Counter reached maximum

The Counter reached maximum trigger fires when a counter helperA helper is a virtual entity you create inside Home Assistant. It is not backed by a physical device. Helpers store values, track state, or do calculations that your automations and dashboards need. [Learn more] reaches its configured maximum value. Use it when you want Home Assistant to react when a running count has hit its limit, like sending a reminder, stopping a repeating task, or resetting a user-created counter for the next cycle.

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 counter helper you want to monitor. You can also select an area, a floor, a device, or a label.
5. From the triggers shown for that target, select Counter reached maximum.
6. Under Trigger when (see Behavior), pick Each, First, or All.
7. Under For at least, set how long the counter must stay at its maximum 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 counter.maximum_reached. A basic example looks like this:

trigger: counter.maximum_reached
target:
  entity_id: counter.chore_reminders

This fires when counter.chore_reminders reaches its maximum.

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 counter entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific counter entity, such as counter.living_room.
• Device: every counter entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every counter entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every counter entity on a floor.
• Label: every counter 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 (any in YAML, 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 (first in YAML): 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 (last in YAML): 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 fires when the counter reaches its configured maximum value.
• If the counter drops below its maximum before the For at least time finishes, the timer resets.
• A counter in the unknown or unavailable state does not satisfy the trigger until it has a valid value again.

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: send a reminder when a laundry counter reaches its limit

If you have created a counter helper to track missed laundry runs, you can send a reminder as soon as it reaches its limit.

• Trigger: Counter reached maximum
  • Target: Laundry reminder counter
• Action: Send a notification message
  • Target: My Device (notify.my_device)

alias: "Notify when the laundry reminder counter reaches its maximum"
triggers:
  - trigger: counter.maximum_reached
    target:
      entity_id: counter.laundry_reminders
actions:
  - action: notify.send_message
    target:
      entity_id: notify.my_device
    data:
      message: "The laundry reminder counter reached its maximum."

Automation: reset a visitor counter after it stays full

If you use a counter helper to track a limited number of guest parking spots, you can reset it after it has stayed at its maximum for a while.

• Trigger: Counter reached maximum
  • Target: Visitor parking counter
  • For at least: 00:30:00
• Action: Reset counter

alias: "Reset the visitor parking counter after it stays full"
triggers:
  - trigger: counter.maximum_reached
    target:
      entity_id: counter.visitor_parking
    options:
      for: "00:30:00"
actions:
  - action: counter.reset
    target:
      entity_id: counter.visitor_parking

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:

• Counter incremented: Triggers after one or more counters increment.

• Counter reached minimum: Triggers after one or more counters reach their minimum value.

• Counter reset: Triggers after one or more counters are reset.