Documentation: Increment State Node¶

Overview¶

The Increment State Node is an action node that numerically modifies the state of one or more objects, or a property of their state, by applying an arithmetic operation (increment, decrement, multiply, divide, modulo, or set) to the current value.

Unlike Modify Object State —which sets a fixed value— this node operates on the existing value, making it ideal for counters and accumulators in IoT and industrial environments: counting how many times a sensor has been triggered, tracking the number of machine cycles, accumulating units produced, or deducting inventory.

When to use this node?¶

Use this node when you need to:

Maintain a counter associated with an object (activations, openings, cycles, alarms).
Accumulate or deduct a quantity from a previous value (production, inventory, consumption).
Apply arithmetic operations (multiply, divide, modulo) to the state or a numeric property of an object.
Keep incremental metrics without having to manually read, calculate, and rewrite the value.

Node Configuration¶

The node has two configuration tabs: Form and JSON Editor.

Empty configuration of the Increment State node

Form View¶

1. Objects *Required¶

The objects on which the operation will be applied. Click the field to open the object selector and select one or more (tabs Groups / Devices). The operation is applied to all selected objects.

2. Target¶

Defines what the operation is applied to:

State: operates directly on the numeric state of the object.
Property: operates on a property of the state (enables the Property Name field).

3. Property Name *Conditional¶

Appears only when Target is Property. Specifies the name of the numeric property to modify (for example, trigger_count).

4. Operation¶

The arithmetic operation to apply to the current value:

Increment, Decrement, Multiply, Divide, Modulo, and Set (assign a fixed value).

5. Amount / Value¶

The operand of the operation (default 1). The label changes to Value when the operation is Set. Accepts a fixed value or, via the template button (ƒ), a template expression to take the amount from another node (for example, {{node_key.response.value}}).

Configured form of the Increment State node

JSON Editor View¶

JSON Editor view of the Increment State node

JSON Structure (Input Parameters)¶

{
  "object_ids": ["milesight_iot_mqtt.sensor.35.24e124136f463537"],
  "target": "property",
  "property_name": "trigger_count",
  "operation": "increment",
  "amount": "1"
}

JSON Fields¶

Field	Type	Description
`object_ids`	array (string)	IDs of the objects on which the operation is applied.
`target`	string	`state` (on the state) or `property` (on a property of the state).
`property_name`	string	Name of the property to modify (required when `target` is `property`).
`operation`	string	Operation: `increment`, `decrement`, `multiply`, `divide`, `modulo`, or `set`.
`amount`	string	Operand of the operation (default `1`). Supports template expressions.

Output: Where the node's data comes from¶

The node applies the operation and persists the new value in the state/property of each selected object. Its effect is visible in the updated state of the objects; the node finishes marked as successful (green border).

Usage Examples¶

Example 1: Count sensor activations¶

Use case: Every time an IoT sensor is triggered, a trigger_count property is incremented by 1 to track the number of activations for the day.

Objects: the sensor (milesight_iot_mqtt.sensor)
Target: Property
Property Name: trigger_count
Operation: Increment
Amount: 1

(see JSON structure above)

Example 2: Accumulate units produced¶

Use case: At the end of each batch, the quantity produced —taken from a previous node— is added to the line's running total.

Target: Property · Property Name: units_produced
Operation: Increment
Amount: {{trigger.body.batch_units}}

Validation and Errors¶

Condition	Common cause / fix
The value is not modified	Verify that the object has a numeric state/property; arithmetic operations require numbers.
Missing property	If Target is Property, make sure the correct Property Name is specified.
Division by zero	With the Divide operation, avoid an Amount of `0`.

Best Practices¶

Initialize the counter: make sure the property/state has an initial numeric value (you can set it with Modify Object State or with the Set operation).
Name properties clearly: use descriptive names (trigger_count, units_produced) to distinguish each metric.
Reset when appropriate: combine with the Set operation (to 0) or with [[memory-delete]] to reset counters at the start of a cycle or shift.
Dynamic amounts: use template expressions in Amount to accumulate values coming from other nodes in the flow.