[api] Fix truncation of Home Assistant attributes longer than 255 characters (#13348)

esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp

@@ -1712,17 +1712,16 @@ void APIConnection::on_home_assistant_state_response(const HomeAssistantStateRes
     }
 
     // Create null-terminated state for callback (parse_number needs null-termination)
-    // HA state max length is 255, so 256 byte buffer covers all cases
+    // HA state max length is 255 characters, but attributes can be much longer
-    char state_buf[256];
+    // Use stack buffer for common case (states), heap fallback for large attributes
-    size_t copy_len = msg.state.size();
+    size_t state_len = msg.state.size();
-    if (copy_len >= sizeof(state_buf)) {
+    SmallBufferWithHeapFallback<256> state_buf_alloc(state_len + 1);
-      copy_len = sizeof(state_buf) - 1;  // Truncate to leave space for null terminator
+    char *state_buf = reinterpret_cast<char *>(state_buf_alloc.get());
+    if (state_len > 0) {
+      memcpy(state_buf, msg.state.c_str(), state_len);
     }
-    if (copy_len > 0) {
+    state_buf[state_len] = '\0';
-      memcpy(state_buf, msg.state.c_str(), copy_len);
+    it.callback(StringRef(state_buf, state_len));
-    }
-    state_buf[copy_len] = '\0';
-    it.callback(StringRef(state_buf, copy_len));
   }
 }
 #endif

esphome/components/i2c/i2c.cpp

@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ ErrorCode I2CDevice::read_register16(uint16_t a_register, uint8_t *data, size_t
 }
 
 ErrorCode I2CDevice::write_register(uint8_t a_register, const uint8_t *data, size_t len) const {
-  SmallBufferWithHeapFallback<17> buffer_alloc;  // Most I2C writes are <= 16 bytes
+  SmallBufferWithHeapFallback<17> buffer_alloc(len + 1);  // Most I2C writes are <= 16 bytes
-  uint8_t *buffer = buffer_alloc.get(len + 1);
+  uint8_t *buffer = buffer_alloc.get();
 
   buffer[0] = a_register;
   std::copy(data, data + len, buffer + 1);
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ ErrorCode I2CDevice::write_register(uint8_t a_register, const uint8_t *data, siz
 }
 
 ErrorCode I2CDevice::write_register16(uint16_t a_register, const uint8_t *data, size_t len) const {
-  SmallBufferWithHeapFallback<18> buffer_alloc;  // Most I2C writes are <= 16 bytes + 2 for register
+  SmallBufferWithHeapFallback<18> buffer_alloc(len + 2);  // Most I2C writes are <= 16 bytes + 2 for register
-  uint8_t *buffer = buffer_alloc.get(len + 2);
+  uint8_t *buffer = buffer_alloc.get();
 
   buffer[0] = a_register >> 8;
   buffer[1] = a_register;

esphome/components/i2c/i2c_bus.h

@@ -11,22 +11,6 @@
 namespace esphome {
 namespace i2c {
 
-/// @brief Helper class for efficient buffer allocation - uses stack for small sizes, heap for large
-template<size_t STACK_SIZE> class SmallBufferWithHeapFallback {
- public:
-  uint8_t *get(size_t size) {
-    if (size <= STACK_SIZE) {
-      return this->stack_buffer_;
-    }
-    this->heap_buffer_ = std::unique_ptr<uint8_t[]>(new uint8_t[size]);
-    return this->heap_buffer_.get();
-  }
-
- private:
-  uint8_t stack_buffer_[STACK_SIZE];
-  std::unique_ptr<uint8_t[]> heap_buffer_;
-};
-
 /// @brief Error codes returned by I2CBus and I2CDevice methods
 enum ErrorCode {
   NO_ERROR = 0,                ///< No error found during execution of method
@@ -92,8 +76,8 @@ class I2CBus {
       total_len += read_buffers[i].len;
     }
 
-    SmallBufferWithHeapFallback<128> buffer_alloc;  // Most I2C reads are small
+    SmallBufferWithHeapFallback<128> buffer_alloc(total_len);  // Most I2C reads are small
-    uint8_t *buffer = buffer_alloc.get(total_len);
+    uint8_t *buffer = buffer_alloc.get();
 
     auto err = this->write_readv(address, nullptr, 0, buffer, total_len);
     if (err != ERROR_OK)
@@ -116,8 +100,8 @@ class I2CBus {
       total_len += write_buffers[i].len;
     }
 
-    SmallBufferWithHeapFallback<128> buffer_alloc;  // Most I2C writes are small
+    SmallBufferWithHeapFallback<128> buffer_alloc(total_len);  // Most I2C writes are small
-    uint8_t *buffer = buffer_alloc.get(total_len);
+    uint8_t *buffer = buffer_alloc.get();
 
     size_t pos = 0;
     for (size_t i = 0; i != count; i++) {

esphome/core/helpers.h

@@ -366,6 +366,35 @@ template<typename T> class FixedVector {
   const T *end() const { return data_ + size_; }
 };
 
