¶ How to Install Custom Drivers
Hubitat Elevation continues to add to its list of included drivers. However, the creative Hubitat community continues to create drivers for devices we haven't integrated yet, do not plan to, or that contain specialized feature sets compared to built-in drivers. To use a custom driver, you will first need to install it on your system.
Not that Hubitat cannot offer support for third-party drivers; however, the third-party developer (or device manufacturer if the driver was created by the manufacturer) may.
¶ Installing custom drivers
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The developer of the app will normally post a link to their driver code. Follow their directions to get to the source code. Select and copy the code. (NOTE: If you are using GitHub, make sure you are viewing the "raw" code, not the formatted code, which may not copy/paste correctly. Use the Raw button on the toolbar above the source code if you see this.)
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From the sidebar of your hub, select Drivers Code. (If you do not see Drivers Code, expand the Developer Tools section. If you do not see Developer Tools, go to Settings and enable the Show advanced/developer options setting)
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Select the +Add Driver button in the upper left corner.
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In the blank text field, simply paste the driver code. Alternatively, you can select the Import button and past a URL to the developers code in raw text format.
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Select the Save button in the top right of the page. When the "modified" text at the top of the page goes away, your driver is saved.
- Note: You may experience an error in this step. If you do, your driver will not save and it will not work. Please contact the developer of the driver in the forum. It is usually best if you take a screen shot to help them diagnose the problem. Once the code is fixed, come back and try again.
- Note: You may experience an error in this step. If you do, your driver will not save and it will not work. Please contact the developer of the driver in the forum. It is usually best if you take a screen shot to help them diagnose the problem. Once the code is fixed, come back and try again.
¶ Loading your custom driver
Once your driver has successfully saved, you will need to update your device(s) with the new driver. If your driver is for an existing device, navigate to its device detail page and select this driver under the Type dropdown. See How to Change the Driver Used By a Device for more information.
If your driver is for a new (yet to be added) device, it may be chosen automatically on pairing/inclusion with the hub. If not, it can be selected manually by this same process. If you are not sure how to use the driver, consult the developer or any documentation they may have provided.
If the driver requires you to add a new virtual device using this driver (some LAN or cloud integrations may, or they might have an app that manages this for you instead; this would not apply to Zigbee or Z-Wave devices), follow the steps below:
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From the home page of your hub, select Devices in the side bar.
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Select +Add Virtual Device or select the device for which you want to change the driver type. This opens the Edit Device view. Scroll down to find the Type field. The name of a driver will be listed there.
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Select the drop-down menu and then choose the new device driver that you want to use.
- NOTE: Custom drivers appear at the bottom of the list under the heading User.
- NOTE: Custom drivers appear at the bottom of the list under the heading User.
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Select the Save button to the left of your screen.
Your custom driver is now installed and will used by that device.
(Don't forget to thank the developer in the community forum for their hard work!)