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Use a watchdog that measures the age of each entity’s reports, not an automation that waits for a state-change event. Choose the timestamp that matches what “fresh” means for that entity, check it on a schedule, and combine the check with native availability or MQTT expiry when those features exist.
Why a state-change trigger misses a silent entity
A state-triggered automation runs because Home Assistant received an event. If a temperature sensor stops communicating, no new event arrives, so that automation has nothing to evaluate. Silence must therefore be detected by a clock-based check: run an evaluation periodically or use an integration feature that expires the entity after a defined interval.
There is no universal timeout. A mains-powered meter that reports every few seconds can be considered stale after a short gap; a battery sensor that normally reports every 15 minutes needs a much longer allowance. Set the threshold above the device’s normal reporting cadence and include enough margin for sleep cycles, wireless retries and your acceptable detection delay.
Choose the timestamp that represents freshness
Home Assistant stores several timestamps on a state object. They answer different questions, so selecting the wrong one is the most common cause of false alarms.
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| Property | Changes when | Use it when | Typical false-positive risk |
|---|---|---|---|
last_changed |
The state value changes. | A changing value is the signal you need, such as a motion state changing from off to on. |
High for quiet sensors. A healthy sensor can report the same value repeatedly without changing this timestamp. |
last_updated |
The state value or one of its attributes changes. | Attribute changes count as meaningful activity, but identical full-state reports do not. | Possible when the integration receives reports but neither the state nor attributes change. |
last_reported |
The integration writes the state again, even when state and attributes are identical. | The integration emits regular reports and you want to know whether Home Assistant received them. | It records Home Assistant’s receipt/write time, not proof that a device-origin timestamp is current or that the physical sensor is measuring correctly. |
Home Assistant’s state-object documentation describes last_reported as the date and time the entity last reported its state. The same documentation notes that some integrations, including MQTT, write state only when something changes unless force-update behavior is enabled. Establish the integration’s actual behavior before choosing a clock.
A timestamp also reflects Home Assistant’s own write or receipt. If a gateway republishes an old value, the entity can look recently updated even though the underlying device has not produced a new measurement. For high-assurance monitoring, use a device-provided sequence number, measurement timestamp or explicit online status when the integration exposes one.
Inventory the entities and their normal cadence
Start with a deliberately selected list rather than every entity in the installation. Lights, helpers, scenes and calculated template entities do not necessarily have an independent reporting cadence. A watchdog should cover entities for which silence has operational meaning: leak sensors, freezer probes, power meters, security contacts, presence beacons or gateway status sensors.
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Record the behavior that matters
- Find the normal interval between reports while the device is healthy.
- Determine whether identical values still create state writes.
- Check whether the integration exposes
available/unavailablestatus, an availability topic or an expiry setting. - Decide how much detection delay is acceptable. A five-minute evaluation interval can add almost five minutes after the threshold is crossed.
- Document startup behavior. Note whether a retained message, cached gateway value or restored state can appear immediately after a restart.
Use a threshold per device class when cadences differ. For example, a five-minute allowance may be reasonable for a sensor expected every minute, while a 45-minute allowance may be safer for a battery device expected every 15 minutes. These are illustrative settings, not universal recommendations.
Build a periodic stale-entity check
The basic pattern is a time-pattern automation that calculates the age of each selected entity and alerts only when the age exceeds its configured limit. The following example checks every five minutes. Replace the entity IDs and limits with values established for your devices.
