Rule Conditions

The when block of a rule evaluates to true or false. When it matches, the rule's apply block fires. When it stops matching, the patch is removed.

All Conditions at a Glance

Condition type	Key	What it checks
Entity state	`entity`	Entity state against a comparison
Entity attribute	`entity_attr`	Named entity attribute against a comparison
Map range	`map_range_cond`	Entity state linearly mapped to a new scale, then compared
Time range	`time_between`	Current time falls within a `"HH:MM-HH:MM"` window
Day of week	`weekday_in`	Current day is in a list
Sun elevation	`sun_elevation`	Sun is `above`/`below` a degree threshold
Random chance	`random_chance`	Evaluates true with a given probability (0.0–1.0)
JavaScript	`condition` / `javascript` / `js`	Arbitrary JS expression: returns truthy
Jinja2	`condition` / `jinja2`	Arbitrary HA Jinja2 template: returns truthy
All of (AND)	`all`	Every sub-condition must be true
Any of (OR)	`any`	At least one sub-condition must be true
Not (NOT)	`not`	Inverts a single sub-condition

Logical Operators

Combine any conditions with all, any, and not. They nest arbitrarily.

`all`: AND

yaml

when:
  all:
    - entity: binary_sensor.motion
      state: "on"
    - entity: input_boolean.night_mode
      state: "on"

Shorthand: a bare list at the top level is treated as all:

yaml

when:
  - entity: binary_sensor.motion
    state: "on"
  - entity: input_boolean.night_mode
    state: "on"

`any`: OR

yaml

when:
  any:
    - entity: binary_sensor.door_front
      state: "on"
    - entity: binary_sensor.door_back
      state: "on"

`not`: NOT

yaml

when:
  not:
    entity: input_boolean.away_mode
    state: "on"

Nested logic

yaml

when:
  all:
    - entity: binary_sensor.motion
      state: "on"
    - any:
        - time_between: "08:00-12:00"
        - time_between: "14:00-20:00"
    - not:
        entity: input_boolean.guest_mode
        state: "on"

Entity Conditions

State check

yaml

when:
  entity: light.living_room
  state: "on"           # alias for 'equals'

Attribute check

yaml

when:
  entity_attr: light.living_room
  attribute: brightness
  above: 128

Comparison operators

All operators work on both entity state and entity_attr values.

Operator	Type	Example	Description
`state`	string	`state: "on"`	Exact match (alias for `equals`)
`equals`	string / number	`equals: "on"`	Exact equality (`==`)
`not_equals`	string / number	`not_equals: "off"`	Not equal (`!=`)
`above`	number	`above: 25`	Numeric greater-than (`>`)
`at_least`	number	`at_least: 25`	Numeric greater-than-or-equal (`>=`)
`below`	number	`below: 90`	Numeric less-than (`<`)
`at_most`	number	`at_most: 90`	Numeric less-than-or-equal (`<=`)
`in`	list	`in: ["on", "idle"]`	State is in list
`not_in`	list	`not_in: ["off", "unavailable"]`	State is not in list
`regex`	string	`regex: "^heat"`	State matches regular expression

The 4 numeric operators AND-combine when more than one is present on the same condition, so a range is expressed by combining two of them:

yaml

# Exclusive range: 18 < value < 26
when:
  entity: sensor.temperature
  above: 18
  below: 26

# Inclusive range: 18 <= value <= 26
when:
  entity: sensor.temperature
  at_least: 18
  at_most: 26

The condition-group editor's operator dropdown offers these as ready-made "between" / "between (exclusive)" options; pick one and it fills in both bound fields for you.

Examples

yaml

# Exact state match
when:
  entity: input_select.mode
  equals: "night"

# Not off or unavailable
when:
  entity: light.desk
  not_in: ["off", "unavailable"]

# Attribute threshold
when:
  entity_attr: light.living_room
  attribute: brightness
  above: 200

# Regex - match any "heating*" state
when:
  entity: climate.lounge
  regex: "^heat"

Time Conditions

Time range

yaml

when:
  time_between: "22:00-06:00"   # wraps past midnight automatically

Reactivity

The Rules Engine is reactive: it only re-evaluates when a watched entity changes. Add entity: sensor.time to purely time-based rules so they re-evaluate every minute.

yaml

when:
  all:
    - entity: sensor.time      # triggers re-evaluation every minute
    - time_between: "22:00-06:00"

Day of week

yaml

when:
  weekday_in: [mon, tue, wed, thu, fri]

Valid values: mon, tue, wed, thu, fri, sat, sun.

