Python: WLED API Client

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Asynchronous Python client for WLED.

About

This package allows you to control and monitor [WLED][wled] devices programmatically. It talks to the device's JSON API, can follow its state live over a WebSocket, and can upgrade its firmware. It is the library behind the WLED integration in [Home Assistant][home-assistant].

Installation

pip install wled

To install with the optional CLI:

pip install "wled[cli]"

CLI

The optional CLI lets you control WLED devices directly from the terminal.

# Show device information
wled info --host wled-frenck.local
Show the current state of the device and its segments
wled state --host wled-frenck.local
Turn the light on or off, or set its brightness (0-255)
wled on --host wled-frenck.local
wled off --host wled-frenck.local
wled brightness --host wled-frenck.local --brightness 128
List the effects, palettes, presets, and playlists on the device
wled effects --host wled-frenck.local
wled palettes --host wled-frenck.local
wled presets --host wled-frenck.local
wled playlists --host wled-frenck.local
Activate a preset or playlist, by name or ID
wled preset --host wled-frenck.local --preset "Movie night"
wled playlist --host wled-frenck.local --playlist 1
Show the latest WLED releases
wled releases
Upgrade the firmware, and restart the device
wled upgrade --host wled-frenck.local --version 0.15.3
wled reset --host wled-frenck.local
Scan the network for WLED devices (uses mDNS/Zeroconf)
wled scan

Usage

The client is an async context manager; every API call is a coroutine. update() returns a Device with the info, state, effects, palettes, presets, and playlists of the device. Later calls update that same object in place, so you can hold on to it.

import asyncio
from wled import WLED
async def main() -> None:
    """Show example of controlling your WLED device."""
    async with WLED("wled-frenck.local") as led:
        device = await led.update()
        print(device.info.version)
# Turn the light on, at full brightness
        await led.master(on=True, brightness=255)
if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

Light control

master() controls the light as a whole; segment() controls a single segment. Effects and palettes can be given by name or by ID, and colors as RGB or RGBW tuples. Transitions are in units of 100ms.

async with WLED("wled-frenck.local") as led:
    await led.update()
# Dim the whole light over 2 seconds
    await led.master(brightness=64, transition=20)
# Set the first segment to a red, fast "Rainbow" effect
    await led.segment(
        0,
        on=True,
        color_primary=(255, 0, 0),
        effect="Rainbow",
        palette="Party",
        speed=200,
    )
# Activate a preset or a playlist, by name or ID
    await led.preset("Movie night")
    await led.playlist(1)

To change several segments at once, so they switch together with one transition, pass a SegmentUpdate for each to segments():

from wled import SegmentUpdate
await led.segments(
    [
        SegmentUpdate(segment_id=0, effect="Rainbow"),
        SegmentUpdate(segment_id=1, color_primary=(0, 0, 255)),
    ],
    transition=10,
)

Nightlight, sync, and usermods

async with WLED("wled-frenck.local") as led:
    # Fade to a low brightness over 30 minutes
    await led.nightlight(on=True, duration=30, fade=True, target_brightness=5)
# Send and receive UDP sync with other WLED devices
    await led.sync(send=True, receive=True)
# Toggle the AudioReactive usermod, if the device has it
    device = await led.update()
    if device.state.audio_reactive is not None:
        await led.audio_reactive(on=not device.state.audio_reactive.on)

Live updates

Instead of polling, you can follow the device over its WebSocket. The callback receives the updated Device on every change.

import asyncio
from wled import WLED, Device
async def main() -> None:
    """Show example of following a WLED device live."""
    async with WLED("wled-frenck.local") as led:
        await led.update()
        await led.connect()
def on_update(device: Device) -> None:
            print(device.state.on, device.state.brightness)
# Runs until the connection closes
        await led.listen(callback=on_update)
if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

Firmware upgrades

upgrade() downloads the firmware from a GitHub release and uploads it to the device. It checks the device's answer, and raises WLEDUpgradeError when the device rejects the upload (for example, with OTA updates locked or from outside its local subnet).

from wled import WLED, WLEDReleases
async with WLED("wled-frenck.local") as led:
    device = await led.update()
async with WLEDReleases(repo=device.info.repo) as wled_releases:
        releases = await wled_releases.releases()
# Only move forward: a device on a newer beta or nightly stays put
    current = device.info.version
    if releases.stable and current and releases.stable > current:
        await led.upgrade(version=releases.stable)

By default, the firmware comes from the repository the device reports as device.info.repo; older firmware that doesn't report one falls back to wled/WLED. Pass repo to upgrade() to pick another one.

The release is looked up through the GitHub API, and the download is checked against the SHA256 digest GitHub publishes for it; a firmware file that doesn't match is never sent to the device. When GitHub's API can't be reached (for example, when rate limited), the upgrade continues without that check.

Publishing custom firmware

Vendors and integrators can distribute their own WLED builds through the same upgrade flow. Compile the firmware with metadata for the repository, brand, and release name, and attach it to a GitHub release, named after the WLED convention:

{brand}_{version}_{release}.bin

• brand: the brand the device reports in device.info.brand (WLED by

• version: the release tag without the leading v, like 0.15.0 for the

• release: the release name the device reports in device.info.release,

If your files keep the WLED_ prefix while the device reports another brand, that works too, as long as only one file in the release matches the version and release name. The official [WLED releases][wled-releases] show the format in practice.

Error handling

Everything the library raises derives from WLEDError:

• WLEDConnectionError: the device couldn't be reached, with

• WLEDStatusError: the device answered with an HTTP error; status and

• WLEDResponseError: the device answered, but with nothing usable

• WLEDUnsupportedVersionError: the firmware is older than this library

• WLEDUpgradeError: a firmware upgrade failed.

from wled import WLED, WLEDConnectionError, WLEDError
async with WLED("wled-frenck.local") as led:
    try:
        await led.update()
    except WLEDConnectionError:
        print("WLED is unreachable")
    except WLEDError as err:
        print(f"WLED had a problem: {err}")

Changelog & Releases

This repository keeps a change log using [GitHub's releases][releases] functionality.

Releases are based on [Semantic Versioning][semver], and use the format of MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH. In a nutshell, the version will be incremented based on the following:

• MAJOR: Incompatible or major changes.
• MINOR: Backwards-compatible new features and enhancements.
• PATCH: Backwards-compatible bugfixes and package updates.

Contributing

This is an active open-source project. We are always open to people who want to use the code or contribute to it.

We've set up a separate document for our contribution guidelines.

Thank you for being involved! :heart_eyes:

Setting up development environment

The easiest way to start is by opening a CodeSpace here on GitHub, or by using the [Dev Container][devcontainer] feature of Visual Studio Code.

[![Open in Dev Containers][devcontainer-shield]][devcontainer]

This Python project is fully managed using the [Poetry][poetry] dependency manager but also relies on the use of Node.js for certain checks during development.

You need at least:

• Python 3.11+
• [Poetry][poetry-install]
• Node.js 24+ (including NPM)

npm install
poetry install --all-extras

As this repository uses the [prek][prek] framework, all changes are linted and tested with each commit. You can run all checks and tests manually, using the following command:

poetry run prek run --all-files

To run just the Python tests:

poetry run pytest

Authors & contributors

The original setup of this repository is by [Franck Nijhof][frenck].

For a full list of all authors and contributors, check [the contributors' page][contributors].

License

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2019-2026 Franck Nijhof

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

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