Troubleshoot Smart-Home Automations That Stopped Working

A reset erases useful evidence and can create a second setup problem. First decide whether one device, one automation, one platform, or the whole home is affected. Note the last known working time and any router, account, household, firmware, bridge, or controller change near that time.

If electrical equipment is unpowered or behaving unsafely, stop and follow its manufacturer instructions or seek qualified help. The diagnostic path below is for control behavior, not electrical repair.

1. Physical control: if it fails, inspect safe power and device conditions first.
2. Manufacturer app: if direct control works, the device and its immediate connection are probably intact.
3. Control platform: test the device manually. Failure here points toward account linking, permissions, a bridge, controller, or platform support.
4. Automation action: run each action alone. A bad action can make a healthy starter look broken.
5. Starter and conditions: trigger manually if possible, then inspect schedule, sensor, presence, household, and time-zone state.
6. Infrastructure: confirm controller, bridge, Thread border router, IP network, and cloud availability as applicable.

Make one targeted change and repeat the same test before moving to another layer. Google exposes automation logs for supported scripted automations; use available history rather than guessing. If escalation is needed, provide the exact model, software version, platform, symptom, recent changes, and tests already completed.

Only reset after model-specific support instructions make it the next justified step and you have the setup code, owner account, and rebuilding plan.