home-assistant.io/source/_components/switch.template.markdown

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page	Template Switch	Instructions on how to integrate Template Switches into Home Assistant.	2016-02-07 07:00	true	false	true	true	Switch	0.13	Local Push	home-assistant.png	internal

The template platform creates switches that combines components.

For example, if you have a garage door with a toggle switch that operates the motor and a sensor that allows you know whether the door is open or closed, you can combine these into a switch that knows whether the garage door is open or closed.

This can simplify the GUI and make it easier to write automations. You can mark the components you have combined as hidden so they don't appear themselves.

{% linkable_title Configuration %}

To enable Template Switches in your installation, add the following to your configuration.yaml file:

{% raw %}

# Example configuration.yaml entry
switch:
  - platform: template
    switches:
      skylight:
        value_template: "{{ is_state('sensor.skylight', 'on') }}"
        turn_on:
          service: switch.turn_on
          data:
            entity_id: switch.skylight_open
        turn_off:
          service: switch.turn_on
          data:
            entity_id: switch.skylight_close

{% endraw %}

{% configuration %} switches: description: List of your switches. required: true type: map keys: friendly_name: description: Name to use in the frontend. required: false type: string entity_id: description: A list of entity IDs so the switch only reacts to state changes of these entities. This can be used if the automatic analysis fails to find all relevant entities. required: false type: [string, list] value_template: description: Defines a template to set the state of the switch. required: true type: template turn_on: description: Defines an action to run when the switch is turned on. required: true type: action turn_off: description: Defines an action to run when the switch is turned off. required: true type: action icon_template: description: Defines a template for the icon of the switch. required: false type: template entity_picture_template: description: Defines a template for the picture of the switch. required: false type: template {% endconfiguration %}

{% linkable_title Considerations %}

If you are using the state of a platform that takes extra time to load, the Template Switch may get an unknown state during startup. This results in error messages in your log file until that platform has completed loading. If you use is_state() function in your template, you can avoid this situation. For example, you would replace {% raw %}{{ states.switch.source.state == 'on' }}{% endraw %} with this equivalent that returns true/false and never gives an unknown result: {% raw %}{{ is_state('switch.source', 'on') }}{% endraw %}

{% linkable_title Examples %}

In this section you find some real-life examples of how to use this switch.

{% linkable_title Copy Switch %}

This example shows a switch that copies another switch.

{% raw %}

switch:
  - platform: template
    switches:
      copy:
        value_template: "{{ is_state('switch.source', 'on') }}"
        turn_on:
          service: switch.turn_on
          data:
            entity_id: switch.source
        turn_off:
          service: switch.turn_off
          data:
            entity_id: switch.source

{% endraw %}

{% linkable_title Toggle Switch %}

This example shows a switch that takes its state from a sensor and toggles a switch.

{% raw %}

switch:
  - platform: template
    switches:
      blind:
        friendly_name: "Blind"
        value_template: "{{ is_state_attr('switch.blind_toggle', 'sensor_state', 'on') }}"
        turn_on:
          service: switch.toggle
          data:
            entity_id: switch.blind_toggle
        turn_off:
          service: switch.toggle
          data:
            entity_id: switch.blind_toggle

{% endraw %}

{% linkable_title Sensor and Two Switches %}

This example shows a switch that takes its state from a sensor, and uses two momentary switches to control a device.

{% raw %}

switch:
  - platform: template
    switches:
      skylight:
        friendly_name: "Skylight"
        value_template: "{{ is_state('sensor.skylight.state', 'on') }}"
        turn_on:
          service: switch.turn_on
          data:
            entity_id: switch.skylight_open
        turn_off:
          service: switch.turn_on
          data:
            entity_id: switch.skylight_close

{% endraw %}

{% linkable_title Change The Icon %}

This example shows how to change the icon based on the day/night cycle.

{% raw %}

switch:
  - platform: template
    switches:
      garage:
        value_template: "{{ is_state('cover.garage_door', 'on') }}"
        turn_on:
          service: cover.open_cover
          data:
            entity_id: cover.garage_door
        turn_off:
          service: cover.close_cover
          data:
            entity_id: cover.garage_door
        icon_template: >-
          {% if is_state('cover.garage_door', 'open') %}
            mdi:garage-open
          {% else %}
            mdi:garage
          {% endif %}

{% endraw %}

{% linkable_title Change The Entity Picture %}

This example shows how to change the entity picture based on the day/night cycle.

{% raw %}

switch:
  - platform: template
    switches:
      garage:
        value_template: "{{ is_state('cover.garage_door', 'on') }}"
        turn_on:
          service: cover.open_cover
          data:
            entity_id: cover.garage_door
        turn_off:
          service: cover.close_cover
          data:
            entity_id: cover.garage_door
        entity_picture_template: >-
          {% if is_state('cover.garage_door', 'open') %}
            /local/garage-open.png
          {% else %}
            /local/garage-closed.png
          {% endif %}

{% endraw %}