Update became available

The Update became available trigger fires when a targeted update entity changes to available. Use it when you want Home Assistant to respond as soon as there is a new update ready for a device or service.

This trigger is useful for sending a notification, starting a reminder, or waiting a little while before taking action on an available update.

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 Update became available.
5. Select what you want to monitor. Under By target (see Targets), pick the device, area, floor, label, or specific update entity you want to watch.
6. Under Trigger when (see Behavior), pick Each, First, or All.
7. Under For at least, enter how long the update must stay available 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 update.update_became_available. A basic example looks like this:

trigger: update.update_became_available
target:
  entity_id: update.office_router_firmware

This fires when update.office_router_firmware becomes available.

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 update entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific update entity, such as update.living_room.
• Device: every update entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every update entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every update entity on a floor.
• Label: every update 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 watches update entities whose state changes to on, which means an update is available.
• If an entity returns from unavailable or unknown to on, that recovery does not fire this trigger.
• If you use for, the update must stay available for the full 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: send a notification when an update becomes available

If an update for a device or service becomes available, this automation sends a notification to your phone right away.

• Trigger: Update became available
  • Target: Office router update
• Action: Send a notification message
  • Target: My Device (notify.my_device)

alias: "Send a notification when an update becomes available"
triggers:
  - trigger: update.update_became_available
    target:
      entity_id: update.office_router_firmware
actions:
  - action: notify.send_message
    target:
      entity_id: notify.my_device
    data:
      title: "Update available"
      message: >
        A new update is available for the office router.

Automation: turn on a reminder light if an update stays available for a week

If you want a visual reminder for updates you have been putting off, this automation turns on a light after an update has stayed available for 7 days.

• Trigger: Update became available
  • Target: Guest room speaker update
• For at least: 168:00:00
• Action: Turn on light

alias: "Turn on a reminder light if an update stays available for a week"
triggers:
  - trigger: update.update_became_available
    target:
      entity_id: update.guest_room_speaker_firmware
    options:
      for: "168:00:00"
actions:
  - action: light.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: light.hallway_lamp

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.