SimpliSafe smart home integration, free and open source

SimpliSafe alarm over the SimpliSafe cloud: arming, sensors, Smart Lock, cameras, doorbell.

• Published by guim31
• Devices
• Version 1.0.1
• Requires Gladys >=5.1.0
• ★ 0

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Brings your SimpliSafe alarm into Gladys, through the SimpliSafe cloud (the one the SimpliSafe app uses): the state of the alarm (disarmed, armed home, armed away, exit and entry delays, alarm), the base station (online, mains power, backup battery, alerts), every sensor (entry, motion, glass break, smoke, carbon monoxide, water, freeze, keypad, panic button, siren: detection, low battery, online), the Smart Lock, and the SimpliCam, outdoor camera and Video Doorbell Pro (picture of the last motion or ring, doorbell). Arming, alarms, the doorbell and the locks arrive in real time through the WebSocket the app uses.

Developed without the hardware: feedback welcome. This integration was written from the work of the Home Assistant simplisafe integration, of the simplisafe-python library and of homebridge-simplisafe3, without a SimpliSafe system or account at hand. If something does not work as described, please open an issue on github.com/guim31/gladys-simplisafe/issues with the integration logs (LOG_LEVEL=debug).

This integration is not affiliated with SimpliSafe. SimpliSafe is a trademark of SimpliSafe, Inc.

What you need

• A SimpliSafe 3 system (the current generation, sold since 2018) and the SimpliSafe account of the app. The free plan works for the states; arming and disarming remotely need a plan that allows remote control.
• Two-step verification turned on for the account (SimpliSafe app, Settings): without it, SimpliSafe never gives the sign-in code the integration needs (this is what Home Assistant users found out).
• A computer with Chrome or Edge for the sign-in (once).
• Gladys 5.1 or later, with Internet access.

Set up

Open Integrations → SimpliSafe → Configuration, choose the options below and save, then sign in. Open the Discover tab and add the devices you want.

Sign in

SimpliSafe signs in through its own page, which then sends the browser to an address only the mobile app opens (com.simplisafe.mobile://…). The browser shows nothing, but the address appears in its developer tools: that is what you copy into Gladys. Gladys never sees your password.

1. Click Connect next to SimpliSafe account: the SimpliSafe sign-in page opens in a new tab. In that tab, open the developer tools (F12, or Cmd+Option+I on a Mac) on the Console tab.
2. Sign in with the e-mail address and password of the SimpliSafe app, then confirm the sign-in (code or link sent by e-mail or SMS).
3. The page then seems to do nothing: that is expected. In the console, a red line says something like Failed to launch 'com.simplisafe.mobile://auth.simplisafe.com/ios/com.simplisafe.mobile/callback?code=…'. Copy that line, or only the address.
4. Within a few minutes, paste it in the Finish the sign-in action at the bottom of the configuration page and run it. The answer lists the systems found.

Nothing in the console? Open the Network tab before signing in: the last line, in red, has the address in its Location header. Already signed in to SimpliSafe in this browser, the page may skip straight to the end: open a new private window and start again from Connect. A code works once and for a few minutes; each Connect makes a new page, and only the code of the last one works.

Settings

• SimpliSafe account: the Connect button and the state of the link.

• Arming from Gladys:

  • Off (state only), the default: Gladys shows the state of the alarm and never changes it;
  • Arm only: the widget and the scene action can arm (home, away), never disarm;
  • Arm and disarm: anyone using your Gladys dashboards and scenes can also disarm. Disarming from the widget asks for a confirmation.

  Why off by default: with professional monitoring, an alarm armed by mistake while someone is home calls the monitoring center, and in many towns a false alarm is fined; a disarm from a shared dashboard opens the house. The alarm state is never a switch: no voice assistant and no "device value" scene can change it, only the widget and the action below.

• Allow unlocking the Smart Lock: off by default. Gladys can always lock the door; unlocking needs this option.

• Sensor reading: how often the systems, sensors and locks are read (30 s, 1, 2 or 5 minutes; 1 minute by default). Arming, alarms, the doorbell and the locks arrive in real time anyway.

• Language of the device names: the language of the names of the devices and features. Gladys keeps the names chosen when a device is added.

