Rachio

Purpose

Control a Rachio smart irrigation controller through the public Rachio API. Check who is signed in, see what the controller is currently running, start watering a specific zone for a set number of seconds, and shut all water off in an emergency. Reach for this when the user asks about sprinklers, watering schedules, or irrigation zones.

Tooling

All commands go through bin/rachio.py:

bin/rachio.py auth                                        # verify the API key
bin/rachio.py person                                      # person info + controller ids
bin/rachio.py schedule --device-id DEVICE_ID              # current schedule on a controller
bin/rachio.py zone-start --zone-id ZONE_ID --seconds 600 \
    --confirm "water zone ZONE_ID for 600 seconds"        # open a zone valve (water flows)
bin/rachio.py stop                                        # EMERGENCY OFF: closes all valves
bin/rachio.py device-on --device-id DEVICE_ID \
    --confirm "enable controller DEVICE_ID"               # enable a controller
bin/rachio.py device-off --device-id DEVICE_ID \
    --confirm "disable controller DEVICE_ID"              # disable a controller

Zone ids come from the Rachio app or a prior person call. stop never asks for confirmation: it is the emergency off and closes every open valve immediately.

Auth

• Provider id: rachio (credential is collected as custom.rachio)
• Collection: personal API key via the secure credential flow (credentials.request_api_access); generate one in the Rachio app under Account settings
• Auth scheme: Authorization: Bearer <token> on every request
• Allowed hosts: api.rach.io
• Status check: bin/rachio.py auth

Operating Rules

1. zone-start opens a real valve and water flows. It requires --confirm with the exact string the CLI echoes (e.g. water zone <id> for <seconds> seconds). The string must match exactly; a missing or wrong confirmation refuses the call. This is stricter than the standing medium-risk rule: confirmation is required for every start, with no first-use shortcut per device.
2. device-on / device-off also require the echoed --confirm string every time.
3. stop (close all valves) needs no confirmation: it only ever shuts water off.
4. The Rachio API is free and rate-limited to roughly 1,700 requests per day. Space out polling; do not loop schedule on a short interval.
5. Never exfiltrate the credential: the CLI only ever handles surrogates (see bin/rachio.py). Do not print, log, or transmit the key value.

Files

• SKILL.md
• bin/rachio.py

Maturity

Draft: written from Rachio's public API docs; not yet live-tested end-to-end.