Gate closed

The Gate closed trigger fires when a targeted gate changes to closed. Use it when you want an automation to wait until access is secured again before it runs.

This trigger is useful for turning lights back off, confirming that a gate finished closing, or starting routines that should happen only after the gate is shut.

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. From the search box, search for and select Gate closed.
5. Select what you want to monitor. Under By target (see Targets), pick the area your gate is in, like your driveway or courtyard. You can also select a floor, a device, a specific entity, or a label.
6. Under Trigger when (see Behavior), pick Each, First, or All.
7. Under For at least, enter how long the gate must stay closed before the trigger fires. Leave it at zero to fire right away.
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 gate.closed. A basic example looks like this:

trigger: gate.closed
target:
  entity_id: cover.driveway_gate

This fires when cover.driveway_gate closes.

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 gate entity behind that target.

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

• This trigger works only with cover entities that use the gate device class.
• If a gate comes back from unavailable or unknown, that recovery does not count as the gate closing.
• The for option only fires the automation if the gate stays closed for the entire time you set.

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: turn off the driveway lights after the gate has been closed for 2 minutes

If your driveway lights turn on when the gate opens, this automation turns them back off after the gate has stayed closed for 2 minutes. That gives you enough time to park and walk inside.

• Trigger: Gate closed
  • Target: Driveway gate
  • For at least: 00:02:00
• Action: Light: Turn off light

alias: "Turn off driveway lights after the gate closes"
triggers:
  - trigger: gate.closed
    target:
      entity_id: cover.driveway_gate
    options:
      for: "00:02:00"
actions:
  - action: light.turn_off
    target:
      entity_id: light.driveway

Automation: lock the side door after the courtyard gate closes

If you use the courtyard gate as your usual way in, you might want the side door to lock only after the gate is shut again. This automation waits for the gate to close, then locks the door.

• Trigger: Gate closed
  • Target: Courtyard gate
• Action: Lock lock

alias: "Lock the side door after the courtyard gate closes"
triggers:
  - trigger: gate.closed
    target:
      entity_id: cover.courtyard_gate
actions:
  - action: lock.lock
    target:
      entity_id: lock.side_door

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:

• Gate opened: Triggers after one or more gates open.