Wait

Category: Logic

Pauses the automation until a specific device changes or a timeout is reached. Unlike Delay (which always waits the full duration), Wait is conditional — it can be interrupted early by a device state change.

When to use

• Wait for a door to close before arming security
• Pause until motion clears before turning off lights
• Wait for user confirmation (e.g. a button press) before proceeding
• Add a "wait with timeout" — proceed after 30 seconds even if the device doesn't change

Configuration

• Timeout — Maximum time to wait in seconds (default: 30s)
• Continue on timeout — If enabled (default), the automation continues down the "timeout" path when the timer expires. If disabled, the automation stops.

Handles

The Wait node has two output handles:

• Triggered (green, left) — the device changed before the timeout
• Timeout (red, right) — the timeout expired without a device change

Output data

• {{ nodes['<id>'].data.triggered }} — true if the device changed, false if timed out
• {{ nodes['<id>'].data.triggerData }} — If triggered, contains the trigger data (from_value, to_value, etc.)

Difference from Delay

	Delay	Wait
Duration	Fixed, always waits the full time	Variable, interrupted by device change
Output handles	1 (continues after timer)	2 (triggered or timeout)
Use case	"Pause for 5 minutes"	"Wait up to 5 minutes for the door to close"

Examples

Wait for door to close before locking:

1. Device Changed → front door opened
2. Wait → timeout 60s
3. Triggered path → Set Device → lock the door
4. Timeout path → Notify → "Front door still open after 1 minute!"

Motion-activated light with auto-off:

1. Device Changed → motion detected
2. Set Device → light on
3. Wait → timeout 300s (5 min)
4. Timeout path → Set Device → light off (motion cleared)
5. Triggered path → (motion again, restart the wait)

Tips

• Wait listens for any registered trigger — configure the trigger conditions to be specific
• If the automation is in "restart" mode and a new trigger fires, the Wait is cancelled
• Use Wait + IF to implement complex conditional sequences