Configuration actions

• Finish the sign-in: see above.
• Test the connection: lists the systems of the account. Nothing is armed or disarmed.
• Sign out: deletes the tokens stored by Gladys. The devices stay, without new readings.

The devices

The system

One device per base station, named after the location:

• Alarm state: Disarmed, Armed home, Armed away, Exit delay, Entry delay or Alarm (values off, home, away, exit_delay, entry_delay, alarm in scenes). Read-only.
• Online: the base station reaches the SimpliSafe cloud.
• Mains power: 0 during a power outage (the base runs on its battery).
• Backup battery: the value SimpliSafe reports for the backup battery, believed to be in millivolts (around 5,000 for a charged battery).
• Alerts: the latest message of the SimpliSafe app (power outage, sensor error…), with their number when there are several, or "No alert".

Sensors

One device per sensor, named "name in the app - kind":

• Entry sensor: Opening (open or closed). Read at each reading, and set to open at once by an alarm or a secret alert.
• Motion sensor: Motion; glass break sensor: Glass break. SimpliSafe keeps no state for them: they go to 1 for a minute when an alarm or a secret alert names them, 0 otherwise. Set a secret alert on them in the SimpliSafe app to see each detection, even disarmed.
• Smoke detector: Smoke and Tamper; smoke and CO detector: Smoke, Carbon monoxide and Tamper; CO detector: Carbon monoxide.
• Water sensor: Water leak.
• Freeze sensor: Temperature (in °F, shown in your unit) and Temperature alert (outside the limits set in the app).
• Keypad, key fob, panic button, sirens: no detection.
• Every sensor: Low battery and Online.

What is reliable: the base station follows entry sensors, smoke, CO, water and freeze sensors, and the integration reads them at each Sensor reading (asking the base station for fresh values, as Home Assistant does). Motion and glass break only show through events.

Smart Lock

Lock (lock or unlock, see the option above), Lock state (locked, unlocked, error when the bolt is jammed), Low battery, Low keypad battery and Online.

Cameras and doorbells

Picture: the picture of the last motion or ring when SimpliSafe gives one, or a live picture of a wired first-generation SimpliCam whose privacy shutter is open in the current mode (a picture never opens a shutter, nor wakes a battery camera). Motion (1 for a minute after a motion), Doorbell (on a doorbell: 1 for a few seconds after a ring) and Online.

Dashboard

The SimpliSafe alarm widget shows the state of the alarm, the base station, the power, the open entries, the low batteries and the alerts, and the buttons Arm home, Arm away and Disarm that Arming from Gladys allows. The current mode is marked by a check icon. Choose the system in the widget settings when the account has several.

Scenes

Triggers

• SimpliSafe alarm triggered: the alarm went off. Filter by system and kind (burglary, fire, carbon monoxide, water, freeze, panic). Variables: the kind, the sensor name.
• SimpliSafe armed or disarmed: from the app, a keypad, a key fob or Gladys. Filter by system, new mode and where from. Variables: the mode, where from, the name of the PIN when SimpliSafe gives it (e.g. "Master PIN").
• SimpliSafe doorbell pressed: filter by doorbell. The camera image is the picture of the ring when SimpliSafe gives one.

The Alarm state feature also works as a device trigger; the triggers above add the kind of alarm, who armed, and the ring.

Actions

• Arm or disarm SimpliSafe: arms (home, away) or disarms, as far as Arming from Gladys allows. Output: the state after the command (exit_delay when the system has an exit delay).
• The Smart Lock is a regular lock device: "set the value" of Lock.

Scene ideas

• SimpliSafe alarm triggered → turn every light on and send the camera picture by message.
• SimpliSafe armed or disarmed, new mode Armed away → turn off the heating and the lights; mode Disarmed from the keypad → turn on the hallway light.
• SimpliSafe doorbell pressed → send the doorbell picture to your phone.
• Every evening at 11 pm, if the alarm state is Disarmed → Arm or disarm SimpliSafe (Armed home), with "Arm only".

Refresh and limits of the cloud

The SimpliSafe API is the unofficial API of the apps: no published quota. The integration reads every minute by default (Home Assistant: every 30 s), only the systems that have a device in Gladys, the base station settings every 10 minutes, and listens to the WebSocket for the rest. When SimpliSafe answers 403 (how it refuses a client that asks too often), the reads pause 1 minute, then twice as long each time, up to 2 hours. Right after an arming, a system with a Smart Lock is left alone for 20 s: SimpliSafe has a bug where the base station then announces that the lock is not responding.