+/// @brief Helper class for efficient buffer allocation - uses stack for small sizes, heap for large
+/// This is useful when most operations need a small buffer but occasionally need larger ones.
+/// The stack buffer avoids heap allocation in the common case, while heap fallback handles edge cases.
+template<size_t STACK_SIZE> class SmallBufferWithHeapFallback {
+ public:
+  explicit SmallBufferWithHeapFallback(size_t size) {
+    if (size <= STACK_SIZE) {
+      this->buffer_ = this->stack_buffer_;
+    } else {
+      this->heap_buffer_ = new uint8_t[size];
+      this->buffer_ = this->heap_buffer_;
+    }
+  }
+  ~SmallBufferWithHeapFallback() { delete[] this->heap_buffer_; }
+
+  // Delete copy and move operations to prevent double-delete
+  SmallBufferWithHeapFallback(const SmallBufferWithHeapFallback &) = delete;
+  SmallBufferWithHeapFallback &operator=(const SmallBufferWithHeapFallback &) = delete;
+  SmallBufferWithHeapFallback(SmallBufferWithHeapFallback &&) = delete;
+  SmallBufferWithHeapFallback &operator=(SmallBufferWithHeapFallback &&) = delete;
+
+  uint8_t *get() { return this->buffer_; }
+
+ private:
+  uint8_t stack_buffer_[STACK_SIZE];
+  uint8_t *heap_buffer_{nullptr};
+  uint8_t *buffer_;
+};
+
 ///@}
 
 /// @name Mathematics

tests/integration/fixtures/api_homeassistant.yaml

@@ -108,6 +108,25 @@ text_sensor:
             format: "HA Empty state updated: %s"
             args: ['x.c_str()']
 
+  # Test long attribute handling (>255 characters)
+  # HA states are limited to 255 chars, but attributes are not
+  - platform: homeassistant
+    name: "HA Long Attribute"
+    entity_id: sensor.long_data
+    attribute: long_value
+    id: ha_long_attribute
+    on_value:
+      then:
+        - logger.log:
+            format: "HA Long attribute received, length: %d"
+            args: ['x.size()']
+        # Log the first 50 and last 50 chars to verify no truncation
+        - lambda: |-
+            if (x.size() >= 100) {
+              ESP_LOGI("test", "Long attribute first 50 chars: %.50s", x.c_str());
+              ESP_LOGI("test", "Long attribute last 50 chars: %s", x.c_str() + x.size() - 50);
+            }
+
 # Number component for testing HA number control
 number:
   - platform: template

tests/integration/test_api_homeassistant.py

@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ async def test_api_homeassistant(
     humidity_update_future = loop.create_future()
     motion_update_future = loop.create_future()
     weather_update_future = loop.create_future()
+    long_attr_future = loop.create_future()
 
     # Number future
     ha_number_future = loop.create_future()
@@ -58,6 +59,7 @@ async def test_api_homeassistant(
     humidity_update_pattern = re.compile(r"HA Humidity state updated: ([\d.]+)")
     motion_update_pattern = re.compile(r"HA Motion state changed: (ON|OFF)")
     weather_update_pattern = re.compile(r"HA Weather condition updated: (\w+)")
+    long_attr_pattern = re.compile(r"HA Long attribute received, length: (\d+)")
 
     # Number pattern
     ha_number_pattern = re.compile(r"Setting HA number to: ([\d.]+)")
@@ -143,8 +145,14 @@ async def test_api_homeassistant(
         elif not weather_update_future.done() and weather_update_pattern.search(line):
             weather_update_future.set_result(line)
 
-        # Check number pattern
+        # Check long attribute pattern - separate if since it can come at different times
-        elif not ha_number_future.done() and ha_number_pattern.search(line):
+        if not long_attr_future.done():
+            match = long_attr_pattern.search(line)
+            if match:
+                long_attr_future.set_result(int(match.group(1)))
+
+        # Check number pattern - separate if since it can come at different times
+        if not ha_number_future.done():
             match = ha_number_pattern.search(line)
             if match:
                 ha_number_future.set_result(match.group(1))
@@ -179,6 +187,14 @@ async def test_api_homeassistant(
         client.send_home_assistant_state("binary_sensor.external_motion", "", "ON")
         client.send_home_assistant_state("weather.home", "condition", "sunny")
 
+        # Send a long attribute (300 characters) to test that attributes aren't truncated
+        # HA states are limited to 255 chars, but attributes are NOT limited
+        # This tests the fix for the 256-byte buffer truncation bug
+        long_attr_value = "X" * 300  # 300 chars - enough to expose truncation bug
+        client.send_home_assistant_state(
+            "sensor.long_data", "long_value", long_attr_value
+        )
+
         # Test edge cases for zero-copy implementation safety
         # Empty entity_id should be silently ignored (no crash)
         client.send_home_assistant_state("", "", "should_be_ignored")
@@ -225,6 +241,13 @@ async def test_api_homeassistant(
             number_value = await asyncio.wait_for(ha_number_future, timeout=5.0)
             assert number_value == "42.5", f"Unexpected number value: {number_value}"
 
+            # Long attribute test - verify 300 chars weren't truncated to 255
+            long_attr_len = await asyncio.wait_for(long_attr_future, timeout=5.0)
+            assert long_attr_len == 300, (
+                f"Long attribute was truncated! Expected 300 chars, got {long_attr_len}. "
+                "This indicates the 256-byte truncation bug."
+            )
+
             # Wait for completion
             await asyncio.wait_for(tests_complete_future, timeout=5.0)