Do you usually create a failsafe?

[forest kestrel]

I am having some issues where some items don't turn on occasionally for my outdoor double outlets. The screenshot is how I have them in the automation. The problem can be any element and it seems random, usually 3 of the 4 outlets (so 5 of the 6 options [plug itself plus each individual]). I have them setup to turn on and off with an offset from sunrise/sunset. Should I create a "safety" automation for a time like 9:00 PM where the lights get verified that they are on and if not it turns them on?

[cerulean bronze]

something that runs once an hour that does some checks and sets things correctly is not uncommon when stuff is a bit more critical.
e.g.
trigger: time based at the top of the hour
condition: light is off
condition: solar elevation is below x
action: turn on light

can do it more or less often or at specific times if you want. it depends on the exact use case.

[primal cloud]

You can trigger when the state of any of those lights change, and then use a choose block to decide what state they should be in. But unless you take special steps your automation will counteract someone who is manually turning on or off the light at the “wrong” time

Triggering at some time interval seems silly. HA knows when the lights change, so why not correct the situation immediately?

[cerulean bronze]

I see your point but my assumption was that the reason they failed to switch was due to a connection issue which may still exist if you try and do corrections straight away.

granted my solution may be a little extreme but maybe it depends how critical the situation is needed to be corrected and within what kind of time frame.

[primal cloud]

You have a fair point. There can be edge cases where a light could change to off but not respond to the turn_on command. And if you follow my suggestion it will just stay in the off state after that.

There is an integration designed specifically for that scenario, so that’s an option too:
https://github.com/amitfin/retry

[cerulean bronze]

ooo that integration a pretty good suggestion.