[pjordanandrsn]

This contribution originated with @technorat2 in pjordanandrsn/ha-generac#4. Credit for the original implementation belongs to them: the friendly-name approach that keeps technical unique IDs, the numeric signal-strength and device-battery sensors, the exercise duration sensor, the last_update_success availability check and the first round of diagnostics fixes are their work. I adapted it to current upstream, fixed an entity-registry regression and a few redaction bugs, and added regression tests so these improvements can land in the main project. @technorat2 agreed on 2026-07-28 to move the work upstream (comment); I'm finishing that migration with full attribution.

@technorat2, I'd welcome your review, especially of anything I changed from your original.

Refs #284. Companion PR (independent, no ordering dependency): authentication and reliability, #319.

Problem

#284: entity and friendly names look like generac_12345678_run_time. The name doubles as the unique_id suffix, so making it readable naively would re-key every entity in users' registries. Separately:

• signal strength is a string such as "75%", so it can't be graphed;
• the device battery reported by Mobile Link isn't exposed;
• diagnostics labelled IPv6 addresses as REDACTED_IPV4, never redacted e-mail addresses (the parseaddr check was inverted), and keyed the output by apparatusId even though that same field is redacted.

Behavior changes

• Friendly names: entities use _attr_has_entity_name = True with a readable label, so Home Assistant shows <device name> <label>, e.g. Generator Status or Propane Tank Last Reading. Newly created entities get device-scoped entity_ids (sensor.generator_exercise_duration), which is the device_entity form Friendly Entity Naming #284 asks for.
• Stable unique IDs: every entity class declares an explicit entity_key; nothing is inferred from the class name. unique_ids are byte-for-byte unchanged (<entry_id>_<device_id>_generac_<device_id>_<key>).
• Signal strength: a numeric % value with state_class: measurement. "75%", " 75 % ", "75" and 75 all become 75.0, and missing or malformed values become unknown instead of "0%". Still always created for generators; now also created for other device types (propane monitors) when reported.
• New sensors, only when the payload carries them: Device Battery Level (apparatus.properties[].value.batteryLevel, battery %) and Exercise Duration (detail property type 95, minutes).
• Fuel level percentages also go through _safe_float, so "45%" no longer breaks the state.
• Availability also follows coordinator.last_update_success, and a None coordinator payload no longer raises.
• Diagnostics: correct REDACTED_IPV4 / REDACTED_IPV6, e-mail addresses become REDACTED_EMAIL, devices are keyed device_0…, panelId / shortDeviceId / deviceId are added to the redacted keys, and an entry that isn't loaded returns {"status": "not_loaded"} instead of raising KeyError.
• The debug log on each coordinator update logs the entity_id instead of the full device payload, which contained the address and serial number.

Compatibility: entity registry inventory

Every existing entity across sensor, binary_sensor, weather and image keeps its unique_id, and therefore its entity_id, history, customizations and dashboard references.

platform	class	old name (= unique_id suffix source)	new label	unique_id suffix
sensor	StatusSensor	generac_<id>_status	Status	…_status unchanged
sensor	DeviceTypeSensor	generac_<id>_device_type	Device Type	…_device_type unchanged
sensor	RunTimeSensor	generac_<id>_run_time	Run Time	…_run_time unchanged
sensor	ProtectionTimeSensor	generac_<id>_protection_time	Protection Time	…_protection_time unchanged
sensor	ActivationDateSensor	generac_<id>_activation_date	Activation Date	…_activation_date unchanged
sensor	LastSeenSensor	generac_<id>_last_seen	Last Seen	…_last_seen unchanged
sensor	ConnectionTimeSensor	generac_<id>_connection_time	Connection Time	…_connection_time unchanged
sensor	BatteryVoltageSensor	generac_<id>_battery_voltage	Battery Voltage	…_battery_voltage unchanged
sensor	OutdoorTemperatureSensor	generac_<id>_outdoor_temperature	Outdoor Temperature	…_outdoor_temperature unchanged
sensor	SerialNumberSensor	generac_<id>_serial_number	Serial Number	…_serial_number unchanged
sensor	ModelNumberSensor	generac_<id>_model_number	Model Number	…_model_number unchanged
sensor	DeviceSsidSensor	generac_<id>_device_ssid	Device SSID	…_device_ssid unchanged
sensor	StatusLabelSensor	generac_<id>_status_label	Status Label	…_status_label unchanged
sensor	StatusTextSensor	generac_<id>_status_text	Status Text	…_status_text unchanged
sensor	AddressSensor	generac_<id>_address	Address	…_address unchanged
sensor	DealerNameSensor	generac_<id>_dealer_name	Dealer Name	…_dealer_name unchanged
sensor	DealerEmailSensor	generac_<id>_dealer_email	Dealer Email	…_dealer_email unchanged
sensor	DealerPhoneSensor	generac_<id>_dealer_phone	Dealer Phone	…_dealer_phone unchanged
sensor	PanelIDSensor	generac_<id>_panel_id	Panel ID	…_panel_id unchanged
sensor	CapacitySensor	generac_<id>_capacity	Capacity	…_capacity unchanged
sensor	FuelTypeSensor	generac_<id>_fuel_type	Fuel Type	…_fuel_type unchanged
sensor	OrientationSensor	generac_<id>_orientation	Orientation	…_orientation unchanged
sensor	BatteryLevelSensor	generac_<id>_battery_level	Battery Level	…_battery_level unchanged
sensor	LastReadingDateSensor	generac_<id>_last_reading	Last Reading	…_last_reading pinned (class-name inference gives last_reading_date)
sensor	FuelLevelSensor	generac_<id>_fuel_level	Fuel Level	…_fuel_level unchanged
sensor	SignalStrengthSensor	generac_<id>_signal_strength	Signal Strength	…_signal_strength unchanged
sensor	ExerciseMinutesSensor	—	Exercise Duration	…_exercise_minutes new
sensor	DeviceBatteryLevelSensor	—	Device Battery Level	…_device_battery_level new
binary_sensor	GeneracConnectedSensor	generac_<id>_is_connected	Connected	…_is_connected unchanged
binary_sensor	GeneracConnectingSensor	generac_<id>_is_connecting	Connecting	…_is_connecting unchanged
binary_sensor	GeneracMaintenanceAlertSensor	generac_<id>_has_maintenance_alert	Maintenance Alert	…_has_maintenance_alert unchanged
binary_sensor	GeneracWarningSensor	generac_<id>_show_warning	Warning	…_show_warning unchanged
weather	WeatherSensor	generac_<id>_weather	Weather	…_weather unchanged
image	HeroImageSensor	generac_<id>_hero_image	Hero Image	…_hero_image unchanged

