Alarm armed home

The Alarm armed home trigger fires after an alarm control panel 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] switches to the armed home state. Home mode typically activates perimeter sensors (doors and windows) while leaving interior motion sensors inactive, so you move around freely inside. Use this trigger to run automations that should start when you are home but want the exterior secured, like locking exterior doors, dimming the porch lights, or sending a confirmation that the perimeter is protected.

Using this trigger from the user interface

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

To use this trigger in an automation:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation, or select Create automation > Create new automation.
3. In the When section, select Add trigger.
4. Select what you want to monitor. Under By target (see Targets), pick the area your alarm panel is in (like your hallway or entryway). You can also select a floor, a device, a specific entity, or a label.
5. From the triggers shown for that target, select Alarm armed home.
6. Under Trigger when (see Behavior), pick Each, First, or All to control how the trigger behaves when multiple alarm panels are targeted.
7. Under For at least, set how long the alarm must stay armed home before the trigger fires. Leave it at zero to fire immediately.
8. Select Save.

Options in the UI

Using this trigger 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 trigger as alarm_control_panel.armed_home. A basic example looks like this:

trigger: alarm_control_panel.armed_home
target:
  entity_id: alarm_control_panel.home_alarm

This fires every time alarm_control_panel.home_alarm transitions to the armed home state.

Options in YAML

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

Targets of the trigger

This trigger requires a target. The target is the object that Home Assistant will watch. You can select 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 as a target, and Home Assistant will watch every matching alarm_control_panel entity behind that target.

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

You can also select different target types in one trigger. For example, you can add a specific entity and an area as targets in the same trigger to monitor 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 Trigger when option controls how the trigger responds:

• Each (default): the trigger fires every time any one of the targeted entities transitions. For example, if you monitor three motion sensors in the living room and someone walks past sensor 1, the automation fires. When they walk past sensor 2 a moment later, it fires again. Every individual event counts.
• First: the trigger fires only on the first transition in the targeted group, then waits until all targeted entities have reset before it fires again. For example, if you monitor the same three motion sensors, the automation fires when the first one picks up movement (someone entered the room). The other two firing afterward are ignored, so you get one notification per “someone walked in” event instead of three.
• All: the trigger fires only after the last targeted entity in the group has fired, meaning all of them are now in the expected state. For example, if you monitor the lights in the living room, bedroom, and hallway, the automation fires only once all three have turned off. This is useful for scenarios like “start the robot vacuum only after every light on the floor is off,” so you know the room is truly empty.

Good to know

• The trigger only fires when an alarm panel transitions from a known, valid state. If an alarm panel comes back from being unavailable (unavailable) or having an unknown state (unknown), the trigger does not fire for that recovery.
• Home mode protects the perimeter while allowing interior movement. If you want full protection with all sensors active, use Alarm armed away instead.
• To react when the alarm is disarmed from home mode, use Alarm disarmed.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Go to Settings > Automations & scenes, create a new automation, and add this trigger. Save the automation, then change the state of the targeted entity to watch the trigger fire 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].

More examples

Real scenarios where this trigger fires in automations and scripts. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup.

Automation: lock exterior doors when armed home

When you arm the alarm in home mode for the evening, make sure every exterior door locks automatically. You settle in for the night knowing the perimeter is secure.

• Trigger: Alarm armed home
• Target: Home alarm panel
• Trigger when: Each
• For at least: 00:00:00
• Action: Lock all exterior doors

alias: "Lock doors when armed home"
triggers:
  - trigger: alarm_control_panel.armed_home
    target:
      entity_id: alarm_control_panel.home_alarm
    options:
      behavior: any
      for: "00:00:00"
actions:
  - action: lock.lock
    target:
      label_id: exterior_doors

Automation: dim the porch light when the perimeter is armed

When you arm the alarm in home mode, dim the porch light to a gentle glow. It stays on enough to light the walkway, but signals that the house is locked up for the evening.

• Trigger: Alarm armed home
• Target: Home alarm panel
• Trigger when: Each
• For at least: 00:00:00
• Action: Dim porch light to 20%

alias: "Dim porch lights on home arm"
triggers:
  - trigger: alarm_control_panel.armed_home
    target:
      entity_id: alarm_control_panel.home_alarm
    options:
      behavior: any
      for: "00:00:00"
actions:
  - action: light.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: light.porch
    data:
      brightness_pct: 20

Still stuck?

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

Related triggers

These triggers work well alongside this one:

• Alarm armed: Triggers after one or more alarms become armed, regardless of the mode.

• Alarm disarmed: Triggers after one or more alarms become disarmed.