home-assistant/core · error · HomeAssistantError

failed_arm

failed_arm

Error message

Blink failed to arm camera.

What it means

blink camera.async_enable_motion_detection wraps a TimeoutError from camera.async_arm(True) into HomeAssistantError with translation key 'failed_arm' ('Blink failed to arm camera.'). The request to enable motion detection on the camera timed out against the Blink cloud; motion_enabled is not set and the coordinator is not refreshed.

Source

Thrown at homeassistant/components/blink/camera.py:82

            name=name,
            manufacturer=DEFAULT_BRAND,
            model=camera.camera_type,
        )
        _LOGGER.debug("Initialized blink camera %s", self._camera.name)

    @property
    @override
    def extra_state_attributes(self) -> Mapping[str, Any] | None:
        """Return the camera attributes."""
        return self._camera.attributes

    @override
    async def async_enable_motion_detection(self) -> None:
        """Enable motion detection for the camera."""
        try:
            await self._camera.async_arm(True)
        except TimeoutError as er:
            raise HomeAssistantError(
                translation_domain=DOMAIN,
                translation_key="failed_arm",
            ) from er
        except UnauthorizedError as er:
            self.coordinator.config_entry.async_start_reauth(self.hass)
            raise ConfigEntryAuthFailed("Blink authorization failed") from er

        self._camera.motion_enabled = True
        await self.coordinator.async_refresh()

    @override
    async def async_disable_motion_detection(self) -> None:
        """Disable motion detection for the camera."""
        try:
            await self._camera.async_arm(False)
        except TimeoutError as er:
            raise HomeAssistantError(
                translation_domain=DOMAIN,

View on GitHub (pinned to 58a3fdb3ea)

Solutions

1. Confirm the camera is online in the Blink app.
2. Retry the enable call once the camera wakes (battery cameras sleep between events).
3. Avoid enabling motion on many cameras in one burst; stagger the calls.
4. Check Blink cloud status if all cameras time out.

from homeassistant.exceptions import HomeAssistantError

try:
    await camera.async_enable_motion_detection()
except HomeAssistantError as err:
    if err.translation_key == "failed_arm":
        _LOGGER.warning("Camera asleep/offline; retrying once")
        await asyncio.sleep(10)
        await camera.async_enable_motion_detection()

When it happens

Trigger: Calling enable_motion_detection (or the camera.enable_motion_detection service) when the blinkpy HTTP request exceeds its timeout — Blink cloud latency, network issues, or the camera being offline/asleep.

Common situations: Camera batteries asleep or offline; Blink cloud slowdowns; automation toggling motion on many cameras simultaneously saturating blinkpy's request queue.

Related errors

• failed_disarm
• failed_clip
• failed_snap
• failed_arm_motion
• Blink failed to disarm camera

AI-assisted analysis of home-assistant/core@58a3fdb3ea (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8c9fc6eacf29fd4f. Report an issue: GitHub.