esphome-docs/automations/actions.rst

.. _actions-triggers:

Actions, Triggers, Conditions
=============================

.. seo::
    :description: Guide for building automations in ESPHome
    :image: auto-fix.svg

ESPHome *actions* are how we make an ESPHome device *do something.*

Let's begin with an example. Suppose you have a configuration file which contains:

.. code-block:: yaml

    switch:
      - platform: gpio
        pin: GPIOXX
        name: "Living Room Dehumidifier"

    binary_sensor:
      - platform: gpio
        pin: GPIOXX
        name: "Living Room Dehumidifier Toggle Button"

With this file you can already perform some basic tasks. You can control the ON/OFF state of the dehumidifier in your
living room from Home Assistant's front-end. But in many cases, controlling everything strictly from the frontend is
not desirable. That's why you've also installed a simple push button next to the dehumidifier wired to pin GPIOXX.
A simple push of this button should toggle the state of the dehumidifier.

You *could* write an automation to do this task in Home Assistant's automation engine, but IoT devices should not
depend on network connections to perform their jobs -- especially not for something as simple as switching on/off a
dehumidifier.

With ESPHome's automation engine, you can define automations using a syntax that is (hopefully) about as easy to use
as Home Assistant's. For example, this configuration would achieve your desired behavior for the dehumidifier:

.. code-block:: yaml

    switch:
      - platform: gpio
        pin: GPIOXX
        name: "Living Room Dehumidifier"
        id: dehumidifier1

    binary_sensor:
      - platform: gpio
        pin: GPIOXX
        name: "Living Room Dehumidifier Toggle Button"
        on_press:
          then:
            - switch.toggle: dehumidifier1

Let's step through what's happening here:

.. code-block:: yaml

    switch:
       - platform: gpio
         # ...
         id: dehumidifier1

First, we have to give the dehumidifier ``switch`` an :ref:`config-id` so that we can refer to it inside of our
automation.

.. _actions-trigger:

Triggers
--------

.. code-block:: yaml

    binary_sensor:
      - platform: gpio
        # ...
        on_press:

We now attach a special attribute ``on_press`` to the binary sensor (which represents the button). This part is called
a "trigger". In this example, the *automation* which follows on the next few lines will execute whenever someone
*begins* to press the button. Note the terminology follows what you would call these events on mouse buttons. A *press*
happens when you begin pressing the button. There are also other triggers like ``on_release``, ``on_click`` or
``on_double_click`` available.

.. code-block:: yaml

    # ...
    on_press:
      then:
        - switch.toggle: dehumidifier1

.. _actions-action:

Actions
-------

Now comes the actual automation block. With ``then``, you tell ESPHome what should happen when the press happens.
Within this block, you can define several "actions" that will be executed sequentially. For example, ``switch.toggle``
and the line after that form an action. Each action is separated by a dash and multiple actions can be executed in
sequence simply by adding another ``-`` like so:

.. code-block:: yaml

    # ...
    on_press:
      then:
        - switch.toggle: dehumidifier1
        - delay: 2s
        - switch.toggle: dehumidifier1

With this automation, a press of the push button would cause the dehumidifier to turn on/off for 2 seconds, and then
cycle back to its original state. You can also have a single trigger with multiple automations:

.. code-block:: yaml

    # ...
    on_press:
      - then:
          - switch.toggle: dehumidifier1
      - then:
          - light.toggle: dehumidifier_indicator_light

    # Same as:
    on_press:
      then:
        - switch.toggle: dehumidifier1
        - light.toggle: dehumidifier_indicator_light


As a final example, let's make our dehumidifier "smart". Let's make it turn on automatically when
the humidity reported by a sensor is above 65% and make it turn off again when it falls below 50%:

.. code-block:: yaml

    sensor:
      - platform: dht
        humidity:
          name: "Living Room Humidity"
          on_value_range:
            - above: 65.0
              then:
                - switch.turn_on: dehumidifier1
            - below: 50.0
              then:
                - switch.turn_off: dehumidifier1
        temperature:
          name: "Living Room Temperature"

That's a lot of indentation. 😉

``on_value_range`` is a special trigger for sensors that triggers when the value of the sensor is within/above/below
the specified range. In the first example, this range is defined as "any value above or including 65.0" and the second
range refers to any (humidity) value 50% or below.

Finally, for the cases where the "pure" YAML automations just don't quite reach far enough, ESPHome has another
extremely powerful tool to offer: :doc:`templates`.

Now that concludes the introduction to actions in ESPHome. They're a powerful tool to automate almost everything on
your device with an easy-to-use syntax. What follows below is an index of common actions which you're sure to find
useful (and even essential) for building all sorts of automations.

