# Issues passing variable to data field? ("None for dictionary value")

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/issues-passing-variable-to-data-field-none-for-dictionary-value/97208>\
**Category:** General\
**Tags:** home-assistant\
**Created:** [22 May 2025 12:50 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/issues-passing-variable-to-data-field-none-for-dictionary-value/97208 "2025-05-22T12:50:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![vaderag](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/vaderag/32/95219_2.png) [@vaderag](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/vaderag)\
**Post date:** [22 May 2025 12:50 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/issues-passing-variable-to-data-field-none-for-dictionary-value/97208/1 "2025-05-22T12:50:17Z")

</div>

I’m trying to pass generated R G B values to an action node and ending up with “None for dictionary value”

I’ve posted my flow below - having read around it looked like it might have been an issue with putting it all together initially which was being interpreted as a string rather than a list ([src](https://community.home-assistant.io/t/help-with-rgb-light-automation/122824/5))  
So to try and tackle the issue I’ve split out my R G B values and trying to pull them into the data field as separate payloads. But still getting the error

I’m wondering if it’s as simple as the way I’m trying to grab the payload values is incorrectly?  
I've tried every variant I can think of tho, so something still seems off...

Can anyone assist?

```auto
[{"id":"405c45f5.97d48c","type":"function","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"change rgb","func":"var i = flow.get(\"i\");\nvar red = Math.round(Math.sin(0.3*i + 0) * 127 + 128);\nvar green = Math.round(Math.sin(0.3*i + 2) * 127 + 128);\nvar blue = Math.round(Math.sin(0.3*i + 4) * 127 + 128);\n\ni++;\nif (i>=32) {\n i = 0;\n}\n\nflow.set(\"i\", i);\n\nmsg.payload = {};\nmsg.payload.data = {};\nmsg.payload.data.rgb_color = \"[\" + red + \", \" + green + \", \" + blue + \"]\";\nmsg.payload.data.r = red;\nmsg.payload.data.g = green;\nmsg.payload.data.b = blue;\n\nreturn msg;","outputs":1,"timeout":"","noerr":0,"initialize":"","finalize":"","libs":[],"x":690,"y":320,"wires":[["93f6beb4.23847","6401153b187820c9"]]},{"id":"c0a79053.feb99","type":"inject","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"","repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"onceDelay":0.1,"topic":"","payload":"","payloadType":"date","x":360,"y":320,"wires":[["af891aa6.6452f8"]]},{"id":"af891aa6.6452f8","type":"function","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"set var","func":"flow.set(\"i\", 0);\n\nreturn msg;","outputs":1,"timeout":"","noerr":0,"initialize":"","finalize":"","libs":[],"x":530,"y":320,"wires":[["405c45f5.97d48c"]]},{"id":"93f6beb4.23847","type":"delay","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"","pauseType":"delay","timeout":"1","timeoutUnits":"seconds","rate":"1","nbRateUnits":"1","rateUnits":"second","randomFirst":"1","randomLast":"5","randomUnits":"seconds","drop":false,"allowrate":false,"outputs":1,"x":700,"y":400,"wires":[["405c45f5.97d48c"]]},{"id":"6a933fa0.e02d5","type":"api-call-service","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"Cycle","server":"3aa13fed.bf745","version":7,"debugenabled":false,"action":"light.turn_on","floorId":[],"areaId":[],"deviceId":[],"entityId":["light.0xa4c138710fc49807"],"labelId":[],"data":"{\"rgb_color\": [msg.payloadr, msg.payloadg, msg.payloadb]}","dataType":"jsonata","mergeContext":"","mustacheAltTags":false,"outputProperties":[],"queue":"none","blockInputOverrides":false,"domain":"light","service":"turn_on","x":1110,"y":340,"wires":[[]]},{"id":"6401153b187820c9","type":"change","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payloadr","pt":"msg","to":"payload.data.r","tot":"msg"},{"t":"set","p":"payloadg","pt":"msg","to":"payload.data.g","tot":"msg"},{"t":"set","p":"payloadb","pt":"msg","to":"payload.data.b","tot":"msg"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":900,"y":320,"wires":[["6a933fa0.e02d5","8a58af81d8c0283e"]]},{"id":"8a58af81d8c0283e","type":"debug","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"debug 21","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"payloadr","targetType":"msg","statusVal":"","statusType":"auto","x":1080,"y":220,"wires":[]},{"id":"201e0e17a4b81d6f","type":"inject","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"","props":[{"p":"rese","v":"","vt":"date"},{"p":"reset","v":"reset","vt":"str"}],"repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"onceDelay":0.1,"topic":"","x":470,"y":400,"wires":[["93f6beb4.23847"]]},{"id":"3aa13fed.bf745","type":"server","name":"Home Assistant","version":5,"addon":true,"rejectUnauthorizedCerts":true,"ha_boolean":"y|yes|true|on|home|open","connectionDelay":true,"cacheJson":true,"heartbeat":false,"heartbeatInterval":30,"areaSelector":"friendlyName","deviceSelector":"friendlyName","entitySelector":"friendlyName","statusSeparator":"at: ","statusYear":"hidden","statusMonth":"short","statusDay":"numeric","statusHourCycle":"h23","statusTimeFormat":"h:m","enableGlobalContextStore":true}]
```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![vaderag](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/vaderag/32/95219_2.png) [@vaderag](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/vaderag)\
**Post date:** [22 May 2025 13:29 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/issues-passing-variable-to-data-field-none-for-dictionary-value/97208/2 "2025-05-22T13:29:36Z")

