Visonic Alarm Library

Hi and welcome! Click the button below if you enjoy this library and want to support my work. A lot of coffee is consumed as a software developer you know 😁

Needless to say, this is completely voluntary.

Introduction

A simple library for the Visonic PowerMaster API written in Python 3.

It's built using same technique used in the Visonic-Go app (a REST API). So if you can use the phone app to connect to your alarm system, the chances are you can use this library as well. I have developed and tested it with a Visonic PowerMaster-10 using a PowerLink 3 IP module.

It is probably also compatible with more devices from the PowerMaster family (PM-10, PM-30, PM-33, PM-360 and PM-360-R) but this has not been confirmed. The app also support Bentel (BW-30 and BW-64) and DSC (WP8010, WP8030 and WP8033), so these alarm system might work as well. Any feedback is welcome.

Demo

Here is a small command-line demo application showing the most basic options that this library support. It allows you to arm and disarm the alarm system as well as show a list of devices and detailed status information.

Check out the source code to the demo here: alarm-control-demo.py.

API version support

Finally my alarm company has upgraded their PowerManage REST API to version 9.0 so I could upgrade the Visonic Alarm library to support it.

The upgrade from API version 4.0 to 9.0 was a major upgrade which broke more or less the entire Visonic Alarm library. I had to rewrite large portions of the code base which means that the latest version (3.x) of Visonic Alarm for Python 3 is not backwards compatible with the previous versions. One of the large changes is that the API now require two sets of authentication.

1. First with email and password against the API server.
2. And then the panel serial and master code between the API server and your alarm panel.

Some other changes are the way we arm and disarm the alarm system (endpoint changes). The data structures returned by the API server also differs a bit so almost all of the classes (Status, Device, Event, Trouble, ...) have been updated to reflect these changes. See the examples in the rest of this document on how to use them.

Library compatibility:

• 9.0 - Compatible (this is the version the library is developed against)
• 8.0 - Seems to be compatible when testing but needs user feedback
• 7.0 - Seems to be compatible when testing but needs user feedback
• 4.0 - Use the previous version of the library (2.0.1), see below

Nevertheless, the library is still really easy getting started with.

Need support for API 4.0?

Even though the latest version of the library no longer support API version 4.0 you can still run it, simply install a previous version:

pip install visonicalarm==2.0.1

The documentation for this version can be found here.

Installation

Install the latest version with pip:

pip install visonicalarm

Basics

Setup

Use the same settings you are using when logging in to the phone app.

from visonic import alarm

hostname      = 'your.alarmcompany.com'
user_code     = '1234'
app_id        = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000'
panel_id      = '123ABC'
user_email    = 'user@example.com'
user_password = 'An.Extremely.Long.Random.and.Secure.Password!'

alarm = alarm.Setup(hostname, app_id)

The app_id is a UUID (Universally Unique IDentifier) that should be unique to each app communicating with the API server.

Create a UUID with a simple one liner:

python -c "import uuid; print(uuid.uuid4())"

This will output a UUID (for example: e9bce150-57c9-47b9-8447-129158356c63) that can be used to replace the zeroed app_id in the example above.

1. It's important that you create an account in the app prior to setting up the library.
2. All of the following code assume you have completed the Setup step prior to calling any of the methods.

API version selection

In the alarm.Setup() call the library checks which version(s) the API server support and automatically selects the latest version by default.

The automatic version selection can be overridden by calling the set_rest_version() method before calling authenticate() and login().

alarm.set_rest_version("9.0")

Find out which version(s) of the API your alarm company support by calling the get_rest_versions() method.

print('Supported REST API version(s): ' + ', '.join(alarm.get_rest_versions()))

Authenticate

The next step is to authenticate yourself against the API server with an email address and a password. This is done using the same email and password beeing used when logging in to the phone app.

alarm.authenticate(user_email, user_password)

Note that this method will raise an exception if the authentication fails. See exceptions section below.

