Conditionals

Conditionals define how node values are compared or evaluated in If State rules. Each condition uses an operator and, optionally, a value type to determine how comparisons are made.

Operators

==, !=, is, and is not

These operators test whether two values are equal or not equal, using JavaScript’s equality operator.

• is is an alias for ==
• is not is an alias for !=

Example: is "on" → true if the entity state is "on"

<, <=, >, and >=

These operators perform numeric or lexicographic comparisons, depending on the data type.

Example: Compare a temperature sensor value: entity.state < 25

in and not in

These operators check if a value is contained in (or not contained in) a list. The list can be either a comma-separated string or an array.

Example:

in: "on,off"

This condition is true if the value equals either "on" or "off".

includes and not includes

These operators check whether an array includes (or does not include) a specified value.

Example: Check if a user ID exists in an array of authorized users.

is null and is not null

Checks whether a value is null or not.

• is null → true if the value is null
• is not null → true if the value is not null

starts with

Checks if a string begins with a given substring.

Example: "sensor.kitchen_temperature" starts with "sensor.kitchen"

in group

Checks whether an entity ID exists in the attributes.entity_id list of a specified Home Assistant group.

Example: Returns true if the entity is part of group.living_room_lights.

JSONata

Executes a JSONata expression, which must evaluate to a boolean. JSONata allows complex, dynamic logic for advanced condition handling.

For Home Assistant–specific examples, see JSONata Expressions.

Value Types

Value types determine how the comparison value is interpreted.

string, number, boolean, regular expression, and JSONata expression

These cast or evaluate the comparison value as the specified type before the condition is applied.

msg, flow, and global

These reference the Node-RED context and allow comparisons against values stored in message, flow, or global context.

• msg → current message context
• flow → flow-level context
• global → global context shared across flows

entity and prevEntity

These types reference the current and previous entity states that triggered the node.

• entity → current entity state
• prevEntity → previous entity state

Examples

To check the entity’s current state:

entity.: "state"

To reference an attribute (e.g., brightness):

entity.: "attributes.brightness"

Home Assistant State Boolean

The Home Assistant State Boolean type uses the boolean mappings defined in your server’s State Boolean configuration.

By default:

• True values: y, yes, on, true, home, open
• False values: Any other value

These true values are stored as an array, allowing you to use the in and not in operators for comparisons.