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Get state attribute: state_attr

The state_attr template function returns the value of a specific attribute from an 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]‘s state. Entities in Home Assistant often have more information than their main state. For example, a climate entity’s state might be heating, but it also has attributes like temperature, current_temperature, and hvac_modes.

You’ll use this whenever you need information beyond the main state of an entity. Common examples include reading the brightness of a light, the battery level of a deviceA device is a model representing a physical or logical unit that contains entities., the friendly name of an entity, or the list of options available on a select entity. If the entity or attribute doesn’t exist, it returns None instead of causing an error.

Tip

For dashboards, a Tile card can show attributes as badges without a template. Reach for state_attr() when you need the value inside an automation, a notification message, or another template.

Usage

Here’s how to use this template function. Copy any example and adjust it to your setup.

As a function

As a filter

Template

{{ state_attr("climate.living_room", "temperature") }}

Result (float)

21.0

Function signature

The signature is a technical summary of this template function. It shows the name of the function, the values (called parameters) it accepts, and what type of data each parameter expects (for example, a piece of text or a number).

Function parameters that have a = with a value after them are optional. If you leave them out, the default value shown is used automatically.

Function parameters without a = are usually required. A few optional parameters have no default value, so the signature shows them without a = as well. To check whether a parameter is required, look at the parameter list below the signature. Each parameter is marked as Required or Optional.

The most common optional parameter without a default value is default. The default parameter sets the value a function returns when the function can’t produce a result, for example, when float gets text that isn’t a number. If you leave out default, there is no fallback value, so most functions raise an error and the template fails. The parameter list of each function says what happens. If you set default, the function returns your value instead.

How to read a signature

Here is the signature of the round filter as an example:

round(
    value: Any,
    precision: int = 0,
    method: str = "common",
    default: Any,
) -> float | int | Any

round is the name of the function.
Between the parentheses are the parameters. Each parameter has a name, followed by a colon and the type of value the parameter expects. The type only tells you what kind of value to pass. For default: Any, you pass a value of any type, such as 0 or "unknown", not the word Any.
= 0 and = "common" are default values. You can leave out precision and method, and round uses these default values.
default has no =, but the parameter list marks default as optional. If you leave out default and round gets a value that isn’t a number, round raises an error.
-> shows the type of value the function returns.
Inside a signature, | means “or”. This function returns a decimal number, a whole number, or the value you passed as default.

round is a filter, so the first parameter, value, is the value before the |. For example, {{ 3.14159 | round(2) }} returns 3.14.

The types you’ll see most often:

str: text, such as "hello"
int: a whole number, such as 5
float: a decimal number, such as 3.14
bool: true or false
list: a list of values, such as [1, 2, 3]. list[str] is a list of texts.
dict: a set of keys and values, such as {"name": "Kitchen"}
datetime and timedelta: a date and time, and a duration. For details, refer to Dates and times.
None: no value
Any: any type of value

Some signatures use special forms:

*args means you can pass any number of values, separated by commas. For example, average(1, 2, 3).
value | name(...) means the function is a filter. The value before the | is passed to the filter as its first parameter. Some filter signatures, like the round example, show this value as the first parameter between the parentheses instead.

state_attr(
    entity_id: str,
    attribute: str,
) -> Any

Function parameters

The following parameters can be provided to this function.

entity_id string Required

The entity ID to get the attribute from.

attribute string Required

The name of the attribute to retrieve. Returns None if the entity or attribute does not exist.

Tip

To see all available attributes for an entity, go to Settings > Tools > States and select the entity. The attributes are listed below the state value.

Good to know

Returns None when the entity or attribute does not exist. Chain with | default(value) for a fallback.
Attribute values keep their original type, so numeric attributes like brightness come back as numbers without conversion.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Open Settings > Tools > Template, paste the example into the Template editor, and watch the result update on the right. Edit the values to see how the function adapts to your own 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 function comes up in automations and templates. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup.

Get the brightness of a light

Read how bright a light is currently set.

Template

{{ state_attr("light.living_room", "brightness") }}

Result (integer)

Get battery level

Check the battery percentage of a device.

Template

{{ state_attr("sensor.phone_battery", "battery_level") }}

Result (integer)

Use an attribute in a conditionConditions check whether something is true at that moment, for example, whether a door is closed. You can use them in automations and scripts. If a condition is not met, the actions that come after it in the same sequence do not run. At the top level of an automation or script, this stops the automation or script. [Learn more]

Check if the current temperature is below the target temperature.

Template

{{
  state_attr("climate.living_room", "current_temperature")
  < state_attr("climate.living_room", "temperature")
}}

Result (boolean)

true

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with your template and expected result, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Tip

AI assistants like ChatGPT or Claude can also explain or fix templates when you describe what you want in plain language.

Related template functions

These functions work well alongside this one:

Get entity state: states - Returns the state value of an entity, or lets you iterate over all entity states.
Test state attribute: is_state_attr - Tests if a specific attribute of an entity has a given value.
Test entity state: is_state - Tests if an entity is in a specific state.
Check if entity has a value: has_value - Tests if an entity exists and has a valid state (not unavailable or unknown).

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