.. _common-actions:

Common Actions
--------------

.. _delay_action:

``delay`` Action
****************

This action delays the execution of the next action in the action list by a specified
time period.

.. code-block:: yaml

    on_...:
      then:
        - switch.turn_on: relay_1
        - delay: 2s
        - switch.turn_off: relay_1
        # Templated, waits for 1s (1000ms) only if a reed switch is active
        - delay: !lambda "if (id(reed_switch).state) return 1000; else return 0;"

.. note::

    This is a "smart" asynchronous delay - other code will still run in the background while
    the delay is happening. When using a lambda call, you should return the delay value in milliseconds.

.. _if_action:

``if`` Action
*************

This action first evaluated a certain condition (``if:``) and then either
executes the ``then:`` branch or the ``else:`` branch depending on the output of the condition.

After the chosen branch (``then`` or ``else``) is done with execution, the next action is performed.

For example below you can see an automation that checks if a sensor value is below 30 and if so
turns on a light for 5 seconds. Otherwise, the light is turned off immediately.

.. code-block:: yaml

    on_...:
      then:
        - if:
            condition:
              lambda: 'return id(some_sensor).state < 30;'
            then:
              - logger.log: "The sensor value is below 30!"
              - light.turn_on: my_light
              - delay: 5s
            else:
              - logger.log: "The sensor value is above 30!"
        - light.turn_off: my_light


Configuration variables:

- **condition** (**Required**, :ref:`Condition <config-condition>`): The condition to check to determine which branch to take.
- **then** (*Optional*, :ref:`Action <config-action>`): The action to perform if the condition evaluates to true.
  Defaults to doing nothing.
- **else** (*Optional*, :ref:`Action <config-action>`): The action to perform if the condition evaluates to false.
  Defaults to doing nothing.

.. _lambda_action:

``lambda`` Action
*****************

This action executes an arbitrary piece of C++ code (see :ref:`Lambda <config-lambda>`).

.. code-block:: yaml

    on_...:
      then:
        - lambda: |-
            id(some_binary_sensor).publish_state(false);

.. _repeat_action:

``repeat`` Action
*****************

This action allows you to repeat a block a given number of times.
For example, the automation below will flash the light five times.

.. code-block:: yaml

    on_...:
      - repeat:
          count: 5
          then:
            - light.turn_on: some_light
            - delay: 1s
            - light.turn_off: some_light
            - delay: 10s

Configuration variables:

- **count** (**Required**, int): The number of times the action should be repeated.  The counter is available to lambdas using the reserved word "iteration".
- **then** (**Required**, :ref:`Action <config-action>`): The action to repeat.

.. _wait_until_action:

``wait_until`` Action
*********************

This action allows your automations to wait until a condition evaluates to true. (So this is just
a shorthand way of writing a ``while`` action with an empty ``then`` block.)

.. code-block:: yaml

    # In a trigger:
    on_...:
      - logger.log: "Waiting for binary sensor"
      - wait_until:
          binary_sensor.is_on: some_binary_sensor
      - logger.log: "Binary sensor is ready"

If you want to use a timeout, the term "condition" is required:

.. code-block:: yaml

    # In a trigger:
    on_...:
      - logger.log: "Waiting for binary sensor"
      - wait_until:
          condition:
            binary_sensor.is_on: some_binary_sensor
          timeout: 8s
      - logger.log: "Binary sensor might be ready"


Configuration variables:

- **condition** (**Required**, :ref:`Condition <config-condition>`): The condition to wait to become true.
- **timeout** (*Optional*, :ref:`config-time`): Time to wait before timing out. Defaults to never timing out.

.. _while_action:

``while`` Action
****************

This action is similar to the :ref:`if <if_action>` Action. The ``while`` action loops
through a block as long as the given condition is true.

.. code-block:: yaml

    # In a trigger:
    on_...:
      - while:
          condition:
            binary_sensor.is_on: some_binary_sensor
          then:
          - logger.log: "Still executing"
          - light.toggle: some_light
          - delay: 5s

Configuration variables:

- **condition** (**Required**, :ref:`Condition <config-condition>`): The condition to check to determine whether or not to execute.
- **then** (**Required**, :ref:`Action <config-action>`): The action to perform until the condition evaluates to false.

.. _component-update_action:

``component.update`` Action
***************************

Using this action you can manually call the ``update()`` method of a component.

Please note that this only works with some component types and others will result in a
compile error.

.. code-block:: yaml

    on_...:
      then:
        - component.update: my_component

        # The same as:
        - lambda: 'id(my_component).update();'

.. _component-suspend_action:

``component.suspend`` Action
****************************

Using this action you can manually call the ``stop_poller()`` method of a component.

After this action the component will stop being refreshed.

