Automations (iOS)

The Automations tab lists all your active and inactive automations. Tap any automation to view or edit it. Use the + button to create a new one.

Automation types

Custom Schedule

Sets your Powerwall reserve to a specific percentage at a specific time of day, on selected days of the week. It can also switch your Powerwall’s operating mode, toggle Storm Watch, and — on a Scheduled or Adaptive plan — disable or enable grid charging for the moment it fires.

Use case: lower your reserve overnight when grid rates are cheap, raise it before peak hours.

See the Custom Schedule web docs for the full settings reference.

Peak Time

Automatically adjusts your reserve during peak rate hours to maximize battery usage when grid power costs the most.

Use case: avoid pulling from the grid during your utility’s peak pricing window.

DemandGuard

Monitors your demand usage in real time and switches your Powerwall to battery-only mode when you’re approaching your peak demand threshold for the billing period. Resets automatically at the start of each billing period. Grid charging is also paused during the demand window so Tesla can’t quietly pull from the grid mid-period.

Use case: stay below a demand tier or reduce peak demand charges.

New DemandGuard automations always use Battery hold, which stops your battery discharging during a demand event while your home runs on grid power. Solar can still charge it; the grid can’t. Existing automations on Mode switch (classic), which toggles Tesla’s operation mode instead, keep it until you change them: the Hold strategy choice appears when you edit one, and once you save it as Battery hold the choice no longer appears. With Mode switch, Tesla decides what the battery does during peak. It often runs your home from the battery and sends solar to the grid, so a battery you filled before peak can drain. New automations also start with Respect Tesla’s Storm Watch off. The form also includes the Demand Floor and Weather Guard options. The Demand Floor is as low as the battery goes during the window, so a floor of 25% or higher shows a warning with how much of the battery DemandGuard has left to use. See Demand Floor (web).

Battery hold works by switching your Powerwall into Backup mode, a hidden Tesla mode that pins your battery at its exact charge level, including 81–99%, where Tesla’s own reserve controls can’t hold directly. DemandGuard also picks how it holds you on grid power based on how much solar you’re producing, so it costs you the least battery possible. See How the hold adapts to solar for the full breakdown.

See the DemandGuard web docs for full configuration details — settings are identical between web and iOS.

Battery Threshold

Watches your battery level and charges from the grid when it drops below a percentage you set. Runs during the time windows you configure — great for pre-charging before peak hours or maintaining a minimum overnight reserve.

Use case: get the battery topped up before expensive rate periods start, or keep a minimum charge level during off-peak hours.

Battery Threshold rules live on the Background Rules screen — tap the Background Rules card on the Automations tab. It’s the home for the automations Grid Getter runs on its own, with no schedule for you to set. The screen was previously called Battery Protection.

See the Battery Threshold web docs for full configuration details.

If your site has no resting mode set yet, a card above the list asks which mode you normally run. Save it once and the card goes away.

Pre-Peak Charge

Forecasts your solar each afternoon and charges from the grid only when the battery won’t reach your target by peak on its own. It has no schedule. It fills the battery before your Peak Time or DemandGuard window opens, so it needs one of those automations to do anything.

Use case: meet peak with a full battery on a cloudy afternoon, without grid charging on sunny days.

Pre-Peak Charge is available on Adaptive plans. See the Pre-Peak Charge web docs for how the forecast works.

Background Rules

The Background Rules screen opens with a MANAGED FOR YOU heading: Grid Getter decides when these rules run, working around your other automations and the weather. Battery Threshold rules and Pre-Peak Charge both live here. On an Adaptive plan, Pre-Peak Charge is listed first; on other plans it appears after your Battery Threshold rules.

The Pre-Peak Charge card

The card is titled Pre-Peak Charge with the subtitle Solar forecast · grid top-up, and a status pill:

Available: included with your plan but not set up. Tap Turn on Pre-Peak Charge.
Locked: your plan doesn’t include it. Tap Upgrade to add Pre-Peak Charge to see plans.
On: solar looks sufficient so far today. The card shows your peak window, target reserve, and when it last checked.
Charge planned: today’s forecast falls short, so a grid top-up is scheduled. The card shows when it starts and how far short the forecast is.
Charging: a top-up is running. The card shows the charge range, the rate, and when peak begins.
Skipped today: you skipped today’s top-up. Tap Undo skip to turn it back on.
Unavailable: “This site guards all 24 hours.” Your DemandGuard automation runs every hour of the day, so there’s no time before peak to charge into.

Once it’s set up, a switch on the card turns it on or off, and Edit opens its settings.

Pre-Peak Charge settings

The form is titled Turn on Pre-Peak Charge when you set it up and Edit Pre-Peak Charge after that.

Active: on or off
Target battery charge: the level to reach before peak, from 50% to 80% in 5% steps, or 100%. Grid Getter grid-charges only if solar won’t get there before your peak window starts.
Use weather forecast: factor in cloud cover when predicting solar production

Tap Create or Update to save. To remove it, tap Delete Pre-Peak Charge and confirm.

Until Pre-Peak Charge is set up, a banner on the Automations tab points you to it. On an Adaptive plan it reads Pre-Peak Charge is on your Background Rules page, with Set up Pre-Peak Charge. On other plans it reads Pre-Peak Charge comes with Adaptive, with See Adaptive. Both include a How the forecast works link. Tap ✕ to hide it.

Creating an automation

Tap + in the top-right corner of the Automations tab.
Choose the automation type.
Fill in the settings (schedule, reserve percentage, threshold, etc.).
Tap Save.

The automation activates immediately and appears in your list.

Editing an automation

Tap any automation in the list to open its detail view. Make changes and tap Save.

Enabling and disabling

Each automation card has a toggle switch. Flip it off to pause the automation without deleting it. The automation stays in your list and can be re-enabled at any time.

Pausing all your automations

You can pause every automation at once from the web app, for today or until a date. The app doesn’t have this control yet, and it doesn’t show the pause. During one, the app can still show a next run that won’t fire, and starting a rule from the app does nothing until you tap Resume on the web.

When your plan ends

If your paid plan ends, or you move from Adaptive to Scheduled, DemandGuard, Peak Time and Pre-Peak Charge rules the new plan doesn’t include finish the window they’re in, then turn off. While a rule is finishing, its card shows an Ends badge with the time it turns off (for example Ends 12:00 AM, or Ends Sun 12:00 AM when that’s another day), and a note saying it keeps running until then. Afterward the card reads Turned off when your plan ended. The rule keeps its settings; switch it back on once you’re on a plan that includes it. See When your plan ends.

Deleting an automation

Open the automation detail view and scroll to the bottom. Tap Delete Automation and confirm.

Automation history

Every action your automations take is recorded in the Activity Log. Two ways to get there:

Tap the Alerts tab and switch to Automation or DemandGuard
Tap the Activity Log card on the Automations screen (next to Background Rules)

Automation actions also appear in your notification history — the Notifications view in the same Alerts tab.