alias: Watch selected entities for stale reports
triggers:
- trigger: time_pattern
minutes: '/5'
conditions: []
actions:
- variables:
watched:
- entity_id: sensor.kitchen_temperature
max_age: 900
- entity_id: sensor.freezer_temperature
max_age: 1800
- entity_id: sensor.water_leak_status
max_age: 600
- variables:
stale_entities: >-
{% set ns = namespace(items=[]) %}
{% for item in watched %}
{% set entity = states[item.entity_id] %}
{% if entity is not none and entity.last_reported is not none %}
{% set age = as_timestamp(now()) - as_timestamp(entity.last_reported) %}
{% if age > item.max_age %}
{% set ns.items = ns.items + [item.entity_id ~ ' (' ~ (age | int) ~ ' seconds)'] %}
{% endif %}
{% endif %}
{% endfor %}
{{ ns.items | join(', ') }}
- condition: template
value_template: '{{ stale_entities | length > 0 }}'
- action: notify.mobile_app_your_phone
data:
title: Home Assistant entity may be stale
message: 'No recent report from: {{ stale_entities }}'
mode: singleThis example deliberately uses last_reported. If the integration does not write identical reports, substitute last_updated or last_changed according to the meaning you established. A missing timestamp is not silently treated as healthy; add an explicit startup policy for entities that have not reported since boot.
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Prevent notification floods
The scheduled automation will notify on every run while an entity remains stale. Add a notification latch, a cooldown or a transition check. One practical design is an input_boolean per monitored group: send the first alert and turn the helper on; suppress later alerts while it is on; clear it when every entity is fresh again. A separate recovery automation can announce that reporting resumed. Keep the stale list in the alert so the message identifies the affected entity and its measured age.
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Use an explicit startup grace period
After Home Assistant restarts, integrations may still be initializing. A watchdog that starts immediately can report every device before connections are ready. Add a condition that requires Home Assistant uptime to exceed a chosen grace period, or delay enabling the automation until startup is complete. Treat an entity with no timestamp after that grace period as a separate “never reported” condition rather than assigning it an arbitrary age.
Alternative: a time-aware template trigger
A template can express the stale condition, but it must be evaluated as time passes. Referencing now() in a template does not make an automation run continuously by itself. Pair the calculation with a time-pattern trigger, or use a template trigger whose referenced entities and time-based evaluation are configured so it is re-evaluated at the required interval.
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For a small, fixed set, a periodic trigger with a template condition is easier to audit. For a larger inventory, create a template sensor that publishes a list or count of stale entities and let a separate automation react when that result changes. Keep the entity list curated and give each entity its own cadence; one global timeout will either miss failures or create noise.
Use native availability and MQTT expiry when available
A freshness watchdog complements, rather than replaces, an integration’s online/offline signal. An entity that is explicitly unavailable should be handled immediately, while an entity that still has a value but has not reported recently needs the age check.
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MQTT sensors can be configured with an availability topic and an expiry interval. expire_after is expressed in seconds; when no new state message arrives within that period, Home Assistant marks the sensor unavailable. Availability payloads can map explicit device messages such as online and offline to the entity’s availability state.
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mqtt:
sensor:
- name: Freezer temperature
state_topic: house/freezer/temperature
expire_after: 1800
availability_topic: house/freezer/status
payload_available: online
payload_not_available: offlineSet expire_after above the normal publish interval, with margin for expected delays. Expiry catches a missing MQTT state message without a separate polling automation, but it does not validate the measurement itself. Keep the periodic age check if you need to detect a stale value that remains available because an intermediary is replaying or republishing data.
Retained-message and restart caveat
MQTT retained messages can be delivered when Home Assistant starts or reloads the entity. That delivery updates Home Assistant’s state even when the payload was produced earlier. Therefore, a new Home Assistant timestamp after startup is not automatically proof of a fresh device measurement. Test the retained-message policy, consider including a device-generated timestamp or sequence number, and decide whether startup should suppress alerts until a non-retained report arrives.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What homeassistant.update_entity can and cannot do
The homeassistant.update_entity action requests an update from entities and integrations that support that operation. It does not change how often an entity updates on its own, and it cannot force a sleeping battery device, failed gateway or silent MQTT publisher to produce a new value.
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- action: homeassistant.update_entity
target:
entity_id:
- sensor.kitchen_temperatureUse this action as a diagnostic or as a deliberate refresh before another task, not as the watchdog itself. If the request succeeds, observe which timestamp changes and whether the integration actually obtained a new measurement. A manual refresh that leaves the age unchanged is evidence to investigate the integration or transport path.
