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.

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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	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

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Logical Operators

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

all — AND

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:

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

any — OR

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

not — NOT

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

Nested logic

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"

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Entity Conditions

State check

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

Attribute check

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 (>)
below	number	below: 90	Numeric less-than (<)
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

above and below can be combined in a single condition to express a range:

when:
  entity: sensor.temperature
  above: 18
  below: 26

Examples

# 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"

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Time Conditions

Time range

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.

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

Day of week

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

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

Sun elevation

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

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

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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.

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

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Random Chance

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

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.

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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.

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

Multi-line (YAML block scalar):

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

Explicit form (equivalent):

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.

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

Explicit form:

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

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Combining Conditions — Full Example

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}"

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See Also

• Rules Engine — rule structure, apply block, priority, examples
• Templates — template syntax used outside of rules