Sun elevation

yaml

# Night - sun below horizon
when:
  sun_elevation:
    below: 0

# Golden hour - sun low but above horizon
when:
  sun_elevation:
    above: 0
    below: 8

Map Range Condition

Linearly maps an entity's numeric state from one scale to another, then applies a comparison against the mapped value. Useful when the raw entity value is in a different unit than the threshold you want to test.

yaml

when:
  map_range_cond:
    entity: sensor.brightness_raw   # numeric state to read
    input:  [0, 1000]               # raw value range
    output: [0, 100]                # mapped value range
    above: 70                       # compare mapped value - here: > 70%

Property	Required	Description
`entity`	✅	Entity whose `state` is mapped
`input`	✅	`[min, max]`: expected range of the raw entity value
`output`	✅	`[min, max]`: range the value is mapped into
`clamp`	❌	Clamp input to range before mapping (default `true`)
`above` / `below` / `equals` …	✅ (one)	Comparison applied to the mapped value

Random Chance

Evaluates to true with the given probability each time the rule re-evaluates. Value is a float 0.0–1.0.

yaml

when:
  random_chance: 0.25    # true roughly 25% of the time

Useful for stochastic alert animations or randomised accent cycling. Because rules re-evaluate on entity changes, pair with a frequently-changing entity (e.g. sensor.time) to get periodic random evaluations.

Template Conditions

For logic that doesn't fit a built-in condition, write JavaScript or Jinja2 directly.

JavaScript

Use [[[ ]]] syntax. Return any truthy value to match. The variables entity, hass, and states are available. The rule re-evaluates whenever an entity read as states['domain.object'] changes; entities read any other way (a computed id, for example) don't trigger it.

yaml

when:
  condition: "[[[return states['sensor.temperature'].state > 25]]]"

Multi-line (YAML block scalar):

yaml

when:
  condition: |
    [[[
      const temp = parseFloat(states['sensor.temperature'].state);
      const humid = parseFloat(states['sensor.humidity'].state);
      return temp > 24 && humid > 60;
    ]]]

Explicit form (equivalent):

yaml

when:
  javascript: "return states['light.bedroom'].state === 'on'"

Available variables:

Variable	Description
`entity`	The card's bound entity object (if any)
`hass`	Full Home Assistant object
`states`	`hass.states`: shorthand for all entity states

Jinja2

Use {{ }} syntax. The template is evaluated by Home Assistant's engine. Return any truthy value.

yaml

when:
  condition: "{{ states('sensor.temperature') | float > 25 }}"

Explicit form:

yaml

when:
  jinja2: "{{ states('climate.lounge') == 'heat' }}"

Choosing between JS and Jinja2

	JavaScript	Jinja2
Evaluated by	Browser	Home Assistant server
Latency	Synchronous, instant	Async round-trip
Access to HA functions	❌ (use `states` directly)	✅ (`is_state`, `state_attr`, filters…)
Best for	Fast logic, math, multi-entity	HA-native functions, formatted values

Invalid and Reserved Conditions

Unknown key (a typo such as entitty:): the condition never matches.
Plain-string condition: (no [[[ ]]] or {{ }}, e.g. condition: light.desk is on): a warning is logged in the browser console and the condition never matches. Wrap it as JavaScript or Jinja2 instead.
flag and perf_metric are reserved for development tooling. Nothing provides their values today, so they never match (a flag with is: false always matches). Don't use them in dashboards.

Combining Conditions: Full Example

yaml

rules:
  - id: comfort-alert
    when:
      all:
        # Temperature out of range
        - entity: sensor.temperature
          above: 26
        # Not already in alert mode
        - not:
            entity: input_boolean.alert_active
            state: "on"
        # Only during occupied hours
        - any:
            - time_between: "07:00-23:00"
            - entity: binary_sensor.presence
              state: "on"
    apply:
      overlays:
        tag:status:
          style:
            color: "{theme:colors.alert.yellow}"

Rule Conditions ​

All Conditions at a Glance ​

Logical Operators ​

all: AND ​

any: OR ​

not: NOT ​

Nested logic ​

Entity Conditions ​

State check ​

Attribute check ​

Comparison operators ​

Examples ​

Time Conditions ​

Time range ​

Day of week ​

Sun elevation ​

Map Range Condition ​

Random Chance ​

Template Conditions ​

JavaScript ​

Jinja2 ​

Choosing between JS and Jinja2 ​

Invalid and Reserved Conditions ​

Combining Conditions: Full Example ​

See Also ​

Rule Conditions

All Conditions at a Glance

Logical Operators

`all`: AND

`any`: OR

`not`: NOT

Nested logic

Entity Conditions

State check

Attribute check

Comparison operators

Examples

Time Conditions

Time range

Day of week

Sun elevation

Map Range Condition

Random Chance

Template Conditions

JavaScript

Jinja2

Choosing between JS and Jinja2

Invalid and Reserved Conditions

Combining Conditions: Full Example

See Also