has the internal GPIO name GPIO16, but also has an alias D0. So using either one of these names in your configuration will lead to the same result.

some_config_option:
  pin: GPIO16

some_config_option:
  # alias on the NodeMCU ESP8266:
  pin: D0

Pin Schema

In some places, ESPHome also supports a more advanced “pin schema”.

some_config_option:
  # Basic:
  pin: GPIOXX

  # Advanced:
  pin:
    number: GPIOXX
    inverted: true
    mode:
      input: true
      pullup: true

Configuration variables:

  • number (Required, pin): The pin number.

  • inverted (Optional, boolean): If all read and written values should be treated as inverted. Defaults to false.

  • allow_other_uses (Optional, boolean): If the pin is also specified elsewhere in the configuration. By default multiple uses of the same pin will be flagged as an error. This option will suppress the error and is intended for rare cases where a pin is shared between multiple components. Defaults to false.

  • mode (Optional, string or mapping): Configures the pin to behave in different modes like input or output. The default value depends on the context. Accepts either a shorthand string or a mapping where each feature can be individually enabled/disabled:

    • input (Optional, boolean): If true, configure the pin as an input.

    • output (Optional, boolean): If true, configure the pin as an output.

    • pullup (Optional, boolean): Activate internal pullup resistors on the pin.

    • pulldown (Optional, boolean): Activate internal pulldown resistors on the pin.

    • open_drain (Optional, boolean): Set the pin to open-drain (as opposed to push-pull). The active pin state will then result in a high-impedance state.

    For compatibility some shorthand modes can also be used.

    • INPUT

    • OUTPUT

    • OUTPUT_OPEN_DRAIN

    • ANALOG

    • INPUT_PULLUP

    • INPUT_PULLDOWN

    • INPUT_OUTPUT_OPEN_DRAIN

Advanced options:

  • drive_strength (Optional, string): On ESP32s with esp-idf framework the pad drive strength, i.e. the maximum amount of current can additionally be set. Defaults to 20mA. Options are 5mA, 10mA, 20mA, 40mA.

  • ignore_strapping_warning (Optional, boolean): Certain pins on ESP32s are designated strapping pins and are read by the chip on reset to configure initial operation, e.g. to enable bootstrap mode. Using such pins for I/O should be avoided and ESPHome will warn if I/O is configured on a strapping pin.

    For more detail see Why am I getting a warning about strapping pins?.

    If you are absolutely sure that you are using a strapping pin for I/O in a way that will not cause problems, you can suppress the warning by setting this option to true in the pin configuration.

Time

In lots of places in ESPHome you need to define time periods. There are several ways of doing this. See below examples to see how you can specify time periods:

some_config_option:
  some_time_option: 1000us  # 1000 microseconds = 1ms
  some_time_option: 1000ms  # 1000 milliseconds
  some_time_option: 1.5s  # 1.5 seconds
  some_time_option: 0.5min  # half a minute
  some_time_option: 2h  # 2 hours

  # Make sure you wrap these in quotes
  some_time_option: '2:01'  # 2 hours 1 minute
  some_time_option: '2:01:30'  # 2 hours 1 minute 30 seconds

  # 10ms + 30s + 25min + 3h
  some_time_option:
    milliseconds: 10
    seconds: 30
    minutes: 25
    hours: 3
    days: 0

  # for all 'update_interval' options, also
  update_interval: never  # never update
  update_interval: 0ms  # update in every loop() iteration
  update_interval: always # same as 0ms

See Also