home-assistant/core · error · HomeAssistantError

Blink failed to arm camera away

Error message

Blink failed to arm camera away

What it means

blink alarm_control_panel.async_alarm_arm_away raises HomeAssistantError('Blink failed to arm camera away') when sync.async_arm(True) times out. The arm-away command was sent to the Blink cloud but no response came back within the timeout, so HA cannot confirm the sync module armed; the post-command coordinator refresh is skipped.

Source

Thrown at homeassistant/components/blink/alarm_control_panel.py:108

        try:
            await self.sync.async_arm(False)

        except TimeoutError as er:
            raise HomeAssistantError("Blink failed to disarm camera") from er
        except UnauthorizedError as er:
            self.coordinator.config_entry.async_start_reauth(self.hass)
            raise ConfigEntryAuthFailed("Blink authorization failed") from er

        await self.coordinator.async_refresh()

    @override
    async def async_alarm_arm_away(self, code: str | None = None) -> None:
        """Send arm command."""
        try:
            await self.sync.async_arm(True)

        except TimeoutError as er:
            raise HomeAssistantError("Blink failed to arm camera away") from er
        except UnauthorizedError as er:
            self.coordinator.config_entry.async_start_reauth(self.hass)
            raise ConfigEntryAuthFailed("Blink authorization failed") from er

        await self.coordinator.async_refresh()

View on GitHub (pinned to 58a3fdb3ea)

Solutions

  1. Retry the arm command; most timeouts are transient.
  2. Check the Blink app / Blink service status to rule out a cloud outage.
  3. Verify upstream internet connectivity on the HA host.
  4. If arm state is uncertain, check the sync module state in HA after the failure before re-arming.
Defensive patterns

Strategy: retry

Try / catch

from homeassistant.exceptions import HomeAssistantError

try:
    await alarm.async_alarm_arm_away(code)
except HomeAssistantError as err:
    if "failed to arm" in str(err).lower():
        await asyncio.sleep(5)
        await alarm.async_alarm_arm_away(code)

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling alarm_control_panel.alarm_arm_away on a Blink sync module when the blinkpy request exceeds its timeout — Blink cloud latency, temporary API brownouts, or poor upstream connectivity from the HA host.

Common situations: Blink cloud incidents; leaving-geofence automations firing while internet is flaky; large sync modules with many cameras making arm commands slow to confirm.

Related errors


AI-assisted analysis of home-assistant/core@58a3fdb3ea (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fba8ed489a5f6b29. Report an issue: GitHub.