potato-hue | by Fancy Budgie
Philips Hue × Pot Potato

Hot potato.
Real light.

A small, self-hosted Linux service that pulses your Philips Hue light whenever Pot Potato is snatched.

Install it Source code
↯

Snatch pulses

One snatch, one pulse. If several happen between polls, every pulse is queued in order.

↺

Never loses your setting

The light always returns to its former on/off state, brightness, and colour.

◌

Local by design

Your Hue bridge stays on your home network. No cloud bridge or inbound access required.

01

Linux + systemd

Up and running in minutes.

  1. 1

    Get the code

    git clone git@github.com:FancyBudgie/potato-hue.git
cd potato-hue
  2. 2

    Install the service

    This builds the tiny Rust binary and creates a protected config file at /etc/potato-hue/.env.

    make service-install
  3. 3

    Tell it where your bridge is

    sudoedit /etc/potato-hue/.env

HUE_BRIDGE_IP=192.168.1.50
HUE_APP_KEY=
HUE_LIGHT_ID=
  4. 4

    Authorize and choose a light

    Press the physical Hue bridge button, then run the following. Copy the printed key and your chosen light ID into the config file.

    make service-authorize
make service-list-lights
sudoedit /etc/potato-hue/.env
  5. 5

    Test, then let it watch

    make service-test-pulse
sudo systemctl enable --now potato-hue
make service-logs

Good to know: the watcher starts from the current holder count and waits for the next snatch. By default it checks Pot Potato every 60 seconds.

02

Make it yours

Configure the pulse.

Edit /etc/potato-hue/.env, then restart the service.

POTATO_POLL_SECONDS=60
PULSE_ON_MS=450
PULSE_GAP_MS=180
PULSE_MAX_BRIGHTNESS=70

# White / temperature lights
PULSE_TEMPERATURE_K=2700

# RGB lights (use instead of temperature)
# PULSE_COLOR=#FF9A20

Temperature and RGB colour are mutually exclusive. Leave both unset to use the light’s existing colour.

make service-restart
03

Optional

Feel the heat.

Watch a Chia address. While it holds the potato, its light gets hotter as the deadline approaches.

WATCHED_ADDRESS=xch1youraddress...
HOLDER_START_BRIGHTNESS=10
HOLDER_END_BRIGHTNESS=100

# RGB: brown → red
HOLDER_START_COLOR=#8B4513
HOLDER_END_COLOR=#FF0000

# White: warm → cool
HOLDER_START_TEMPERATURE_K=2200
HOLDER_END_TEMPERATURE_K=6500

RGB lights get the brown-to-red gradient. White-temperature lights move from warm to cool. Brightness-only lights still intensify.

04

Everyday controls

Keep it simple.

make service-status see if it is running make service-logs follow the live log make service-update build + redeploy an update make service-remove remove service, keep config