LIFX lets you control the lights with the LIFX Cloud API. The only thing stopping you is the authentication token. The token will be needed to send API requests to the LIFX Cloud API to leverage all of the commands in the HTTP REMOTE CONTROL API. All requests require an OAuth 2 access token.

How to get your LIFX Bearer Token

To get your access token for LIFX, go to: https://cloud.lifx.com/, sign in with the same account that you registered your lights, and click Settings. Under Personal access tokens, click GENERATE NEW TOKEN, enter a label, and click Generate. This will generate a new token that you can use for the LIFX Cloud API. Caution thought. This will be the last time that you see this token. If you lose it, you will have to generate a new API key.

How to use the LIFX Access Token

I recommend using the LIFX token in the HTTP authorization header. It is pretty easy to do. Here’s an example in Python.

import requests


token = "[[app:Token]]"

headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer %s" % token,
}

response = requests.get('https://api.lifx.com/v1/lights/all', headers=headers)

Have fun and build some cool integrations with the LIFX Cloud API!

CheerLights, BTW, is one of my projects that synchronizes color lights to the same color all around the world by sending a Tweet mentioning “cheerlights” and a color name.

“@CheerLights Let’s go Blue!”

For my mom, I wanted the setup to be easy. I have made @cheerlights with Arduino, Philips Hue, and Particle. But, all of these solutions are very DIY and require some programming to get working. I looked around for an alternative solution. I discovered the LIFX A21 Wi-Fi Smart LED Light Light Bulb. What makes this solution ideal for my parents home is that there is no hub needed – just Wi-Fi. The LIFX bulb is currently $99 at Amazon, but I found it in my local Best Buy store for $59! This means that the LIFX so far is the cheapest way to join @CheerLights and have a really nice display in your house.

Installation Steps:

• Connect your phone to your Wi-Fi network
• Install the LIFX mobile app on your phone
• Connect the LIFX led bulb to any light socket and turn it on
• Open the app and go to “Add Bulb”

LIFX Cloud:

Once your bulb is linked to the app, you will be notified that the bulb requires a software update. Once this happens the bulb will be connectable by the LIFX Cloud API. Sign into https://cloud.lifx.com/ and generate your secret key. Make sure to save this key somewhere so you can use it to setup ThingSpeak.

ThingSpeak Setup:

• Signup for ThingSpeak
• Create a ThingHTTP by selecting Apps -> ThingHTTP
• ThingHTTP Settings:
  • Name: LIFX Cloud API
  • URL: https://api.lifx.com/v1beta1/lights/all/color
  • Method: PUT
  • Headers:
    • Name:Authorization
    • Value:Bearer <Secret Key>
  • Body: color=%%trigger%%
• Create a TweetControl for each color that you want to display
• TweetControl Settings for “blue”:
  • Check “Anonymous TweetControl”
  • Trigger: blue
  • ThingHTTP Action: Select “LIFX Cloud API”

Testing:

Now, that you have everything setup. We get to have fun. Test everything out by sending a Tweet using Twitter.

“@CheerLights Let’s go Blue!”

Not only does your light turn blue, but thousands of other lights on the @CheerLights project will turn blue at the same time.

Visit CheerLights.com for more information about the project!