Remote is on

The Remote is on condition passes when a remote 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 on. Use it to gate an automation so it only runs when a specific remote (or every targeted remote) is already active.

When you target more than one remote, the condition’s behavior option controls how the check combines results. You can require any targeted remote to be on, or demand that all of them are.

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 (see Targets), pick the remote you want to check. You can also select an area, a floor, a device, or a label.
5. From the conditions shown for that target, select Remote is on.
6. Under Condition passes if (see Behavior), pick Any or All.
7. Under For at least, set how long the remote must have been on.
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 remote.is_on. A basic example looks like this:

condition: remote.is_on
target:
  entity_id: remote.living_room

This passes when the living room remote is currently on.

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 remote entity behind that target.

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

• Remotes that are unavailable (unavailable) or have an unknown state (unknown) are skipped and do not count as on. With Any behavior, if all targeted remotes are unavailable or have an unknown state, the condition fails. With All behavior, if all targeted remotes are unavailable or have an unknown state, the condition passes.
• To gate an automation on a remote being off instead, use Remote is off.
• Pair with the Remote turned on trigger to react only when a transition to on happens.

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: only send a media command when the living room remote is on

When you press a button on a dashboard, only forward a media command if the living room remote is currently on so the command does not get lost.

• Trigger: State: Dashboard button pressed
• Condition: Remote is on
  • Target: Living room remote
• Action: Send a remote command

alias: "Send media command only if remote is on"
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id: input_button.send_play
conditions:
  - condition: remote.is_on
    target:
      entity_id: remote.living_room
actions:
  - action: remote.send_command
    target:
      entity_id: remote.living_room
    data:
      command: play

Automation: warn at bedtime if a remote is still on

At bedtime, send a phone notification if any remote in the house has been on for at least 10 minutes.

• Trigger: Time: 23:00
• Condition: Remote is on
  • Target: All remotes (by label)
  • Condition passes if: Any
  • For at least: 00:10:00
• Action: Send a notification message
  • Target: My Device (notify.my_device)

alias: "Warn at bedtime if a remote is still on"
triggers:
  - trigger: time
    at: "23:00:00"
conditions:
  - condition: remote.is_on
    target:
      label_id: all_remotes
    options:
      for: "00:10:00"
actions:
  - action: notify.send_message
    target:
      entity_id: notify.my_device
    data:
      message: "A remote is still on. Tap to power it off."

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:

• Remote is off: Tests if one or more remotes are off.