LIFX Light Control

Control LIFX smart lights via the LIFX HTTP API through natural language.

References

• lifx-api.sh — Bash wrapper for all LIFX API calls
• scene-status.py — Scene matching and active detection
• setup.sh — Device discovery and skill configuration

Configuration

Set your LIFX API token (get one at https://cloud.lifx.com/settings):

bash setup.sh <your-token>

This discovers your lights, groups, and scenes, then generates a personalized SKILL.md with your device context.

Device Context

> Run bash setup.sh to populate this section with your lights, rooms, and scenes.

> The setup script queries the LIFX API and rewrites this file with your personal device context.

Location: (not configured)

Rooms and Lights

(populated by setup.sh)

Scenes

(populated by setup.sh)

Multi-zone Devices

(populated by setup.sh)

How to Control Lights

Discover lights

bash lifx-api.sh discover

Shows all lights organized by room with power state, color, and brightness.

Toggle lights on/off

bash lifx-api.sh toggle <selector>

Selectors:

• Individual light: id:
• Group/room: group_id:
• All lights: all

Set light state (color, brightness, power)

bash lifx-api.sh state <selector> '{"power":"on","color":"blue","brightness":0.75,"duration":1.0}'

Color formats:

• Named: red, blue, green, white, warm white, purple, orange
• Hex: #ff6b35
• Kelvin: kelvin:2700 (warm) to kelvin:6500 (cool daylight)
• HSB: hue:240 saturation:1.0

Always include "power":"on" and a brightness value when setting colors, or lights with brightness 0 will stay invisible.

Activate a scene

bash lifx-api.sh scene <scene_uuid>

Toggle a room

bash lifx-api.sh group-toggle <group_id>

Multi-zone gradients (Beam / Strip devices)

Multi-zone devices support individually addressable zones. Create gradients by setting different zone ranges:

bash lifx-api.sh state 'id:<light_id>|0-4' '{"power":"on","color":"purple","brightness":1.0,"duration":1.0}'
bash lifx-api.sh state 'id:<light_id>|5-9' '{"power":"on","color":"red","brightness":1.0,"duration":1.0}'

The pipe character in zone selectors is automatically URL-encoded by the script.

Check scene status

python3 scene-status.py all    # Show all active scenes
python3 scene-status.py check <uuid>  # Check specific scene

List current light states

bash lifx-api.sh list    # Full JSON
bash lifx-api.sh groups  # Summary by room

Behavior Guidelines

• When user says a room name, match it to the group IDs in the device context above.
• Default brightness to 1.0 (100%) when setting colors unless user specifies otherwise.
• Default duration to 1.0 seconds for smooth transitions.
• For "turn off" commands, use {"power":"off"} — don't toggle (toggling is ambiguous).
• For "turn on" commands, use {"power":"on","brightness":1.0} to ensure visibility.
• When asked about what's on/what scene is active, use the scene-status tool or discover command.
• Be conversational about results: "Done, bedroom is now blue at 75%" not "API returned 207".