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Home Assistant does not continuously check whether an automation condition is true. An automation starts when a trigger fires: for example, when an entity changes, an event arrives, or a scheduled time is reached. To check a sensor on a recurring basis, use a time_pattern trigger and test the sensor with a condition. The distinction matters: minutes: "/5" schedules a check every five minutes, while minutes: 5 means five minutes past each hour.
Does Home Assistant keep polling an automation condition?
No. A trigger starts an automation at a particular moment; a condition is checked only after the automation has started. If a sensor stays above a threshold, that fact alone does not keep starting the automation. Home Assistant’s Automation triggers and Automation conditions documentation describes these as separate jobs: triggers react to moments, while conditions check what is true when a run begins.
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Think of a trigger as the doorbell and a condition as the question you ask after answering it. A door-open trigger can start an automation when a door changes from closed to open. It does not keep firing just because the door remains open. Likewise, a numeric-state trigger responds when a value crosses a threshold, not at every moment the value remains on one side of it.
This distinction explains many “it ran once and stopped” reports. The automation may be working as configured: its trigger fired on the relevant transition, and there was no later transition to trigger another run. If the desired behavior is a recurring check, add a clock-based trigger instead of expecting a condition to act like a timer.
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How do I run an automation every five minutes?
Use a time_pattern trigger with a slash-prefixed interval, then test the current sensor value in a condition. For example, the automation below checks the sensor on five-minute clock intervals and sends a persistent notification only when the value is above 25.
triggers:
- trigger: time_pattern
minutes: "/5"
conditions:
- condition: numeric_state
entity_id: sensor.example_temperature
above: 25
actions:
- action: persistent_notification.create
data:
title: Temperature check
message: The sensor is above 25.Replace sensor.example_temperature with the actual entity ID and adjust the threshold and action for your setup. The example uses the plural triggers, conditions, and actions structure shown in current-style automation YAML; trigger names and interface labels can vary by Home Assistant release, so check the syntax for the version you run.
The slash is significant. In a time-pattern trigger, minutes: "/5" means every fifth minute—at minute 0, 5, 10, and so on. By contrast, minutes: 5 means minute five of each hour, not every five minutes. Home Assistant’s Time pattern documentation describes this trigger as a way to run an automation on a repeating schedule.
Because this pattern is clock-scheduled, it checks at recurring minute marks rather than measuring five minutes from the moment you saved the automation. Each scheduled run starts the automation; the condition then evaluates the sensor’s current state. If the condition is false, the actions gated by that condition do not proceed.
What is the difference between an event trigger and a state trigger?
A state trigger starts from a change to an entity’s state; an event trigger starts when a matching message is announced on Home Assistant’s event bus. Choose the trigger that corresponds to what actually signals the situation you care about, rather than treating the two as interchangeable ways to check current state.
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| Trigger choice | What starts the run | Recurring or edge-based? | Where to test current state | Data available to templates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State or numeric-state trigger | An entity changes, or a numeric value crosses a threshold | Change-based; not a repeating check while a value remains true | In the trigger for a relevant transition, or in a condition for a check at run time | Depends on trigger and entity |
| Event trigger | A chosen event type is announced on the event bus | When the matching event occurs | Use a condition if the automation must also check current state | Depends on the event |
| Time-pattern trigger | A matching clock interval | Recurring schedule | In a condition after each scheduled start | Schedule information is available through the trigger |
| Webhook trigger | An HTTP request reaches the webhook endpoint | When a request arrives | Use a condition if current Home Assistant state must also be checked | JSON, form, or query data, depending on the request |
Home Assistant’s Events documentation describes events as messages announcing that something happened. An event trigger is useful when an integration or service communicates the meaningful occurrence that way. For common device changes, a state or device trigger is generally more direct to configure; other available options include numeric-state, template, and integration-specific triggers. Check the trigger types supported by the integration and your installed version.
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A state-oriented trigger is usually the natural fit when the thing you care about is an entity changing or crossing a threshold. An event trigger is the better fit when the meaningful signal is an event-bus message. In either case, a condition does not start the automation: it filters what the automation does after a trigger starts it.
Why did my numeric-state automation fire once and then stop?
A numeric-state trigger is about crossing into a threshold range, not repeatedly being inside it. If the value rises above the threshold and stays there, it has not crossed into that range again, so there is no new crossing to trigger another run.
For a one-time reaction to a threshold crossing, use the numeric-state trigger and let the transition start the automation. If you want recurring behavior while the value remains high, use a time-pattern trigger and a numeric-state condition to recheck the current value on each scheduled run. That changes the logic from “react when it crosses” to “check whether it is still above the threshold at each scheduled time.”
