Check date

Use this action to check whether a specific date is a workday, based on the workdays and holidays you configured for your Workday sensor.

This action returns its result in a response variable, which you can use in later steps of the same automation or script.

Using this action from the user interface

If you prefer building automations and scripts visually, Home Assistant walks you through this action step by step. You pick what to target, tweak a few options, and save. No YAML knowledge required.

To check a date from an automation or a script:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation or script, or select Create automation > Create new automation.
3. If you’re setting up a new automation, add a trigger in the When section. Scripts don’t need a trigger. They run when something else calls them.
4. In the Then do section, select Add action.
5. Select what you want to control. Under By target (see Targets), select your Workday sensor.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Check date.
7. Set the Date you want to check.
8. Select Save.

Options in the UI

Using this action in YAML

If you work directly in YAML, or you want to know exactly what Home Assistant does under the hood, this section has the technical reference. It lists the field names you use in YAML, their types, and which ones are required.

In YAML, refer to this action as workday.check_date. Store the result in a response variable so you can use it in later steps:

action: workday.check_date
target:
  entity_id: binary_sensor.workday
data:
  check_date: "2023-12-25"
response_variable: check_date

This checks whether 2023-12-25 is a workday for binary_sensor.workday.

Options in YAML

Targets of the action

This action requires a target. The target is the object of the action. You can point the action at a single entityAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more], a device, an area, a floor, or a label, and Home Assistant will run the action on every matching binary_sensor entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific binary_sensor entity, such as binary_sensor.living_room.
• Device: every binary_sensor entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every binary_sensor entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every binary_sensor entity on a floor.
• Label: every binary_sensor entity that shares a label.

You can also select different target types in one action. For example, you can add a specific entity and an area as targets in the same action to run the action on both of them at once.

Response data

The action returns a workday field that is true when the date is a workday and false when it is not.

A shortened example of the response looks like this:

binary_sensor.workday:
  workday: true

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Open Developer tools > Actions, search for this action, fill in the fields, and select Perform action. You see what happens on your actual entitiesAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] without writing a line of YAML.

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with the action you’re calling and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.