Shade is open

The Shade is open condition passes when one or more targeted shades are currently open. Use it when an automation should continue only if a shade is still open at the moment the automation runs.

This condition is useful for reminders, lighting checks, and routines that depend on whether a shade is open.

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. From the search box, search for and select Shade is open.
5. Select what you want to check. Under By target (see Targets), pick the area your shade is in, like your living room or bedroom. You can also select a floor, a device, a specific entity, or a label.
6. Under Condition passes if (see Behavior), pick Any or All.
7. Under For at least, enter how long the shade must have stayed open before the condition passes.
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 cover.shade_is_open. A basic example looks like this:

condition: cover.shade_is_open
target:
  entity_id: cover.bedroom_shade

This passes when cover.bedroom_shade is currently open.

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 cover entity behind that target.

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

• This condition works only with cover entities that use the shade device class.
• Entities in the unavailable or unknown state are ignored when Home Assistant evaluates the condition.
• With Any, the condition passes if at least one available targeted shade is open.
• With All, the condition passes only if every available targeted shade is open. If every targeted shade is unavailable or unknown, All passes and Any fails.

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: close the shade at sunset if it is still open

At sunset, this automation checks whether the shade is still open. If it is, Home Assistant closes it for the night.

• Trigger: Sun: Sunset
• Condition: Shade is open
  • Target: Bedroom shade
• Action: Close cover

alias: "Close the shade at sunset"
triggers:
  - trigger: sun
    event: sunset
conditions:
  - condition: cover.shade_is_open
    target:
      entity_id: cover.bedroom_shade
actions:
  - action: cover.close_cover
    target:
      entity_id: cover.bedroom_shade

Automation: notify you if the shade is still open when you leave home

When you leave home, this automation checks whether the shade is still open. If it is, Home Assistant sends a reminder so you can close it.

• Trigger: Person leaves home zone
• Condition: Shade is open
  • Target: Bedroom shade
• Action: Send a notification message
  • Target: My Device (notify.my_device)

alias: "Warn me if the shade is open when I leave home"
triggers:
  - trigger: zone
    entity_id: person.morgan
    zone: zone.home
    event: leave
conditions:
  - condition: cover.shade_is_open
    target:
      entity_id: cover.bedroom_shade
actions:
  - action: notify.send_message
    target:
      entity_id: notify.my_device
    data:
      title: "Cover still open"
      message: >
        The shade is still open while you are leaving.

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:

• Shade is closed: Tests if one or more shades are closed.