What users will notice:

• Display names change from generac_<id>_… to <device> <label>. Names set by the user in the UI still take precedence.
• Signal strength changes from a text state ("75%") to a numeric one (75.0). Automations comparing it to the string "75%" would need updating, and long-term statistics now start recording.
• A generator that doesn't report signal strength now shows unknown instead of "0%".
• Existing entity_ids don't change. Only entities created from now on get the new device-scoped entity_id format. That includes fresh installs, so installation docs or examples that hard-code sensor.generac_<id>_… apply only to existing installs.

Regression tests added

tests/test_entity_registry.py (new), plus additions to test_sensor.py, test_entity.py and test_diagnostics.py (+21 tests). Existing name assertions were updated to the new labels.

• Upgrade test: seeds the registry with every historical unique_id/entity_id for a generator and a propane monitor (39 entities), sets up the integration from dacite-parsed fixture payloads, and asserts:

  • every entity is reused with the same entity_id;
  • each one has a live state, not a restored orphan;
  • no _2 duplicates appear;
  • only the 3 genuinely new sensors are added, each on the correct device;
  • friendly names, numeric states and new entity_ids are as listed above.

  Run against the original class-name inference, it fails with Extra items: …_67890_generac_67890_last_reading_date.

• Inventory: each of the 34 entity classes defines its own entity_key, with no collisions.

• Numeric percentage parsing ("75%", " 75 % ", "75", 75, "N/A"); missing or unexpectedly typed property payloads (None, [], list value, scalar value); exercise duration including a malformed value; fuel level "45%".

• Sensor selection for generators vs propane monitors.

• Availability after a failed poll; a None coordinator payload.

• Diagnostics: no apparatusId in keys, correct IPv4/IPv6 labels, e-mail redaction (bare and Name <addr>), new identifier keys, an entry that isn't loaded.

Validation (run locally, Python 3.14.6, homeassistant==2026.7.4, pytest-homeassistant-custom-component==0.13.348 from requirements.txt)

• pytest: 96 passed (baseline on main: 75 passed)
• pre-commit run --all-files (check-yaml, end-of-file, trailing-whitespace, flake8, reorder-python-imports, black 23.3.0, prettier): all passed
• python -m compileall custom_components: OK; git diff --check: clean
• Merged together with the companion PR: 119 passed
• Not run locally: hassfest and HACS validation (CI runs both; this PR doesn't touch the manifest or translations).

Commits and attribution

1. Add friendly entity names and numeric signal/battery sensors: authored by @technorat2, their commit 7e3b067 (entity/telemetry half) applied unchanged to current main. It deliberately preserves the original, including the issues fixed in commit 2.
2. Keep entity registry IDs stable; use has_entity_name for friendly names: explicit keys, has_entity_name, keeping the generator signal sensor unconditional, fuel-level parsing, diagnostics fixes and tests (Co-authored-by: technorat2).

If you squash-merge, GitHub keeps @technorat2 as a co-author.

Not carried over from the original PR

• brand/icon.png (Generac logo): Home Assistant brand assets conventionally go through home-assistant/brands, and this repo's HACS check runs with ignore: brands. Adding a third-party trademark is the maintainer's call, so it's left out.
• session_cookie translation label removal: already on main (ff0cc61).
• Dropping device_class: connectivity from Connecting: an unrelated UI change, so it's kept as-is.

Limitations

• Entity names are plain English labels, not translation_key-based. That could be a follow-up if you want the entity names translated.
• Detail property type 95 (exercise duration) and the batteryLevel field come from the original contributor's device payloads. There are no public fixtures for them here, so the sensors appear only when the field is present.
• Propane monitors that report both tuProperties battery (type 17, existing Battery Level) and apparatus batteryLevel get both sensors. They come from different API fields, but they may describe the same battery.

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