Login

Once the authentication has succeeded, it's time to establish a connection between the API server and the alarm panel.

alarm.panel_login(panel_serial, user_code)

The panel_serial is the ID of the panel (a hexadecimal number like 1A2B3C) and the user_code is the master code (it's important to use the master code).

Note that this method will raise an exception if the login fails. See exceptions section below.

Exceptions

All of the methods callable from the library will throw exceptions on failure. A full list of exceptions can be found here.

from visonic.exceptions import *
...
try:
    alarm.panel_login(panel_serial, user_code)
except UserCodeIncorrectError as e:
    print(e)

Printing Objects and Properties

The objects representing various entities in the alarm system can be output with the print() method for easy inspection of its properties.

As an example, you can output the properties of a user object by passing it to the print() method:

print(user)
# Output: <class 'visonic.classes.User'>: {'id': 1, 'name': 'John Doe', 'email': 'john@doe.com', 'partitions': [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]}

Also, the properties are easily accessed from the object:

print('User ID:    ' + str(user.id))
print('User Name:  ' + user.name)
print('Email:      ' + user.email)
print('Partitions: ' + str(user.partitions))

This is the same for all object classes in the library: Users, devices, events, locations, troubles, and so on...

Panel Initialization

Before connecting to an alarm panel it is necessary to associate it to your user account. If you want to know which panels are already associated with your account your can call the get_panels() method. There are methods to add, rename and delete (unlink) alarm panels.

Add a panel

To add a new panel to your account, call the panel_add() method. You have to provide a valid panel serial number and the master user code in order for the process to complete successfully.

alias            = 'My House'
panel_serial     = '123ABC'
master_user_code = '1234'

alarm.panel_add(alias, panel_serial, master_user_code)

Important: You must use the master user code for this to work.

Rename a panel

To rename an existing alarm panel, use the panel_rename() method.

panel_serial = '123ABC'
alias        = 'House'

alarm.panel_rename(panel_serial, alias)

Unlink a panel

To remove or unlink an alarm panel from your user account you use the panel_unlink() method.

panel_serial  = '123ABC'
user_password = 'An.Extremely.Long.Random.and.Secure.Password!'
app_id        = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000'

alarm.panel_unlink(panel_serial, user_password, app_id)

This only removes the link between your alarm system and the API server. Establish the link again by calling panel_add().

Panel Control

Access Control

In order for a user to login to the alarm system we have to grant the user access to it. Also, if we want to prevent a currently active user from logging in we can revoke its access.

Grant access by calling access_grant(user_id, email), where user_id is the ID of the user and email is the email address the user will be using to login to the system.

alarm.access_grant(3, 'user@example.com')

Revoke access by calling access_revoke(user_id), where user_id is the ID of the user that we no longer want to access the system.

alarm.access_revoke(3)

Read more about how to find user account information here.

Alarm Panel

After calling the login() method it takes a few moments for the API server to connect to the alarm panel in your house. To check of the connection has been made, call the connected() method:

if alarm.connected():
    print('Alarm Panel connected')
else:
    print('Alarm Panel disconnected')

Use the connected() method to make sure you are connected to the alarm panel before calling arm/disarm methods to avoid exceptions.

Cameras

A camera is defined in the Camera class and contains some basic information.

Get a list of all cameras by calling the get_cameras() method.

for camera in alarm.get_cameras():
    print(camera)

Output:

<class 'visonic.classes.Camera'>: {'location': 'Basement', 'partitions': [1], 'preenroll': False, 'preview_path': None, 'status': 'FAILED', 'timestamp': None, 'zone': 4, 'zone_name': 'Basement'}
<class 'visonic.classes.Camera'>: {'location': 'Garage', 'partitions': [1], 'preenroll': False, 'preview_path': None, 'status': 'FAILED', 'timestamp': None, 'zone': 9, 'zone_name': 'Garage'}
...

It's not fully clear what this information should be used for, but I suspect it's used for downloading images. Sadly this functions is locked on my alarm system so I can't test it.

Devices

These are the devices connected to your alarm system (contacts, cameras, keypads, and so on).

