Sensor .raw_state Deprecated in Favor of get_raw_state()

Apr 9, 2026

Direct access to the sensor .raw_state member is now deprecated. Use get_raw_state() instead. The .raw_state member will be removed in ESPHome 2026.10.0.

This is a breaking change for external components in ESPHome 2026.4.0 and later.

Background

PR #15094: Deprecate .raw_state, guard raw_callback_ behind USE_SENSOR_FILTER

This follows the same pattern as the text_sensor .raw_state deprecation. Accessor methods allow future optimizations to the internal storage without breaking callers.

Additionally, raw_callback_ is now guarded behind USE_SENSOR_FILTER, saving 4 bytes per sensor instance when no filters are configured.

What’s Changing

// Before
float raw = id(my_sensor).raw_state;

// After
float raw = id(my_sensor).get_raw_state();

The .state member is not deprecated — it remains a valid public member. However, examples in the docs now show get_state() to encourage the accessor pattern.

Who This Affects

External components and lambda users that directly access .raw_state on sensor instances.

The deprecated member still works but emits a compiler warning. It will be removed in 2026.10.0.

Migration Guide

Replace all direct .raw_state access with get_raw_state():

// Before
float raw = id(my_sensor).raw_state;
float current = this->raw_state;

// After
float raw = id(my_sensor).get_raw_state();
float current = this->get_raw_state();

Important: Nothing outside of Sensor::publish_state() should ever write to raw_state. If your component does this, it is a bug — use publish_state() instead.

Supporting Multiple ESPHome Versions

get_raw_state() has been available since before this deprecation (it was previously defined in .cpp), so you can simply switch to it without a version guard:

float raw = id(my_sensor).get_raw_state();

Timeline

ESPHome 2026.4.0 (April 2026): .raw_state deprecated with compiler warning
ESPHome 2026.10.0 (October 2026): .raw_state member removed

Finding Code That Needs Updates

# Find direct .raw_state access in your component
grep -rn '\.raw_state' your_component/
grep -rn '->raw_state' your_component/

Questions?

If you have questions about migrating your external component, please ask in:

ESPHome Discord - #devs channel
ESPHome GitHub Discussions

PR #15094: Deprecate .raw_state, guard raw_callback_ behind USE_SENSOR_FILTER

Comments

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