Choose an approach by failure mode
| Situation | Best first mechanism | Why | Important limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Device publishes at a known cadence and repeats identical values | Periodic check of last_reported |
Every accepted report counts as activity. | The timestamp is Home Assistant’s receipt/write time. |
| Integration writes only when a value or attribute changes | Periodic check of last_updated, or a device availability signal |
Matches the events the integration actually records. | A constant but healthy value can look stale if no availability signal exists. |
| Only value transitions matter | last_changed with a threshold suited to expected transitions |
Detects absence of meaningful state changes. | Quiet periods are indistinguishable from failure without another signal. |
| MQTT device has regular messages | expire_after plus availability topics, backed by an age check when needed |
Native expiry can mark the entity unavailable automatically. | Retained or replayed payloads can make old data appear newly received. |
| Large, mixed inventory | Curated watch list with per-entity limits and grouped notifications | Prevents helpers and irregular entities from generating noise. | Requires maintaining the inventory as devices change. |
Diagnose a stale alert before changing the timeout
- Check the selected timestamp. In Developer Tools, inspect the entity and compare
last_changed,last_updatedandlast_reported. Confirm that the one used by the automation changes when a normal report arrives. - Verify the expected cadence. Watch the entity during a healthy period. If reports are event-driven rather than periodic, a fixed timeout may be the wrong test.
- Separate unavailable from stale. An explicit
unavailablestate points to availability, authentication, transport or integration failure. A normal value with an old timestamp points to missing reports or replayed data. - Inspect the transport. For MQTT, check the state topic, availability topic, publish interval, broker logs and retained flag. For other integrations, inspect the integration’s diagnostics and connection status.
- Test a supported manual refresh. Run
homeassistant.update_entityand observe whether any timestamp changes. Do not assume a successful action means the physical device responded. - Check restart timing. Note whether the alert occurred during startup, after a gateway restart or immediately after a retained MQTT message. Apply a startup grace period or device-origin freshness field where appropriate.
- Review notification state. If alerts repeat every evaluation, add a latch or cooldown. If recovery is not announced, add a separate fresh-again transition.
Common design mistakes
- Using only a state trigger: it cannot observe an event that never arrives.
- Using
last_changedfor a stable measurement: unchanged temperature or power values can be healthy. - Applying one timeout to every entity: reporting intervals vary by integration, device type and power mode.
- Assuming
unavailablemeans stale: an entity can retain a plausible but old value without becoming unavailable. - Treating an update request as a polling scheduler: the action does not alter the integration’s normal cadence.
- Trusting a post-restart timestamp blindly: restored state and retained MQTT payloads can be old.
- Watching every entity automatically: helpers, calculated sensors and event-driven entities need different semantics.
A practical rollout checklist
- List only entities for which missed reports have a clear consequence.
- Measure each entity’s normal report interval and identify whether identical reports are written.
- Select
last_changed,last_updatedorlast_reporteddeliberately. - Set a per-entity threshold above normal cadence and document the expected detection delay.
- Run the evaluation on a schedule; do not rely on a state-change trigger alone.
- Use native availability or MQTT
expire_afterwhere supported. - Define startup grace and “never reported” behavior.
- Test a real disconnect, not only a changed sensor value.
- Suppress repeat notifications and provide a recovery message.
- Revisit thresholds after firmware, broker, network or battery changes.
What a reliable alert tells you
A useful notification names the entity, the timestamp used, the configured limit and the measured age. “Freezer temperature has not reported for 1,247 seconds; limit 1,800 seconds” is actionable because it distinguishes a timing condition from a generic offline message. Include whether the current state is unavailable, the last known value and the time Home Assistant last wrote it when that context is safe to disclose.
Monitoring freshness is not the same as validating correctness. A sensor can report regularly while being miscalibrated, stuck at a plausible value, or disconnected from the physical process it measures. Pair the freshness watchdog with domain-specific checks—such as impossible ranges, a device heartbeat counter or an independent sensor—when the consequence of a missed or false reading is serious.
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