It is also useful to decide what “once” should mean for the action. A crossing trigger suits actions tied to the moment a value enters a range. A recurring check suits actions that need periodic reconsideration while a condition remains true. Choosing the right trigger makes the automation’s behavior predictable; adding repeated actions to a transition-only trigger will not make it poll.
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Should I use polling or an event-based trigger?
Use an event or entity-change trigger when the integration can tell Home Assistant that something happened and that occurrence is what matters. Use a scheduled automation check when you specifically need to reevaluate a condition at regular intervals. The two approaches operate differently, and scheduled automation checks are not equivalent to an integration fetching data from an external API.
- Choose a state, numeric-state, device, template, or integration-specific trigger when the desired action should follow a relevant entity change, threshold crossing, or supported integration signal.
- Choose an event trigger when the integration or service publishes the meaningful event on Home Assistant’s event bus and the automation should react to that message.
- Choose a time-pattern trigger when the automation itself must check a condition repeatedly on a schedule, even if the underlying state has not changed since the previous check.
- Choose a webhook trigger when a request from outside the usual entity or event flow must start the automation, and handle its access and action risks carefully.
Scheduled checks can start runs even when a sensor has not changed, so they may cause repeated condition evaluations and actions. A change- or event-based trigger is a better fit when one meaningful occurrence is enough. Match the trigger to the desired behavior instead of using a timer as a substitute for an available event or entity trigger.
Is automation polling the same as integration polling?
No. Automation polling is a user-created schedule that starts an automation; integration polling is an implementation detail in which an integration periodically fetches data, often through Home Assistant’s DataUpdateCoordinator. A scheduled automation check does not set the integration’s data-fetch interval, and changing integration polling is not the same as scheduling an automation.
For integrations using DataUpdateCoordinator, the developer documentation notes that setting always_update: false can avoid listener callbacks and state-machine writes when returned data is unchanged and equality comparison is available. That is an integration-development behavior, not a setting that YAML automation authors use to make a condition run periodically.
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The distinction is important when diagnosing stale or frequently changing readings. A time-pattern trigger can only evaluate the state currently available to Home Assistant; it does not itself request fresh data from the integration. Whether an integration fetches data periodically or supports event push updates depends on that integration.
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What should I know before using a webhook trigger?
A webhook trigger starts an automation when an HTTP request reaches its endpoint, and it can expose request data to templates. Webhook access is based on possession of the webhook ID, so treat the ID as a secret and do not put destructive or safety-critical actions behind an unauthenticated webhook.
Webhook trigger data depends on the request type: JSON request content is available as trigger.json, form data as trigger.data, and URL parameters as trigger.query. Keep the default local-only access enabled unless access from the internet is genuinely required. If remote access is required, consider the consequences of someone who obtains the ID being able to invoke the automation.
When a webhook starts an automation, the payload can inform what the automation does, but it is not a substitute for checking any Home Assistant state that must be true before an action occurs. Add a condition for that current-state requirement. For high-impact actions, do not rely on a secret URL alone as the safety boundary.
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For integration developers and custom-component authors, Home Assistant’s developer documentation dated October 5, 2025 says a refresh request received while a DataUpdateCoordinator update is active is queued for an additional update after the active one finishes. This concerns integration refresh behavior, not the timing of ordinary YAML automation triggers.
That distinction helps avoid a common category error: a queued coordinator refresh is an integration-level update, whereas a time-pattern automation run is an automation-level schedule. The two may affect what data is available when an action runs, but they are not the same mechanism.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a time-pattern automation refresh a sensor from its integration?
No. It starts an automation that can inspect the state Home Assistant currently has; it does not itself tell an integration to fetch new data. Whether fresh data arrives depends on the integration’s update behavior.
What data can a Home Assistant webhook trigger use?
Webhook payloads are exposed according to request type: JSON as trigger.json, form data as trigger.data, and URL parameters as trigger.query. Keep the webhook ID private because possession of it is the access control described for the endpoint.
What does always_update: false change in a coordinator?
For integrations using DataUpdateCoordinator, it can prevent listener callbacks and state-machine writes when newly returned data compares equal to the previous data. It applies when equality comparison is available and is an integration-development option, not an automation trigger setting.
Can a webhook safely control a destructive action if its URL is hard to guess?
The webhook ID should be treated as a secret, but the webhook documentation cautions against using webhook endpoints for destructive or safety-critical actions. Keep local-only access enabled unless internet access is necessary, and do not rely on the ID alone as a safety mechanism.
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