Core: Eufy cameras got discovered multiple times via HomeKit

[Quentame]

The problem

I have an Eufy camera linked with the synology_dsm integration throw RTSP and Surveillance Station.
So the camera is not added to HA via the homekit_controller integration.
The camera got discovered once when I start HA, then an other time few days after, and a third time few days after.

HomeKit is not configured with this camera, not with an Apple device, not with HA.
I only got 2 Koogeek LS1 light strips connected via homekit_controller.

Environment

• Home Assistant Core release with the issue: 0.106.X (I did not test before since I just got the cam)
• Last working Home Assistant Core release (if known):
• Operating environment (OS/Container/Supervised/Core): Container
• Integration causing this issue: homekit_controller
• Link to integration documentation on our website: https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/homekit_controller/

Additional information

See the camera details here : https://github.com/home-assistant/core/issues/27292#issuecomment-716038491

I ignored discovered configurations to get details on it:
__core.config_entries__

            {
                "entry_id": "0684985c162111eb9f0de39c8d08cd5b",
                "version": 1,
                "domain": "homekit_controller",
                "title": "Ignored",
                "data": {},
                "options": {},
                "system_options": {
                    "disable_new_entities": false
                },
                "source": "ignore",
                "connection_class": "local_push",
                "unique_id": "55:63:72:30:51:00"
            },
            {
                "entry_id": "08286be3162111eb982a7df8e80d0876",
                "version": 1,
                "domain": "homekit_controller",
                "title": "Ignored",
                "data": {},
                "options": {},
                "system_options": {
                    "disable_new_entities": false
                },
                "source": "ignore",
                "connection_class": "local_push",
                "unique_id": "52:79:64:70:61:00"
            },
            {
                "entry_id": "0982166f162111ebb590973509b15134",
                "version": 1,
                "domain": "homekit_controller",
                "title": "Ignored",
                "data": {},
                "options": {},
                "system_options": {
                    "disable_new_entities": false
                },
                "source": "ignore",
                "connection_class": "local_push",
                "unique_id": "73:6c:52:6c:78:00"
            }

I've heard that other people got the same issue as me.

[probot-home-assistant[bot]]

Hey there @jc2k, mind taking a look at this issue as its been labeled with an integration (homekit_controller) you are listed as a codeowner for? Thanks!
_{^{(message by CodeOwnersMention)}}

[Quentame]

Just updated HA to 0.117.0b3

And an other discover !

[Jc2k]

As you can see in the json you posted the unique ID is different for each "discovery". This unique id is reported by the device itself via zeroconf, and should be stable. It changes every time a device is paired and unpaired (or hard reset). There is nothing I can do to stop it if a device is buggy and keeps changing its device Id at random though - it would be impossible to tell the difference between the device you ignored and a genuinely new device.

I'm a bit stumped at how to proceed really, short of workarounds like pairing it and then removing it (this will leave the eufy paired but HA will forget it's access keys - discovery will ignore it then).

[Quentame]

Why not using the MAC address of HomeKit accessories? Are they accessible before pairing? Are some MAC hidden? That would solve the problem.

For the synology_dsm, we use the serial number for unique_id (can be compared to the HomeKit ID) and also use MACs (saved in config data) to not discover a same device multiple times (some NAS can be connected to the router multiple times via multiple ethernet).
Hope it helps.

[Jc2k]

I'd like to understand why your device is doing this before making any changes. It not having a stable device id is as weird to me as if it didn't have a stable MAC address or a stable serial number.

In particular I want to find out if there is an external event that causes the eufy to generate a new device id. Does it happen on restart for example.

MAC address might be a bit of a hack (what MAC address would I get from an mdns reflector when traversing vlans for examples).

[Jc2k]

Giving they aren't even supported right now it's tempting to block list their model names. They would still be available by manual discovery if they were eventually supported.

[Quentame]

The MAC and SN are written on the bottom of the cam, so it should not change.

I'll tell you a bit later if I notice something special in the discover process.
I usually not restart HA between two updates.

[Jc2k]

I can't get the SN until the device is paired, which would defeat the point. The device id is the closest you can get to a SN like identifier before pairing. That is why we use it. In my mind It is a bug in the device that its device id isn't stable. Of the magnitude where a device had a bug where it returned a random serial number every day.

We have seen time and time again that changing our behaviour for one broken device (remember we are dealing with vendors that can't parse the space character between key and value in JSON or properly handle boolean values) we trip over a different competing broken behaviour in another device. On top of that there could be environmental reasons why another approach doesn't work (mDNS reflectors interfering with mac address... And there are plenty of different mdns reflectors so testing with one model of router not enough).

If it is just Eufy with this behaviour the best course of action is to block Eufy from persistent background discovery. And as we don't support cameras (well, i suspect we could use then a local push motion detectors) it would be a net positive.

[FuzzyMistborn]

I have this same issue. I'd vote in favor of blocking Eufy for the time being. AFAIK the indoor cams are the only HomeKit compatible device they have.

[Jc2k]

Actually they have quite a few that support it. Mine are 2c and I use HomeKit exclusively, but that's neither here nor there because home assistant can at most use them as motion sensors, if that.

[air720boarder]

@FuzzyMistborn , I’ve been using your HACS package but bridge HA to homekit for general usage. Any way to make that bridge work? If not, is it worth considering supporting the cameras even for motion integration?

[FuzzyMistborn]

@FuzzyMistborn , I’ve been using your HACS package but bridge HA to homekit for general usage. Any way to make that bridge work? If not, is it worth considering supporting the cameras even for motion integration?

I don't deal with Homekit much, but my understanding is HASS would need to support HomeKi Secure Video which it doesn't as of now. Without that not much to be done.

[Jc2k]

Right now if you paired a eufy camera with HomeKit to HA directly I expect you'd get a motion sensor (with push notifications) and a battery sensor, for each camera. But not a camera. I haven't tried though.

If you had a camera working with HA through another integration you could use the HomeKit bridge integration (ie not the one this ticket is about) to view the camera on your iphone and apple watch.

It can also export other features of your camera (like the battery sensor and motion detection) back to HomeKit on your iOS device. If they are picked up by the integration you are using at least. I don't know if iOS would necessarily know they were part of the same accessory - it's doable for batteries (possibly automatic), but I don't know about sensors generally.

But you wouldn't have secure video. Secure video uses the motion detection capability of the camera to start recording to iCloud and do the AI stuff like detecting people vs pets. Even if it did, it wouldn't be able to feed back in to HA. There isn't a secure video Ai powered motion sensor for example. Don't think you can create automations based on the secure video AI at this time, which is sad.

[Jc2k]

(As of #43100 homekit_controller will detect cameras and show thumnails from them. Proper RTSP (maybe) coming later. Will try and get a PR in for blocking Eufy from discovery soon, though).

[Quentame]

Without doing anything it just recognize it often.
(Last boot 3 weeks ago)

So if it's device specific, the Eufy cam should better be paired with HomeKit to avoid it.
Actually HomeKit is not configured, kinda disabled on the cam ... I don't think it should broadcast.

What do you want for the issue ?
Should we close it ?

[Jc2k]

Does the problem go away if you enable homekit on the camera (but don't pair it)? Counter intuitive but it might allow the firmware to save the homekit device state, rather than generating fresh data every time it's mdns service starts.