tweak

esphome/components/api/api.proto

@@ -824,7 +824,7 @@ message HomeAssistantStateResponse {
   option (ifdef) = "USE_API_HOMEASSISTANT_STATES";
 
   string entity_id = 1;
-  string state = 2 [(null_terminate) = true];
+  string state = 2;
   string attribute = 3;
 }
 
@@ -882,7 +882,7 @@ message ExecuteServiceArgument {
   bool bool_ = 1;
   int32 legacy_int = 2;
   float float_ = 3;
-  string string_ = 4 [(null_terminate) = true];
+  string string_ = 4;
   // ESPHome 1.14 (api v1.3) make int a signed value
   sint32 int_ = 5;
   repeated bool bool_array = 6 [packed=false, (fixed_vector) = true];

esphome/components/api/api_connection.cpp

@@ -1702,6 +1702,13 @@ void APIConnection::on_home_assistant_state_response(const HomeAssistantStateRes
     return;
   }
 
+  // Null-terminate state in-place for safe c_str() usage (e.g., parse_number in callbacks).
+  // Safe: decode is complete, byte after string data was already consumed during parse,
+  // and frame helpers reserve RX_BUF_NULL_TERMINATOR extra byte in rx_buf_.
+  if (!msg.state.empty()) {
+    const_cast<char *>(msg.state.c_str())[msg.state.size()] = '\0';
+  }
+
   for (auto &it : this->parent_->get_state_subs()) {
     if (msg.entity_id != it.entity_id) {
       continue;
@@ -1713,13 +1720,20 @@ void APIConnection::on_home_assistant_state_response(const HomeAssistantStateRes
       continue;
     }
 
-    // msg.state is already null-terminated in-place after protobuf decode
     it.callback(msg.state);
   }
 }
 #endif
 #ifdef USE_API_USER_DEFINED_ACTIONS
 void APIConnection::on_execute_service_request(const ExecuteServiceRequest &msg) {
+  // Null-terminate string args in-place for safe c_str() usage in YAML service triggers.
+  // Safe: full ExecuteServiceRequest decode is complete, all bytes in rx_buf_ consumed,
+  // and frame helpers reserve RX_BUF_NULL_TERMINATOR extra byte for the last field.
+  for (auto &arg : msg.args) {
+    if (!arg.string_.empty()) {
+      const_cast<char *>(arg.string_.c_str())[arg.string_.size()] = '\0';
+    }
+  }
   bool found = false;
 #ifdef USE_API_USER_DEFINED_ACTION_RESPONSES
   // Register the call and get a unique server-generated action_call_id

esphome/components/api/api_options.proto

@@ -90,13 +90,4 @@ extend google.protobuf.FieldOptions {
     //   - uint16_t <field>_length_{0};
     //   - uint16_t <field>_count_{0};
     optional bool packed_buffer = 50015 [default=false];
-
-    // null_terminate: Write a null byte after string data in the decode buffer.
-    // When set on a string field in a SOURCE_CLIENT (decodable) message, the
-    // generated decode() override writes '\0' at data[length] after decoding.
-    // This makes the StringRef safe for c_str() usage without copying.
-    // Safe because: (1) frame helpers reserve +1 byte in rx_buf_, and
-    // (2) the overwritten byte was already consumed during decode.
-    // Only mark fields that actually need null-terminated access.
-    optional bool null_terminate = 50016 [default=false];
 }

esphome/components/api/api_pb2.cpp

@@ -953,12 +953,6 @@ bool HomeAssistantStateResponse::decode_length(uint32_t field_id, ProtoLengthDel
   }
   return true;
 }
-void HomeAssistantStateResponse::decode(const uint8_t *buffer, size_t length) {
-  ProtoDecodableMessage::decode(buffer, length);
-  if (!this->state.empty()) {
-    const_cast<char *>(this->state.c_str())[this->state.size()] = '\0';
-  }
-}
 #endif
 bool GetTimeResponse::decode_length(uint32_t field_id, ProtoLengthDelimited value) {
   switch (field_id) {
@@ -1063,9 +1057,6 @@ void ExecuteServiceArgument::decode(const uint8_t *buffer, size_t length) {
   uint32_t count_string_array = ProtoDecodableMessage::count_repeated_field(buffer, length, 9);
   this->string_array.init(count_string_array);
   ProtoDecodableMessage::decode(buffer, length);
-  if (!this->string_.empty()) {
-    const_cast<char *>(this->string_.c_str())[this->string_.size()] = '\0';
-  }
 }
 bool ExecuteServiceRequest::decode_varint(uint32_t field_id, ProtoVarInt value) {
   switch (field_id) {

esphome/components/api/api_pb2.h

@@ -1095,7 +1095,6 @@ class HomeAssistantStateResponse final : public ProtoDecodableMessage {
   StringRef entity_id{};
   StringRef state{};
   StringRef attribute{};
-  void decode(const uint8_t *buffer, size_t length) override;
 #ifdef HAS_PROTO_MESSAGE_DUMP
   const char *dump_to(DumpBuffer &out) const override;
 #endif

script/api_protobuf/api_protobuf.py

@@ -2028,8 +2028,6 @@ def build_message_type(
 
     # Collect fixed_vector fields for custom decode generation
     fixed_vector_fields = []
-    # Collect fields with (null_terminate) = true option
-    null_terminate_fields = []
 
     for field in desc.field:
         # Skip deprecated fields completely
@@ -2072,10 +2070,6 @@ def build_message_type(
 
         ti = create_field_type_info(field, needs_decode, needs_encode)
 
-        # Collect fields with (null_terminate) = true for post-decode null-termination
-        if needs_decode and get_field_opt(field, pb.null_terminate, False):
-            null_terminate_fields.append(ti.field_name)
-
         # Skip field declarations for fields that are in the base class
         # but include their encode/decode logic
         if field.name not in common_field_names:
@@ -2182,8 +2176,8 @@ def build_message_type(
         prot = "bool decode_64bit(uint32_t field_id, Proto64Bit value) override;"
         protected_content.insert(0, prot)
 
-    # Generate custom decode() override for messages with FixedVector or null_terminate fields
-    if fixed_vector_fields or null_terminate_fields:
+    # Generate custom decode() override for messages with FixedVector fields
+    if fixed_vector_fields:
         # Generate the decode() implementation in cpp
         o = f"void {desc.name}::decode(const uint8_t *buffer, size_t length) {{\n"
         # Count and init each FixedVector field
@@ -2192,13 +2186,6 @@ def build_message_type(
             o += f"  this->{field_name}.init(count_{field_name});\n"
         # Call parent decode to populate the fields
         o += "  ProtoDecodableMessage::decode(buffer, length);\n"
-        # Null-terminate fields marked with (null_terminate) = true in-place.
-        # Safe: decode is complete, byte after string was already parsed (next field tag)
-        # or is the +1 reserved byte at end of rx_buf_.
-        for field_name in null_terminate_fields:
-            o += f"  if (!this->{field_name}.empty()) {{\n"
-            o += f"    const_cast<char *>(this->{field_name}.c_str())[this->{field_name}.size()] = '\\0';\n"
-            o += "  }\n"
         o += "}\n"
         cpp += o
         # Generate the decode() declaration in header (public method)