From ad5752f68e4c543ae57e509ffec67c0c964bbca1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "J. Nick Koston" <nick@home-assistant.io>
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2025 13:25:31 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] give people time to migrate since we can

---
 esphome/components/select/select.cpp |  1 +
 esphome/components/select/select.h   | 19 +++++++++++++++----
 2 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/esphome/components/select/select.cpp b/esphome/components/select/select.cpp
index 0c05a7b3bf..e495ab4a44 100644
--- a/esphome/components/select/select.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/select/select.cpp
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ void Select::publish_state(size_t index) {
   const char *option = this->option_at(index);
   this->set_has_state(true);
   this->active_index_ = index;
+  this->state = option;  // Update deprecated member for backward compatibility
   ESP_LOGD(TAG, "'%s': Sending state %s (index %zu)", this->get_name().c_str(), option, index);
   // Callback signature requires std::string, create temporary for compatibility
   this->state_callback_.call(std::string(option), index);
diff --git a/esphome/components/select/select.h b/esphome/components/select/select.h
index 801074a4d5..26e5c6dbde 100644
--- a/esphome/components/select/select.h
+++ b/esphome/components/select/select.h
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ class Select : public EntityBase {
  public:
   SelectTraits traits;
 
+  /// @deprecated Use current_option() instead. This member will be removed in a future release.
+  __attribute__((deprecated("Use current_option() instead of .state"))) std::string state{};
+
   void publish_state(const std::string &state);
   void publish_state(const char *state);
   void publish_state(size_t index);
@@ -82,11 +85,14 @@ class Select : public EntityBase {
 
   size_t active_index_{0};
 
-  /** Set the value of the select, this is a virtual method that each select integration must implement.
+  /** Set the value of the select, this is a virtual method that each select integration can implement.
    *
    * This method is called by control(size_t) when not overridden, or directly by external code.
-   * All existing integrations implement this method. New integrations can optionally override
-   * control(size_t) instead to work with indices directly and avoid string conversions.
+   * Integrations can either:
+   * 1. Override this method to handle string-based control (traditional approach)
+   * 2. Override control(size_t) instead to work with indices directly (recommended)
+   *
+   * Default implementation converts to index and calls control(size_t).
    *
    * Delegation chain:
    * - SelectCall::perform() → control(size_t) → [if not overridden] → control(string)
@@ -94,7 +100,12 @@ class Select : public EntityBase {
    *
    * @param value The value as validated by the SelectCall.
    */
-  virtual void control(const std::string &value) = 0;
+  virtual void control(const std::string &value) {
+    auto index = this->index_of(value);
+    if (index.has_value()) {
+      this->control(index.value());
+    }
+  }
 
   CallbackManager<void(std::string, size_t)> state_callback_;
 };