</div>

Solving my own problem... managed to get things set as a list prior to the final node  
`[{"id":"405c45f5.97d48c","type":"function","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"change rgb","func":"var i = flow.get(\"i\");\nvar red = Math.round(Math.sin(0.3*i + 0) * 127 + 128);\nvar green = Math.round(Math.sin(0.3*i + 2) * 127 + 128);\nvar blue = Math.round(Math.sin(0.3*i + 4) * 127 + 128);\n\ni++;\nif (i>=32) {\n i = 0;\n}\n\nflow.set(\"i\", i);\n\nmsg.payload = {};\nmsg.payload.data = {};\nmsg.payload.rgb_color = \"[\" + red + \", \" + green + \", \" + blue + \"]\";\nmsg.payload.data.r = red;\nmsg.payload.data.g = green;\nmsg.payload.data.b = blue;\n\nreturn msg;","outputs":1,"timeout":"","noerr":0,"initialize":"","finalize":"","libs":[],"x":690,"y":320,"wires":[["93f6beb4.23847","6401153b187820c9"]]},{"id":"c0a79053.feb99","type":"inject","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"","repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"onceDelay":0.1,"topic":"","payload":"","payloadType":"date","x":360,"y":320,"wires":[["af891aa6.6452f8"]]},{"id":"af891aa6.6452f8","type":"function","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"set var","func":"flow.set(\"i\", 0);\n\nreturn msg;","outputs":1,"timeout":"","noerr":0,"initialize":"","finalize":"","libs":[],"x":530,"y":320,"wires":[["405c45f5.97d48c"]]},{"id":"93f6beb4.23847","type":"delay","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"","pauseType":"delay","timeout":"2","timeoutUnits":"seconds","rate":"1","nbRateUnits":"1","rateUnits":"second","randomFirst":"1","randomLast":"5","randomUnits":"seconds","drop":false,"allowrate":false,"outputs":1,"x":700,"y":420,"wires":[["405c45f5.97d48c"]]},{"id":"6a933fa0.e02d5","type":"api-call-service","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"Cycle","server":"3aa13fed.bf745","version":7,"debugenabled":false,"action":"light.turn_on","floorId":[],"areaId":[],"deviceId":[],"entityId":["light.ethans_desk_leds"],"labelId":[],"data":"{\t \"rgb_color\": msg.payload,\t \"transition\": \"2\"\t}","dataType":"jsonata","mergeContext":"","mustacheAltTags":false,"outputProperties":[],"queue":"none","blockInputOverrides":false,"domain":"light","service":"turn_on","x":1330,"y":320,"wires":[[]]},{"id":"6401153b187820c9","type":"change","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payloadr","pt":"msg","to":"payload.data.r","tot":"msg"},{"t":"set","p":"payloadg","pt":"msg","to":"payload.data.g","tot":"msg"},{"t":"set","p":"payloadb","pt":"msg","to":"payload.data.b","tot":"msg"},{"t":"set","p":"payloadrgb","pt":"msg","to":"payload.data.rgb","tot":"jsonata"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":900,"y":320,"wires":[["bb3647d312bd4634"]]},{"id":"201e0e17a4b81d6f","type":"inject","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"","props":[{"p":"rese","v":"","vt":"date"},{"p":"reset","v":"reset","vt":"str"}],"repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"onceDelay":0.1,"topic":"","x":330,"y":420,"wires":[["93f6beb4.23847"]]},{"id":"784577a87c936802","type":"debug","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"debug 29","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"payload","targetType":"msg","statusVal":"","statusType":"auto","x":1060,"y":400,"wires":[]},{"id":"da328edf30b07381","type":"join","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"","mode":"custom","build":"array","property":"payload.data","propertyType":"msg","key":"topic","joiner":"\\n","joinerType":"str","useparts":true,"accumulate":false,"timeout":"1","count":"","reduceRight":false,"reduceExp":"","reduceInit":"","reduceInitType":"","reduceFixup":"","x":910,"y":380,"wires":[["784577a87c936802"]]},{"id":"bb3647d312bd4634","type":"change","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"[$$.payloadr,$$.payloadg,$$.payloadb]","tot":"jsonata"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":1100,"y":320,"wires":[["b5d146154ebee55a","6a933fa0.e02d5"]]},{"id":"b5d146154ebee55a","type":"debug","z":"3aa4bb1d045b93c0","name":"debug 34","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"payload","targetType":"msg","statusVal":"","statusType":"auto","x":1340,"y":280,"wires":[]},{"id":"3aa13fed.bf745","type":"server","name":"Home Assistant","version":5,"addon":true,"rejectUnauthorizedCerts":true,"ha_boolean":"y|yes|true|on|home|open","connectionDelay":true,"cacheJson":true,"heartbeat":false,"heartbeatInterval":30,"areaSelector":"friendlyName","deviceSelector":"friendlyName","entitySelector":"friendlyName","statusSeparator":"at: ","statusYear":"hidden","statusMonth":"short","statusDay":"numeric","statusHourCycle":"h23","statusTimeFormat":"h:m","enableGlobalContextStore":true}]`

---

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/1X/d073cd938eafa2e558d7c2cd59003b3ef4963033.png) [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [5 June 2025 13:29 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/issues-passing-variable-to-data-field-none-for-dictionary-value/97208/3 "2025-06-05T13:29:38Z")

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