/Q42.HueApi

C# helper library to talk to the Philips Hue bridge

Primary LanguageC#MIT LicenseMIT

Q42.HueApi

Open source library for communication with the Philips Hue bridge. This library covers all the Philips hue API calls! You can set the state of your lights, update the Bridge configuration, create groups, schedules etc.

This library targets .netstandard2.0 and .net45! Download directly from NuGet Q42.HueApi on NuGet.

  • Support for Hue Entertainment API (requires .NET 4.7.1+ or netstandard2.0)
  • Support for the Hue Remote API
  • Multiple Color Converters

How to use?

Some basic usage examples

Bridge

Before you can communicate with the Philips Hue Bridge, you need to find the bridge and register your application:

	IBridgeLocator locator = new HttpBridgeLocator(); //Or: LocalNetworkScanBridgeLocator, MdnsBridgeLocator, MUdpBasedBridgeLocator
	var bridges  = await locator.LocateBridgesAsync(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5));

	//Advanced Bridge Discovery options:
	bridges = await HueBridgeDiscovery.CompleteDiscoveryAsync(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5), TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30));
	bridges	= await HueBridgeDiscovery.FastDiscoveryWithNetworkScanFallbackAsync(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5), TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30));
	bridges = await HueBridgeDiscovery.CompleteDiscoveryAsync(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5));

Register your application

	ILocalHueClient client = new LocalHueClient("ip");
	//Make sure the user has pressed the button on the bridge before calling RegisterAsync
	//It will throw an LinkButtonNotPressedException if the user did not press the button
	var appKey = await client.RegisterAsync("mypersonalappname", "mydevicename");
	//Save the app key for later use

If you already registered an appname, you can initialize the HueClient with the app's key:

	client.Initialize("mypersonalappkey");

Control the lights

Main usage of this library is to be able to control your lights. We use a LightCommand for that. A LightCommand can be send to one or more / multiple lights. A LightCommand can hold a color, effect, on/off etc.

	var command = new LightCommand();
	command.On = true;

There are some helpers to set a color on a command:

	//Turn the light on and set a Hex color for the command (see the section about Color Converters)
    command.TurnOn().SetColor(new RGBColor("FF00AA"))

LightCommands also support Effects and Alerts

	//Blink once
	command.Alert = Alert.Once;
	
	//Or start a colorloop
	command.Effect = Effect.ColorLoop;

Once you have composed your command, send it to one or more lights

	client.SendCommandAsync(command, new List<string> { "1" });

Or send it to all lights

	client.SendCommandAsync(command);

Support for Hue Entertainment.

Check out the Q42.HueApi.Streaming documentation
Read about the Philips Entertainment API

Remote API

There is also a Philips Hue Remote API. It allows you to send commands to a bridge over the internet. You can request access here: http://www.developers.meethue.com/content/remote-api
Q42.HueApi is compatible with the remote API. There's a sample app and documentation can be found here: https://github.com/Q42/Q42.HueApi/blob/master/RemoteApi.md

Color Conversion

The Philips Hue lights work with Brightness, Saturation, Hue and X, Y properties. More info can be found in the Philips Hue Developer documentation: http://www.developers.meethue.com/documentation/core-concepts#color_gets_more_complicated It's not trivial to convert the light colors to a color system developers like to work with, like RGB or HEX. Q42.HueApi has 3 different color converters out of the box. They are in a seperate package and it's easy to create your own color converter.

The Q42.HueApi.ColorConverters NuGet package contains:

  • Original: The original converter based on a large XY array.
  • Gamut: Uses the provided Gamut (type) provided by each light.
  • HSB: Converts based on Hue, Brightness and Saturation.

How to use a color converter? Add one of the following usings:
using Q42.HueApi.ColorConverters.Original
using Q42.HueApi.ColorConverters.Gamut
using Q42.HueApi.ColorConverters.HSB

This will add extension methods to Light, State and LightCommand. So you can set the color using new RGBColor() and convert the State back to RGBColor

Pull Requests with improvements to the color conversion are always welcome!

How To install?

Download the source from GitHub or get the compiled assembly from NuGet Q42.HueApi on NuGet.

Credits

This library is made possible by contributions from:

Open Source Project Credits

  • Newtonsoft.Json is used for object serialization

License

Q42.HueApi is licensed under MIT. Refer to license.txt for more information.

Contributions

Contributions are welcome. Fork this repository and send a pull request if you have something useful to add.

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