States not updating when using template

[dmarkscouk]

Hello, I'm using the custom button card in a slightly unusual way and thus have turned it into a template so that I don't have to have reams repetition of code for each instance of it (20 or so).

In doing so I've found that the states do not update for anything that is not listed as an entity in the card.

So this card does not update the charge status:

type: custom:button-card
template: battery_status
name: _Car
variables:
  battery_entity: sensor.mirror_battery_level
  charging_entity: binary_sensor.mirror_is_charging

I can fix that by listing the entity in the card (I'd rather not, but this is ok):

type: custom:button-card
template: battery_status
entity: binary_sensor.mirror_is_charging
name: _Car
variables:
  battery_entity: sensor.mirror_battery_level
  charging_entity: binary_sensor.mirror_is_charging

The issue I'm now having is that I can only list a single entity per card, but want more than 1 state to be updated when things change. IE: I also want the card to display sensor.mirror_battery_level to update:

I tried this, but it breaks:

entities:
  - entity: binary_sensor.mirror_is_charging
  - entity: binary_sensor.mirror_is_charging

Thankyou in advance for any help.

I'm not sure if it's relevant, but this is my template code:

button_card_templates:
  battery_status:
    show_icon: false
    show_state: false
    show_label: false
    custom_fields:
      batterylevel: |
        [[[
          var batterylevel = states[variables.battery_entity].state
          if (batterylevel == 100) {
            return "_";
          } else {
            var batterylevel = parseFloat(batterylevel) / 100; 
            return batterylevel.toFixed(2).replace(/^0+/, '');
          }
        ]]]
      plugged: |
        [[[
          var plugged = states[variables.charging_entity].state
          if (plugged == 'on') {
            return ' - Charging';
          } else {
            return ' ';
          }
        ]]]
    styles:
      grid:
        - grid-template-areas: '"n batterylevel plugged"'
        - grid-template-rows: min-content
        - grid-template-columns: min-content min-content auto
      card:
        - border-radius: 0px
        - border: none
        - padding: 0px
        - margin: 0px
      name:
        - justify-self: start
        - align-self: end
        - color: var(--green-text-color)
        - font-size: var(--font-size)
        - font-weight: var(--font-weight)
        - text-align: left
      custom_fields:
        batterylevel:
          - justify-self: start
          - align-self: end
          - color: var(--green-text-color)
          - font-size: var(--font-size)
          - font-weight: var(--font-weight)
          - text-align: left
          - padding: var(--font-padding)
        plugged:
          - justify-self: start
          - align-self: end
          - color: var(--green-text-color)
          - font-size: var(--font-size)
          - font-weight: var(--font-weight)
          - text-align: left
          - padding: var(--font-padding)

[Mariusthvdb]

you should have a look at the triggers_update option.

the fact button-card only updates on used entities is per design. the configuration option for triggers_update was explicitly added for cases like yours, unless I am misunderstanding what you want....

[dmarkscouk]

Amazing thankyou, I'll take a look

[dmarkscouk]

This works! Thankyou @Mariusthvdb very much appreciated.

[dmarkscouk]

For a little more 'colour' you can see the battery percentages here to not match, as each line has a different updating state.

[Mariusthvdb]

please for support comment in the community thread on button-card, this repo is for issues or discussion on features requests.