Binary Sensors
An input with two states — motion, reed switch, flood — and what to do when it changes.
A binary sensor is an input with two states: a motion sensor, a door or window reed switch, a flood sensor. It runs one set of actions when the input becomes active (Pressed) and another when it becomes inactive (Released). Home Assistant shows it as a binary sensor, and every change is published to MQTT.
For a push button that should tell single, double and long presses apart, use an event instead. Both are edited in the same place, see Local Inputs.
Adding a binary sensor
- Open Settings → Control → Local Inputs
- Click Add New (or the edit icon next to an existing input)
- At the top of the form set Type to Binary Sensors
- Fill in the tabs described below and save
Basic Settings
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Display Name | Name shown in the panel, MQTT and Home Assistant. Optional. |
| boneIO Input | The physical input, e.g. IN_05. Inputs already taken by another input are listed under the field as Used. |
| Area / Room | Puts the sensor into an area, which becomes a sub-device in Home Assistant. |
| Bounce Time | Ignores contact bounce (default 120ms). Usually no change is needed. |
| Device Class | How Home Assistant shows the sensor — icon and wording, e.g. motion, door, window, moisture. |
Under Options:
| Option | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Show in Home Assistant | on | Switch off to keep the sensor out of Home Assistant. |
| Inverted | off | Swaps the two states — for a reed switch that reports open when the door is closed. |
| Send initial state | off | Sends the current state to MQTT when the controller starts. The controller now sends it every time it connects to MQTT anyway (see below), so you rarely need this. |
Pressed Actions / Released Actions
Pressed runs when the input becomes active (motion detected, door opened); Released when it becomes inactive. On either tab click Add Action and choose what should happen — the full list is in Actions on the Events page.
Binary sensor actions can also be delayed — for example, switch the light off 2 minutes after the motion stops, and cancel that if motion comes back. See Delay.
Quick action setup in the form fills in the actions for common cases — motion sensor, door sensor, doorbell — in one click.
State in Home Assistant
The state of a binary sensor is kept on the MQTT broker, and every time the controller connects to MQTT it reads each input again and sends what is true now.
So after Home Assistant or the controller restarts, a door or float switch shows its real state straight away, not unknown until it next changes.
Sending the state this way never runs the sensor's actions.
Leftover to know about: if you delete a binary sensor, or change it to an event, its last state stays on the broker. Home Assistant's event entity ignores it.