Light Effects¶

lifx-async includes 25+ software effects: from simple pulse and color loops to complex animations like aurora, flicker, fireworks, and cellular automata. The effects framework handles state management automatically: it captures your lights' current state, runs the effect, and restores everything when done.

Quick Example¶

import asyncio
from lifx import discover, DeviceGroup
from lifx.effects import Conductor, EffectPulse

async def main():
    devices = []
    async for device in discover():
        devices.append(device)
    group = DeviceGroup(devices)

    if not group.lights:
        print("No lights found")
        return

    # Create a conductor to manage effects
    conductor = Conductor()

    # Blink all lights 5 times
    effect = EffectPulse(mode='blink', cycles=5)
    await conductor.start(effect, group.lights)

    # Wait for effect to complete
    await asyncio.sleep(6)
    print("Done - lights restored to original state")

asyncio.run(main())

How It Works¶

1. Create a Conductor — the central orchestrator for all effects
2. Create an Effect instance with your desired parameters
3. Call conductor.start(effect, lights) to run it
4. The conductor captures state, runs the effect, and restores state when done

Effects complete in different ways:

• Cycle-based (Pulse) — completes after configured cycles
• Duration-based (Sunrise, Sunset) — completes after a set duration
• Continuous (ColorLoop, Rainbow, Flicker, Aurora): runs until conductor.stop() is called

Effects on One Light¶

For a single light you don't need a Conductor. start_effect() runs a software effect on that light alone, with the same state capture and restore, and stop_effect() stops it:

from lifx.effects import EffectColorloop

await light.start_effect(EffectColorloop())
await asyncio.sleep(10)
await light.stop_effect()

stop_effect() stops every effect on the light: a running firmware effect such as Morph or Move, and any software effect the light is part of, however it was started. If the light is one of several participants in a Conductor run, it leaves that run and the other lights carry on. Starting an effect on a light that already runs one replaces it, wherever it was started, with no flash back to the light's earlier state. start_effect() takes software effects only; firmware effects keep their own API, such as set_effect().

A light component, such as a Ceiling's ceiling.downlight or a Mirror's mirror.front, is an effect participant too, with its own start_effect() and stop_effect(); see Ceiling lights and Mirror lights.

Software Effects¶

See the Effects Gallery for animated previews of every effect.

Next Steps¶

• Effects Guide — Full usage guide with all effects, patterns, and best practices
• Effects Gallery — Animated GIF previews of every effect
• Custom Effects — Create your own effects
• Effects Reference — Complete API documentation