Troubleshooting

• "Not signed in": do the sign-in above. "SimpliSafe refused the saved sign-in": the password changed, or the account signed out every device: sign in again.
• "SimpliSafe refused the code": the code was already used, is older than a few minutes, or comes from an earlier Connect: click Connect again.
• No code in the console: check that two-step verification is on, use Chrome or Edge, a private window, and the Network tab.
• "The SimpliSafe plan of this system does not allow remote control": the plan does not include arming from the app.
• A sensor stays on "no recent value": SimpliSafe does not report this kind of sensor (motion, glass break) until an event.
• Logs: Integrations → SimpliSafe → Logs; with LOG_LEVEL=debug for every read and event. No token, code, address or PIN name is ever written.

Limits

• Developed without the hardware: the behaviour is that of the libraries it follows, checked against their recorded answers.
• SimpliSafe 2 systems (before 2018) are listed but not supported.
• No live video, no siren command, no PIN management, no change of the system settings (volumes, delays).
• The cameras of the newest generation stream through another service: they only show the picture of their events.
• An event missed while the WebSocket reconnects does not fire its trigger; the states catch up at the next reading.
• The Backup battery value is the raw value of SimpliSafe.

Configuration settings

These are the settings SimpliSafe asks for in its configuration screen in Gladys.

Setting	Type	Required	Description
Before you start	section	No	This integration signs in to your SimpliSafe account like the app and follows your SimpliSafe 3 system: alarm state, sensors, Smart Lock, cameras and doorbell, in real time. The account must have two-step verification turned on (SimpliSafe app, Settings). Developed without the hardware: feedback welcome. Not affiliated with SimpliSafe.
Sign in	section	No	On a computer, preferably in Chrome or Edge: 1. Click Connect: the SimpliSafe sign-in page opens in a new tab. In that tab, open the developer tools (F12, or Cmd+Option+I on a Mac) on the Console tab. 2. Sign in with the e-mail address and password of the SimpliSafe app, then confirm the sign-in (code or link sent by e-mail or SMS). 3. The page then seems to do nothing: that is expected. In the console, a red line mentions an address starting with com.simplisafe.mobile:// and containing code=. Copy that address. 4. Within a few minutes, paste it in the “Finish the sign-in” action at the bottom of this page. Gladys never sees your password. Nothing in the console? Open the Network tab before signing in, or see the guide.
SimpliSafe account	account_link	No
Arming from Gladys	select	No	Off: Gladys shows the state of the alarm, never changes it. Arm only: the widget and the scenes can arm (home, away). Arm and disarm: anyone using your Gladys dashboards and scenes can also disarm. Never like a switch, nor by voice.
Allow unlocking the Smart Lock	boolean	No	Off: Gladys can lock the door, never unlock it. On: anyone using your Gladys dashboards and scenes can open it.
Sensor reading	select	No	How often the systems, sensors and locks are read. Arming, alarms, the doorbell and the locks arrive in real time anyway.
Language of the device names	select	No	Gladys keeps the names chosen when a device is added.

How to install SimpliSafe in Gladys

1. In Gladys, open Integrations: SimpliSafe appears in the catalog, next to the native integrations, with a community badge.
2. Click Install. Gladys pulls the Docker image (ghcr.io/guim31/gladys-simplisafe:1.0.1), starts it in a sandbox isolated from the core, and generates the integration's interface (devices, discovery and configuration).
3. Open the Configuration screen of the integration, fill in the settings, and save.
4. You can also install it directly from its repository URL: https://github.com/guim31/gladys-simplisafe.

SimpliSafe requires Gladys >=5.1.0. The catalog inside Gladys refreshes every hour, so a new version becomes available at most one hour after its release.

Not running Gladys yet? It is free and open source: follow the installation guide to get started.

About external integrations

SimpliSafe is an external integration: a community integration packaged as a Docker container and published on GitHub, that Gladys installs in one click and runs in a sandbox isolated from its core. It is published and maintained by guim31, not by the Gladys core team.

• Browse all integrations, native and community
• Build and publish your own external integration
• Source code on GitHub — source of this documentation

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