While the poller is suspendend, it's still possible to trigger on-demand updates by
using :ref:`component.update <component-update_action>`

Please note that this only works with PollingComponent types and others will result in a
compile error.

.. code-block:: yaml

    on_...:
      then:
        - component.suspend: my_component

        # The same as:
        - lambda: 'id(my_component).stop_poller();'

.. _component-resume_action:

``component.resume`` Action
***************************

Using this action you can manually call the ``start_poller()`` method of a component.

After this action the component will refresh at the original update_interval rate

This will allow the component to resume automatic update at the defined interval.

This action also allows to change the update interval, calling it without suspend,
replace the poller directly.

Please note that this only works with PollingComponent types and others will result in a
compile error.

.. code-block:: yaml

    on_...:
      then:
        - component.resume: my_component

        # The same as:
        - lambda: 'id(my_component).start_poller();'

    # Change the poller interval
    on_...:
      then:
        - component.resume:
            id: my_component
            update_interval: 15s

.. _common_conditions:

Common Conditions
-----------------

"Conditions" provide a way for your device to take an action only when a specific (set of) condition(s) is satisfied.

.. _and_condition:
.. _or_condition:
.. _xor_condition:
.. _not_condition:

``and`` / ``or`` / ``xor`` / ``not`` Condition
**********************************************

Check a combination of conditions

.. code-block:: yaml

    on_...:
      then:
        - if:
            condition:
              # Same syntax for `and` as well as `xor` conditions
              or:
                - binary_sensor.is_on: some_binary_sensor
                - binary_sensor.is_on: other_binary_sensor
            # ...

        - if:
            condition:
              not:
                binary_sensor.is_off: some_binary_sensor

.. _for_condition:

``for`` Condition
*****************

Allows you to check if a given condition has been true for at least a given amount of time.

.. code-block:: yaml

    on_...:
      if:
        condition:
          for:
            time: 5min
            condition:
              api.connected:
        then:
          - logger.log: API has stayed connected for at least 5 minutes!

Configuration variables:

- **time** (**Required**, :ref:`templatable <config-templatable>`, :ref:`config-time`):
  The time for which the condition has to have been true.
- **condition** (**Required**, :ref:`condition<config-condition>`): The condition to check.

.. _lambda_condition:

``lambda`` Condition
********************

This condition performs an arbitrary piece of C++ code (see :ref:`Lambda <config-lambda>`)
and can be used to create conditional flow in actions.

.. code-block:: yaml

    on_...:
      then:
        - if:
            condition:
              # Should return either true or false
              lambda: |-
                return id(some_sensor).state < 30;
            # ...

.. _config-action:

All Actions
-----------

*See the respective component's page(s) for more detail.*

See also: :ref:`common-actions`.

.. include:: all_actions.rst

.. _config-condition:

All Conditions
--------------

*See the respective component's page(s) for more detail.*

See also: :ref:`common_conditions`.

.. include:: all_conditions.rst

.. _tips-and-tricks:

Tips and Tricks
---------------

.. _automation-networkless:

Do Automations Work Without a Network Connection
************************************************

This is a common question and the answer is **YES!** All automations you define in ESPHome are executed on the
microcontroller itself and will continue to work even if the Wi-Fi network is down or the MQTT server is not reachable.

There is one caveat though: ESPHome will automatically reboot periodically if no connection is made to its API. This
helps in the event that there is an issue in the device's network stack preventing it from being reachable on the
network. You can adjust this behavior (or even disable automatic rebooting) using the ``reboot_timeout`` option in any
of the following components:

- :doc:`/components/wifi`
- :doc:`/components/api`
- :doc:`/components/mqtt`

Beware, however, that disabling the reboot timeout(s) effectively disables the reboot watchdog, so you will need to
power-cycle the device if it proves to be/remain unreachable on the network.

.. _timers-timeouts:

Timers and Timeouts
*******************

While ESPHome does not provide a construction for timers, you can easily implement them by
combining ``script`` and ``delay``. You can have an absolute timeout or sliding timeout by
using script modes ``single`` and ``restart`` respectively.

.. code-block:: yaml

    script:
      - id: hallway_light_script
        mode: restart     # Light will be kept on during 1 minute since
                          # the latest time the script is executed
        then:
          - light.turn_on: hallway_light
          - delay: 1 min
          - light.turn_off: hallway_light

    ...
      on_...:           # can be called from different wall switches
        - script.execute: hallway_light_script

Sometimes you'll also need a timer which does not perform any action; in this case, you can use a single ``delay``
action and then (in your automation) use the ``script.is_running`` condition to know if your "timer" is active or not.

See Also
--------

- :doc:`index`
- :doc:`templates`
- :ghedit:`Edit`