A device is defined in the Device base class and, more specifically, in one of its sub-classes (CameraDevice, ContactDevice, GenericDevice, GSMDevice, KeyFobDevice, PGMDevice and SmokeDevice).

Get a list of all devices by calling the get_devices() method.

for device in alarm.get_devices():
    print(device)

Output:

<class 'visonic.devices.ContactDevice'>: {'device_number': 14, 'device_type': 'ZONE', 'enrollment_id': '100-0305', 'id': 12340, 'name': '', 'partitions': [1], 'preenroll': False, 'removable': True, 'renamable': True, 'subtype': 'CONTACT', 'warnings': None, 'zone_type': 'PERIMETER', 'location': 'Garage', 'soak': False}
<class 'visonic.devices.CameraDevice'>:  {'device_number': 15, 'device_type': 'ZONE', 'enrollment_id': '120-2041', 'id': 12341, 'name': '', 'partitions': [1], 'preenroll': False, 'removable': True, 'renamable': True, 'subtype': 'MOTION_CAMERA', 'warnings': None, 'zone_type': 'INTERIOR_FOLLOW', 'location': 'Vardagsrum', 'soak': False, 'vod': {}}
<class 'visonic.devices.SmokeDevice'>:   {'device_number': 16, 'device_type': 'ZONE', 'enrollment_id': '300-3546', 'id': 12343, 'name': '', 'partitions': [1], 'preenroll': False, 'removable': True, 'renamable': True, 'subtype': 'SMOKE', 'warnings': None, 'zone_type': 'FIRE', 'location': 'Vardagsrum', 'soak': False}
...

Zone Bypassing

A device with a device_type of ZONE can be bypassed (which basically disables the sensor and prevent it from triggering) by calling the set_bypass_zone(zone, set_enabled) method. The zone parameter refers to the device number of the device and set_enabled is used to enable or disable the bypass functionality.

This method only works if the alarm panel has zone bypassing enabled and the device supports it.

Enable zone bypass for device number 1:

token = alarm.set_bypass_zone(1, True)

Disable zone bypass for device number 1::

token = alarm.set_bypass_zone(1, False)

Note that this method returns a process token. Check the status of the request with the method get_process_status().

Events

Events are generated when the alarm system is armed, disarmed, phone line changes (GSM), and so on.

An event is defined in the Event class. Get a list of all events by calling the get_events() method.

for event in alarm.get_events():
    print(event)

Output:

<class 'visonic.classes.Event'>: {'id': 333801, 'type_id': 89, 'label': 'DISARM', 'description': 'Disarm', 'appointment': 'Mikael Schultz', 'datetime': '2022-09-11 06:59:08', 'video': False, 'device_type': 'USER', 'zone': 1, 'partitions': [1], 'name': 'Mikael Schultz'}
<class 'visonic.classes.Event'>: {'id': 334310, 'type_id': 86, 'label': 'ARM', 'description': 'Arm Away', 'appointment': 'User 2', 'datetime': '2022-09-11 07:55:55', 'video': False, 'device_type': 'USER', 'zone': 2, 'partitions': [1], 'name': None}
...

Features

Check which features are enabled and available for interaction via the API. Among other things you can find out if your alarm system has partitions enabled and if you can turn the siren on or off.

The features of the alarm system is defined in the FeatureSet class. Get the available features by calling the get_feature_set() method.

features = alarm.get_feature_set()
print(features)

Output:

<class 'visonic.classes.FeatureSet'>: {'events_enabled': True, 'datetime_enabled': False, 'partitions_enabled': False, 'partitions_has_labels': False, 'partitions_max_count': 3, 'devices_enabled': True, 'sirens_can_enable': True, 'sirens_can_disable': True, 'home_automation_devices_enabled': True, 'state_enabled': True, 'state_can_set': True, 'state_can_get': True, 'faults_enabled': True, 'diagnostic_enabled': False, 'wifi_enabled': False}

Hint: Check alarm.get_feature_set().partitions_enabled to see if the alarm system is partitioned.

