Satellite is processing

The Satellite is processing condition passes when a targeted Assist satellite 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] is currently in the processing state, which means that the captured voice command has been handed to the speech-to-text and intent-recognition pipeline and is being interpreted.

Use it when you want an automation to continue only if a satellite is actively running its pipeline. For example, check whether any satellite is still processing before sending a follow-up announcement.

Using this condition from the user interface

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

To use this condition in an automation:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation, or select Create automation > Create new automation.
3. In the And if section, select Add condition.
4. Select what you want to check. Under By target, pick the area the satellite is in, like your living room or kitchen. You can also select a floor, a device, a specific entity, or a label, as described in Targets.
5. From the conditions shown for that target, select Satellite is processing.
6. Under Condition passes if, pick Any or All to control how the check behaves when multiple satellites are targeted, as described in Behavior.
7. Under For at least, set how long the satellite must have been processing before the condition passes. Leave it at zero to pass immediately.
8. Select Save.

Options in the UI

Using this condition 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 condition as assist_satellite.is_processing. A basic example looks like this:

condition: assist_satellite.is_processing
target:
  entity_id: assist_satellite.living_room

This passes when assist_satellite.living_room is currently processing a voice command.

Options in YAML

YAML sometimes provides additional options for more complex use cases that are not available through the UI.

Targets of the condition

This condition requires a target. The target is the object that Home Assistant will check. You can point the condition 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 evaluate every matching assist_satellite entity behind that target.

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

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

Behavior with multiple targets

When you target more than one entity (or select an area, floor, or label that contains several), the Condition passes if option controls how the results combine:

• Any (default): the condition passes if at least one of the targeted entities matches. For example, if you check three smoke sensors and only one of them detects smoke, the condition still passes. This is useful for questions like “is there smoke anywhere in the house?”
• All: the condition passes only when every targeted entity matches. For example, if you check the same three smoke sensors, the condition passes only once all three report cleared. This is useful for “is the entire house safe now?” checks, so your automation does not send an all-clear while one room still has a reading.

Good to know

• The Processing state spans both speech-to-text transcription and intent recognition. For cloud-based pipelines, processing time is dominated by network round-trip latency, which is typically 100 ms to 500 ms on a fast connection, but can be several seconds under congestion. For local pipelines, total processing time depends on the speech recognition model and hardware, so it can range from one to several seconds.
• Use the For at least option with a value longer than your pipeline’s typical processing time to detect satellites that are stuck. For example, 00:00:10 passes only if the satellite has been processing for more than 10 seconds, which is a reliable signal that something is wrong.
• Prefer local pipelines to reduce network dependency and processing latency. This condition can help surface satellites that consistently process slowly, pointing to an undersized pipeline or a congested connection.
• Satellites that have the Unavailable or Unknown state do not count as processing. Home Assistant skips them and evaluates the condition using the remaining targeted satellites.
• To check another pipeline state, use Satellite is idle, Satellite is listening, or Satellite is responding.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Go to Settings > Automations & scenes, open an automation, and add this condition. Trigger the automation with and without the condition met, and watch whether it continues or stops.

More examples

Real scenarios where this condition gates an automation. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup.

Automation: skip a disruptive alert if any satellite is currently processing a command

This automation suppresses a loud scheduled alert, such as a chime or siren test, when any satellite is still processing a voice command. This avoids wasting a full pipeline run by corrupting the satellite reply, which would force you to repeat the command to properly hear the response.

• Trigger: Time: 12:00
• Condition: Not
  • Condition: Satellite is processing
    • Target: All Assist satellites (by label)
• Action: Turn on switch
  • Target: Noon chime switch

alias: "Skip noon chime if a satellite is processing"
triggers:
  - trigger: time
    at: "12:00:00"
conditions:
  - condition: not
    conditions:
      - condition: assist_satellite.is_processing
        target:
          label_id: assist_satellites
actions:
  - action: switch.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: switch.noon_chime

Still stuck?

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

Related conditions

These conditions work well alongside this one:

• Satellite is idle: Tests if one or more Assist satellites are idle.

• Satellite is listening: Tests if one or more Assist satellites are listening for a voice command.

• Satellite is responding: Tests if one or more Assist satellites are playing back a response.