Timer finished

The Timer finished trigger fires when a timer reaches zero or is ended early with the Finish timer action. Use it when you want something to happen at the end of a countdown, like turning off a fan, locking a door, or sending a reminder.

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 timer you want to watch. You can also select an area, a floor, a device, or a label.
5. From the triggers shown for that target, select Timer finished.
6. Under Trigger when (see Behavior), pick Each, First, or All.
7. Under For at least, set how long ago the timer must have finished before the trigger fires. Leave the default 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 timer.finished. A basic example looks like this:

trigger: timer.finished
target:
  entity_id: timer.bathroom_fan

This fires when timer.bathroom_fan finishes.

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 timer entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific timer entity, such as timer.living_room.
• Device: every timer entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every timer entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every timer entity on a floor.
• Label: every timer 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 fires when the countdown completes or when you use Finish timer.
• The timer.finished event includes a finished_at value in its event data. Home Assistant uses this timestamp for the For at least option.
• If you cancel a timer, use Timer cancelled instead.
• The For at least option here adds extra delay after the timer finishes. If you want the action to happen when the countdown ends, you usually do not need it.
• If a timer finishes while Home Assistant is not running, this trigger does not run after startup.

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 bathroom fan when the timer finishes

Use a timer to keep the fan running for a fixed amount of time after a shower.

• Trigger: Timer finished
  • Target: Bathroom fan timer
  • Trigger when: Each
• Action: Turn off fan

alias: "Turn off bathroom fan when the timer finishes"
triggers:
  - trigger: timer.finished
    target:
      entity_id: timer.bathroom_fan
actions:
  - action: fan.turn_off
    target:
      entity_id: fan.bathroom

Automation: lock the patio door after the entry timer finishes

Start a short timer when you open the patio door, and lock it automatically if nobody needs it anymore.

• Trigger: Timer finished
  • Target: Patio door timer
  • Trigger when: Each
• Action: Lock lock

alias: "Lock the patio door after the timer finishes"
triggers:
  - trigger: timer.finished
    target:
      entity_id: timer.patio_door
actions:
  - action: lock.lock
    target:
      entity_id: lock.patio_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:

• Timer time remaining: Triggers when one or more timers reach a specific remaining time.

• Timer cancelled: Triggers when one or more timers are cancelled.