Locations

A location is defined in the Location class. Get a list of all locations by calling the get_locations() method.

for location in alarm.get_locations():
    print(location)

Output:

<class 'visonic.classes.Location'>: {'id': 0, 'name': 'Entry', 'is_editable': False}
<class 'visonic.classes.Location'>: {'id': 1, 'name': 'Backdoor', 'is_editable': False}
...

Panel Information

The general panel information is defined in the PanelInfo class. Get the panel information by calling the get_panel_info() method.

panel_info = alarm.get_panel_info()
print(panel_info)

Output:

<class 'visonic.classes.PanelInfo'>: {'current_user': 'master_user', 'manufacturer': 'Visonic', 'model': 'PowerMaster 10', 'serial': '123ABC'}

Panels

A single alarm panel is defined in the Panel class. Get a list of panels associated with your account by calling the get_panels() method.

for panel in alarm.get_panels():
    print(panel)

Output:

<class 'visonic.classes.Panel'>: {'panel_serial': '123ABC', 'alias': 'Home'}
<class 'visonic.classes.Panel'>: {'panel_serial': '456DEF', 'alias': 'Cabin'}

Use this information to select an alarm panel to connect to when calling login().

Password

The password of a user can be reset using the API as well. This is done in two steps.

Step 1

Call the password_reset(email) method which takes an email address as the only parameter. A password reset email will be sent to this address in which a password reset code is provided.

alarm.password_reset('username@example.com')

Step 2

Call the password_reset_complete(reset_password_code, new_password) method which takes two arguments. The reset_password_code is the code you received in the email message and new_password is the new password to set on the user account. Make sure the password is complex, otherwise an NewPasswordStrengthError() exception will be raised.

token = alarm.password_reset_complete('ADQRSESA54', 'This.is.a.Super.Mega.s3cure.p@ssw0rd!')
print(f"User-Token: '{token}'")

Output:

User-Token: '125840b4-3028-4176-8a4f-6c705bcbbcaa'

The password_reset_complete() method will return a new user token which I suspect should be used if you are changing the password of the user you are currently logged in with.

Process Information

Some API methods return a process token as a return value. This makes it possible to find out how the call went and make you aware of potential errors that occured. The API methods returning a token seems to be the ones that change the state of the alarm system, such as arm_home(), arm_away() and disarm().

A process is defined in the Process class. Get a list of all processes associated with a process token by calling the get_process_status() method.

token = alarm.disarm()
for process in alarm.get_process_status(token):
    print(process)

Output:

<class 'visonic.classes.Process'>: {'token': '346eca73-1316-4a1e-b922-4b2061d79b71', 'status': 'start', 'message': '', 'error': None}

Siren

You can turn on and off the siren connected to the alarm system by calling the activate_siren() and disable_siren() methods. Both methods return a process token which can be inspected with the get_process_status() method.

alarm.activate_siren()
...
alarm.disable_siren()

Warning: Make sure the building is empty before testing the activate_siren() method since it will make a lot of noise!

Status

The status of the alarm system is defined in the Status class. Get the current status by calling the get_status() method.

This method will allow you to view the current status of the PowerLink 3 IP module (bba), mobile module (gprs) as well as all partitions (defined in the Partition class) in the alarm system.

If you don't have a multi partition alarm system, the -1 partition will always be used.

status = alarm.get_status()
print(status)

Output:

<class 'visonic.classes.Status'>: {'connected': True, 'bba_connected': True, 'bba_state': 'online', 'gprs_connected': False, 'gprs_state': 'online', 'discovery_completed': True, 'discovery_stages': 17, 'discovery_in_queue': 0, 'discovery_triggered': None, 'partitions': [Partition(id = -1, state = 'DISARM', status = '', ready = True, options = [])], 'rssi_level': 'ok', 'rssi_network': 'Unknown'}

Since the partitions are located in a list you can iterate over them like this:

for partition in status.partitions:
    print(partition)

Output:

<class 'visonic.classes.Partition'>: {'id': -1, 'state': 'DISARM', 'status': '', 'ready': True, 'options': []}

Single partition system? Just run print(status.partitions[0].state) to get the current arm state.

