From 04ffa7464363692e0139ec4ce446a11134344e0d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "J. Nick Koston" <nick@home-assistant.io>
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2026 21:44:40 -1000
Subject: [PATCH] if we are going ot break it, string view

---
 esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp | 6 ++++--
 esphome/components/fan/automation.h       | 6 +++---
 esphome/components/fan/fan.cpp            | 6 +++---
 esphome/components/fan/fan.h              | 8 ++++++--
 4 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
index fb3548d117a..989536aca0d 100644
--- a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp
@@ -442,8 +442,10 @@ uint16_t APIConnection::try_send_fan_state(EntityBase *entity, APIConnection *co
   }
   if (traits.supports_direction())
     msg.direction = static_cast<enums::FanDirection>(fan->direction);
-  if (traits.supports_preset_modes() && fan->has_preset_mode())
-    msg.preset_mode = StringRef(fan->get_preset_mode());
+  if (traits.supports_preset_modes() && fan->has_preset_mode()) {
+    auto preset = fan->get_preset_mode();
+    msg.preset_mode = StringRef(preset.data(), preset.size());
+  }
   return fill_and_encode_entity_state(fan, msg, FanStateResponse::MESSAGE_TYPE, conn, remaining_size, is_single);
 }
 uint16_t APIConnection::try_send_fan_info(EntityBase *entity, APIConnection *conn, uint32_t remaining_size,
diff --git a/esphome/components/fan/automation.h b/esphome/components/fan/automation.h
index d6becb66fd0..8175caefeaf 100644
--- a/esphome/components/fan/automation.h
+++ b/esphome/components/fan/automation.h
@@ -212,18 +212,18 @@ class FanPresetSetTrigger : public Trigger<std::string> {
  public:
   FanPresetSetTrigger(Fan *state) {
     state->add_on_state_callback([this, state]() {
-      const auto *preset_mode = state->get_preset_mode();
+      auto preset_mode = state->get_preset_mode();
       auto should_trigger = preset_mode != this->last_preset_mode_;
       this->last_preset_mode_ = preset_mode;
       if (should_trigger) {
-        this->trigger(preset_mode);
+        this->trigger(std::string(preset_mode));
       }
     });
     this->last_preset_mode_ = state->get_preset_mode();
   }
 
  protected:
-  const char *last_preset_mode_{""};
+  std::string_view last_preset_mode_{};
 };
 
 }  // namespace fan
diff --git a/esphome/components/fan/fan.cpp b/esphome/components/fan/fan.cpp
index b56ed72d9ac..e24507678aa 100644
--- a/esphome/components/fan/fan.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/fan/fan.cpp
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ void FanCall::perform() {
   if (this->direction_.has_value()) {
     ESP_LOGD(TAG, "  Direction: %s", LOG_STR_ARG(fan_direction_to_string(*this->direction_)));
   }
-  if (this->has_preset_mode()) {
+  if (this->preset_mode_ != nullptr) {
     ESP_LOGD(TAG, "  Preset Mode: %s", this->preset_mode_);
   }
   this->parent_.control(*this);
@@ -201,8 +201,8 @@ void Fan::publish_state() {
   if (traits.supports_direction()) {
     ESP_LOGD(TAG, "  Direction: %s", LOG_STR_ARG(fan_direction_to_string(this->direction)));
   }
-  if (this->has_preset_mode()) {
-    ESP_LOGD(TAG, "  Preset Mode: %s", this->get_preset_mode());
+  if (this->preset_mode_ != nullptr) {
+    ESP_LOGD(TAG, "  Preset Mode: %s", this->preset_mode_);
   }
   this->state_callback_.call();
 #if defined(USE_FAN) && defined(USE_CONTROLLER_REGISTRY)
diff --git a/esphome/components/fan/fan.h b/esphome/components/fan/fan.h
index 17462c41080..eddcb7c2d3f 100644
--- a/esphome/components/fan/fan.h
+++ b/esphome/components/fan/fan.h
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #pragma once
 
+#include <string_view>
+
 #include "esphome/core/entity_base.h"
 #include "esphome/core/helpers.h"
 #include "esphome/core/log.h"
@@ -128,8 +130,10 @@ class Fan : public EntityBase {
   /// Set the restore mode of this fan.
   void set_restore_mode(FanRestoreMode restore_mode) { this->restore_mode_ = restore_mode; }
 
-  /// Get the current preset mode (returns pointer to string stored in traits, or empty string if not set)
-  const char *get_preset_mode() const { return this->preset_mode_ != nullptr ? this->preset_mode_ : ""; }
+  /// Get the current preset mode (returns view of string stored in traits, or empty view if not set)
+  std::string_view get_preset_mode() const {
+    return this->preset_mode_ != nullptr ? std::string_view(this->preset_mode_) : std::string_view();
+  }
 
   /// Check if a preset mode is currently active
   bool has_preset_mode() const { return this->preset_mode_ != nullptr; }