Vibration detected

The Vibration detected trigger fires when one or more vibration sensors start detecting vibration.

Use it to automate actions, such as turning devices on or off, or sending notifications, when something starts to shake or move. For example, react to a knock on a door, an appliance that starts running, or a package being moved. Use a single sensor for one object and a group of sensors to cover several at once.

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 Vibration detected.
5. Select Add target (see Targets) and pick the vibration sensor that you want to watch. You can also select an area, a floor, a device, or a label.
6. Under Trigger when (see Behavior), pick Each, First, or All to control how the trigger behaves when multiple sensors are targeted.
7. Under For at least, you can set how long the sensor must keep detecting vibration 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 vibration.detected. A basic example looks like this:

trigger: vibration.detected
target:
  entity_id: binary_sensor.washing_machine_vibration
options:
  for:
    minutes: 1

This fires 1 minute after the sensor entity binary_sensor.washing_machine_vibration starts detecting vibration.

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 vibration entity behind that target.

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

• Vibration sensors are well suited to detecting when an appliance starts running, a knock on a door, or an object being moved or tampered with.
• Add the For at least option to avoid firing on brief, one-off vibrations, such as a passing truck or a nearby door closing.
• To cover several machines or a large object at once, target multiple vibration sensors and use the Trigger when option to decide whether the trigger fires for each sensor or only once they all detect vibration.

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 on the porch light when someone knocks at night

When the vibration sensor on the front door detects a knock late in the evening, this automation turns on the porch light.

• Trigger: Vibration detected
  • Target: Front door vibration sensor
• Condition: Time (after 22:00:00 and before 06:00:00)
• Action: Turn on light
  • Target: Porch light

alias: "Porch light on a knock at night"
triggers:
  - trigger: vibration.detected
    target:
      entity_id: binary_sensor.front_door_vibration
conditions:
  - condition: time
    after: "22:00:00"
    before: "06:00:00"
actions:
  - action: light.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: light.porch

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:

• Vibration cleared: Triggers when one or more vibration sensors stop detecting vibration.