Troubles

When something is in need of attention a trouble is triggered. It might be a door that's open or the control panel running on battery when a power outage occurs.

A trouble is defined in the Trouble class. Get a list of all troubles by calling the get_troubles() method.

for trouble in alarm.get_troubles():
    print(trouble)

Output:

<class 'visonic.classes.Trouble'>: {'device_type': 'CONTROL_PANEL', 'location': None, 'partitions': [1], 'trouble_type': 'AC_FAILURE', 'zone': None, 'zone_name': None, 'zone_type': None}
<class 'visonic.classes.Trouble'>: {'device_type': 'ZONE', 'location': 'Front door', 'partitions': [1], 'trouble_type': 'OPENED', 'zone': 3, 'zone_name': '', 'zone_type': 'PERIMETER'}

Users

A user is defined in the User class. Get a list of all users by calling the get_users() method.

for user in alarm.get_users():
    print(user)

Output:

<class 'visonic.classes.User'>: {'id': 1, 'name': 'John Doe', 'email': 'john@doe.com', 'partitions': [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]}
<class 'visonic.classes.User'>: {'id': 2, 'name': '', 'email': '', 'partitions': [1]}
...

Change the name of a user

It's possible to change the name of a user by calling the set_name_user(user_id, name) method. You have to provide the id of the user as well as the new name.

token = alarm.set_name_user(4, 'bitcanon')

Note that this method returns a process token. Check the status of the request with the method get_process_status().

result = alarm.get_process_status(token)
print(result)

Output:

[Process(token = '4efc2e3a-13ef-47aa-8d25-92eb8dfa2791', status = 'succeeded', message = '', error = 'None')]

Set the user code

To set or change a user code you use the set_user_code(user_id, user_code) method. This method has several usages; of course to change the code of a user, but also to add and remove a user. There is a finite number of user accounts in the alarm panel (8 in my case) and they are considered to exist if they have a user code not equal to 0000. So in short, add a user by setting a user code, and remove a user by setting the user code to 0000.

Note that this method returns a process token. Check the status of the request with the method get_process_status().

Add user or change user code:

token = alarm.set_user_code(4, '8675')

Remove user:

token = alarm.set_user_code(4, '0000')

Wakeup SMS

Get the information needed to send a wakeup SMS, which is defined in the WakeupSMS class. Get the phone_number and message required by calling the get_wakeup_sms() method.

sms = alarm.get_wakeup_sms()
print(sms)

Output:

<class 'visonic.classes.WakeupSMS'>: {'phone_number': '+467190123456789', 'message': 'CONNECT;ABCD;AB-1;SEQ-1234;'}

Arming and Disarming

There are two ways to arm your alarm system.

• Arm Home: This will arm your perimeter protection (often doors and windows). You can still move around inside the house.
• Arm Away: This will arm the entire alarm system (doors, windows, motion, cameras, etc). Moving around in the house will trigger the alarm to go off.

Arm Home

To arm the alarm system in home mode just call the arm_home() method.

alarm.arm_home()

When using a multi partition alarm system, just pass the partition ID as an argument to the arm_home() method.

alarm.arm_home(partition=2)

Poll the state property of your partition in the get_status() method to watch the state changing.

alarm.get_status().partitions[0].state  # Output: 'HOME'

Arm Away

To arm the alarm system in away mode just call the arm_away() method.

alarm.arm_away()

When using a multi partition alarm system, just pass the partition ID as an argument to the arm_away() method.

alarm.arm_away(partition=2)

Poll the state property of your partition in the get_status() method to watch the state changing.

alarm.get_status().partitions[0].state  # Output: 'AWAY'

Disarm

To disarm the alarm system just call the disarm() method.

alarm.disarm()

When using a multi partition alarm system, just pass the partition ID as an argument to the disarm() method.

alarm.disarm(partition=2)

Poll the state property of your partition in the get_status() method to watch the state changing.

alarm.get_status().partitions[0].state  # Output: 'DISARM'

Examples

Find more examples here: /visonicalarm/examples