pyWeMo

Python 3 module to setup, discover and control WeMo devices.

Dependencies

pyWeMo depends on Python packages: requests, ifaddr, lxml, urllib3

How to use

>>> import pywemo
>>> devices = pywemo.discover_devices()
>>> print(devices)
[]

>>> devices[0].toggle()

For advanced usage, the device.explain() method will print all known actions that the device reports to PyWeMo.

If discovery doesn't work on your network

Automatic discovery may not work reliably on some networks. In that case, you can use the device with an IP or hostname:

>>> import pywemo
>>> url = pywemo.setup_url_for_address("192.168.1.192")
>>> print(url)
http://192.168.1.192:49153/setup.xml
>>> device = pywemo.discovery.device_from_description(url)
>>> print(device)

Please note that discovery.device_from_description requires a url with an IP address, rather than a hostname. This is needed for the subscription update logic to work properly. In addition, recent versions of the WeMo firmware may not accept connections from hostnames and will return a 500 error.

The setup_url_for_address function will lookup a hostname and provide a suitable url with an IP address.

If the WeMo device is not on your network, you can also connect to it directly. After connecting, if the pywemo.discover_devices() doesn't work, you can get the IP Address by running an arp -a and use that in pywemo.setup_url_for_address:

$ arp -a
_gateway (10.22.22.1) at [MAC ADDRESS REMOVED] [ether]

>>> import pywemo
>>> url = pywemo.setup_url_for_address("10.22.22.1")
>>> device = pywemo.discovery.device_from_description(url)
>>> print(device)

>>> device.setup(ssid='MY SSID', password='MY NETWORK PASSWORD')
('1', 'success')

Testing new products

If both methods above are not successful, then pywemo may not support your WeMo product yet. This may be particularly true if it is a new WeMo product. To test this, you can use a debug flag, pywemo.discover_devices(debug=True) or pywemo.discovery.device_from_description(url, debug=True). If an UnsupportedDevice is found, then it is highly likely that the product can be added to pywemo. This UnsupportedDevice will allow manual interaction, but please open an issue to get first class support for the device.

Device Reset and Setup

PyWeMo includes the ability to reset and setup devices, without using the Belkin app or needing to create a Belkin account. This can be particularly useful if the intended use is fully local control, such as using Home Assistant.

Reset

Reset can be performed with the reset method, which has 2 boolean input arguments, data and wifi. WeMo devices contain a hardware reset procedure as well, so use of pywemo is for convenience or if physical access is not available. This reset method may not work on all devices.

Setup

Device setup is through the setup method, which has two required arguments: ssid and password. The user must first connect to the devices locally broadcast access point, which typically starts with "WeMo.", and then discover the device there. Once done, pass the desired SSID and password (WPA2/AES encryption only) to the setup method to connect it to your wifi network.

device.setup(ssid='wifi_name', password='special_secret')

A few important notes:

• Not all devices are currently supported for setup.
• For a WeMo without internet access, see this guide to stop any blinking lights.
• If connecting to an open network, the password argument is ignored and you can provide anything, e.g. password=None.
• If connecting to a WPA2/AES-encrypted network, OpenSSL is used to encrypt the password by the pywemo library. It must be installed and available on your PATH via calling openssl from a terminal or command prompt.

Firmware Warning

Starting in May of 2020, Belkin started requiring users to create an account and login to the app (Android app version 1.25). In addition to the account, most of the app functionality now requires a connection to the cloud (internet access), even for simple actions such as toggling a switch. All of the commands that go through the cloud are encrypted and cannot be easily inspected. This raises the possibility that Belkin could, in the future, update WeMo device firmware and make breaking API changes that can no longer be deciphered. If this happens, pywemo may no longer function on that device. Thus it would be prudent to upgrade firmware cautiously and preferably only after confirming that breaking API changes have not been introduced.

Developing

Setup and builds are fully automated. You can run the build pipeline locally via:

# setup, install, format, lint, test and build:
./scripts/build.sh

Note that this will install a git pre-commit hook. For this hook to work correctly, poetry needs to be globally accessible on your PATH or the local virtual environment must be activated. This virtual environment can be activated with:

. .venv/bin/activate

History

This started as a stripped down version of ouimeaux, copyright Ian McCracken, but has since taken its own path.

License

All contents of the pywemo/ouimeaux_device directory are licensed under a BSD 3-Clause license. The full text of that license is maintained within the pywemo/ouimeaux_device/LICENSE file. The rest of pyWeMo is released under the MIT license. See the top-level LICENSE file for more details.