home-assistant/core · error · HomeAssistantError

failed_snap

failed_snap

Error message

Blink failed to snap a picture.

What it means

blink camera.trigger_camera raises HomeAssistantError with key 'failed_snap' ('Blink failed to snap a picture.') when the blinkpy snap_picture() call times out. The snapshot command got no timely response from the Blink cloud, so the new thumbnail never became available and the state was not rewritten.

Source

Thrown at homeassistant/components/blink/camera.py:142

        try:
            await self._camera.record()
        except TimeoutError as er:
            raise HomeAssistantError(
                translation_domain=DOMAIN,
                translation_key="failed_clip",
            ) from er
        except UnauthorizedError as er:
            self.coordinator.config_entry.async_start_reauth(self.hass)
            raise ConfigEntryAuthFailed("Blink authorization failed") from er

        self.async_write_ha_state()

    async def trigger_camera(self) -> None:
        """Trigger camera to take a snapshot."""
        try:
            await self._camera.snap_picture()
        except TimeoutError as er:
            raise HomeAssistantError(
                translation_domain=DOMAIN,
                translation_key="failed_snap",
            ) from er
        except UnauthorizedError as er:
            self.coordinator.config_entry.async_start_reauth(self.hass)
            raise ConfigEntryAuthFailed("Blink authorization failed") from er

        self.async_write_ha_state()

    @override
    def camera_image(
        self, width: int | None = None, height: int | None = None
    ) -> bytes | None:
        """Return a still image response from the camera."""
        try:
            return self._camera.image_from_cache
        except ChunkedEncodingError:
            _LOGGER.debug("Could not retrieve image for %s", self._camera.name)

View on GitHub (pinned to 58a3fdb3ea)

Solutions

1. Retry the snapshot after confirming the camera is awake/online.
2. Avoid triggering snapshots while bulk coordinator updates run.
3. Check Blink cloud/internet status if failures cluster.

from homeassistant.exceptions import HomeAssistantError

try:
    await camera.trigger_camera()
except HomeAssistantError as err:
    if err.translation_key == "failed_snap":
        await asyncio.sleep(10)
        await camera.trigger_camera()

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the trigger_camera / snapshot service when Blink cloud is slow, the camera is asleep or offline, or the request queue is saturated by other blinkpy calls.

Common situations: Snapshot automations firing while other Blink requests are in flight; battery cameras asleep; Blink cloud incidents.

Related errors

• failed_arm
• failed_disarm
• failed_clip
• Blink failed to disarm camera
• Blink failed to arm camera away

AI-assisted analysis of home-assistant/core@58a3fdb3ea (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/15ba198bffd3272a. Report an issue: GitHub.