In my Home Assistant set-up – HAOS on a mini-PC, documented elsewhere in here, I have an AliExpress-sourced cheap WiFi Tuya (Smartlife) socket controlling a salt light and as it is part of my livingroom lighting set – I have an HA entity change helper turning the socket entity into a light entity.From time to time, the lamp stops working as it did last night… and on a hunch I asked Perplexity.ai about helper issues with Tuya smart plugs.Here’s my question and the response below – and sure enough – I just checked – the helper had gone missing completely, possibly after yesterday’s HA CORE upgrade.
I also added 3 new Tuya WiFi smart-lights yesterday – which meant I ended up with TWO TUYA integrations, the older one having less devices – and so I deleted the older integration… anyway I’ve added in the helper again and the light is working again.But this begs the question – WHY? HA upgrade? Remember back in the dark ages (i.e.6 months ago) when AI’s gave really dumb, inappropriate answers? Well, I’ve been using Deepseek for a couple of months and it has definitely been an improvement on the likes of chatGPT – but even then, answers have often been ouit of date (Home Assistant, like Politics is a fast moving target).
But then I had a chance this week to get a special CHEAP offer on Perplexity AI – which I took up and which automatically picks the best source for any question and has done a fabulous job this week of keeping me up to date with the current Trump/China situation (some responses from data only hours old).Here is my exact question to Perplexity AI (re: my lamp problem) and the response… (and before we start, no I’m not promoting this AI tool, I’ve had no contact with the company, a pal of mine told me this week I should try it because of a 2 Euro for the first year bargain intro… what’s to lose)… What I actually meant to say was that the socket had stopped responding in HA but not Smartlife – but I ended up asking the question below… My (badly-phrased) Question to the AI In Home Assistant I have a tuya smart socket turning a normal light on and off… and I use the integration that creates helpers to change sockets into other types of entity such as light entities.Twice in the last 24 hours the helper has disappeared for this socket.
Any ideas? Perplexity AI Response Based on the search results, there are several potential reasons why your Tuya socket helper entity is disappearing.This is a known issue affecting many Home Assistant users with Tuya devices, and there are several possible solutions: Common Causes for Disappearing Tuya Entities Integration Stability IssuesThe Tuya integration has been known to experience stability problems where entities become unavailable or disappear entirely.Users report that the integration sometimes “locks up” and requires a reload to function properly again7. This could explain why your helper disappears periodically.
Authentication ProblemsSeveral users have reported authentication failures with Tuya after system reboots. The integration might be losing its connection to the Tuya cloud service, causing entities to disappear.Home Assistant UpdatesMajor changes were made to the Tuya integration in early 2024.The updated integration no longer requires a developer account or API keys. If you haven’t updated to this newer version, that could be causing compatibility issues.
Helper Entity PersistenceThere appears to be a specific issue where “new helpers and integration disappears after each reboot”. This directly matches your situation with the helper entity disappearing.Potential Solutions Reload the IntegrationThe simplest fix is often to reload the Tuya integration when entities disappear.Go to Configuration → Integrations → Tuya → click the three dots menu → select Reload.
Update to the Latest VersionIf you’re not on the latest Home Assistant version, consider updating.The February 2024 update introduced a simplified Tuya integration setup that’s more reliable. The new version uses a user code from the Smart Life/Tuya app rather than API keys.Recreate Your Helper EntitiesAfter ensuring the integration is stable, try recreating the helper entities that convert your socket into a light entity.
Make sure to save them in a way that persists across reboots.Consider Alternative IntegrationsSome users have switched to the HACS Smart Life integration when experiencing problems with the official Tuya integration. Another option mentioned is LocalTuya, which may provide a more stable local connection.Check Connection StabilitySome Tuya devices have been reported to go “unavailable” for short periods (around 7 minutes) once or twice daily. This could be related to the device checking for firmware updates or reconnecting to your network.
Backup Your ConfigurationSince the helper entities keep disappearing, it might be worth creating a backup of your Home Assistant configuration after you’ve set everything up correctly.This way, you can restore the configuration if the issue persists.The current date (April 13, 2025) indicates you’re likely using a newer version of Home Assistant with the updated Tuya integration.
If you continue experiencing issues, you might want to check if there are any pending updates for either Home Assistant or the Tuya integration itself.Game-Changing Times
I do hope these AI tools continues with this staggering rate of improvement and at the same time remain inexpensive to use… this kind of help is making me quite productive and it’s also lots of fun.
