Presence detection uses the Minut sensor's motion data combined with your booking schedule to automatically alert you when something unexpected happens at your property. You don't need to watch the app manually: Minut compares actual motion against when a stay is or isn't scheduled and notifies you when something doesn't match.
Presence detection requires an active booking schedule either connected via the Airbnb integration, a PMS, or manually added stays. Without a booking schedule, Minut cannot determine whether motion is expected or unexpected.
Motion from sensors placed outdoors is ignored for most checks. The sensor must be placed indoors in a location where it can reliably detect movement: a hallway, living room, or entryway works best. Early departure and early check-out always require at least one online indoor sensor to run.
Presence detection alerts
There are five alert types. Two are enabled by default whenever a new motion automation profile is created; the others are off by default and must be turned on manually in the unit's motion automation profile.
Arrival
On by default
Motion is detected for the first time after a new stay has started, confirming the guest has checked in and recording an arrival time on the reservation.
No motion since stay start
On by default
No motion is detected before the no-show window configured on the unit's motion automation profile elapses after a new stay has started, indicating a possible delayed check-in or no-show.
Early departure
Off by default
No motion is detected for an entire night and morning- from 9pm to 11am - on a day that is neither the arrival nor departure day. Suggests the guest may have left early. This is evaluated once per day, in the late morning, for units with an indoor sensor.
Early check-out
Off by default
No motion is detected for 2 hours after initial morning movement (after 6am) on the departure day suggesting the guest has already left.
Motion during vacancy
Off by default
Motion is detected at night in a unit where no stay is currently scheduled. Alerts to unexpected access useful for detecting unauthorised entry or short-notice sub-letting. See section 2 below for details.
Motion during vacancy
When enabled, Minut sends an alert when motion is detected in a vacant unit during nighttime hours even if the sensor temporarily lost Wi-Fi during the event.
Alert window | Motion events only trigger vacancy alerts between 18:00 and 06:00 in the property's local timezone. Daytime movement- cleaning crews, maintenance visits- does not trigger an alert. |
Repeat alert frequency | A single night produces at most one unexpected-presence alert for the unit. Minut uses a night-long cooldown that roughly matches the 18:00–06:00 alert window, so a second alert will not fire once motion has already been detected that night. |
Notification delay | Vacancy alerts can take up to 1 hour to arrive after motion is detected. |
Motion during Wi-Fi loss | If the sensor temporarily loses Wi-Fi, it continues tracking motion locally. Once reconnected, missed motion events appear in the event log with the timestamp of when they occurred. If the motion was within the last 10 hours, you will receive a push notification and email. If more than 10 hours ago, you will receive an email only, no push notification, to avoid confusing old alerts with live ones. |
How motion alerts behave
Who is notified | Notifications depend on the alert type. Motion during vacancy goes to owners and admins by email, with push notifications to any team member with access. Arrival notifications go to the account's billing user. No-show alerts go to whoever is configured to receive notifications for the unit. Early departure and early check-out alerts go to the host by push and email — early departure can also optionally send an automated message to the guest via Messaging (SMS, email, or WhatsApp, depending on the guest's contact details). Each member can customise their own notification preferences. |
Where alerts appear | Every alert appears in the unit's event log and activity timeline in the app, regardless of notification settings. |
Sensor placement matters | For reliable presence detection, the sensor must be placed indoors in a location where full-body human movement is regularly detectable; a hallway or living room is ideal. A sensor mounted in a corner, behind furniture, or in a low-traffic area may miss motion events. |
Presence detection works best with an up-to-date booking schedule. All alerts - including arrival and vacancy are calculated against your stay calendar. If a stay is added late or a checkout is extended without updating Minut, alerts may not fire correctly. Keep your booking integration synced or manually update stays when needed.
Presence detection card
Each unit's details overview, and its Monitoring settings, includes a Presence detection card. It's always visible and shows the unit's current presence settings and recent presence events, so you can see at a glance whether presence detection is active and what it has recorded.
Enable presence detection
Presence detection is configured per unit through that unit's motion automation profile. Each alert type can be toggled on or off independently within a profile. Profiles can be created, copied, edited, deleted, and assigned to units in bulk, so you can reuse the same configuration across similar units instead of setting each one up individually.
Web app
Go to web.minut.com, open the unit, and go to its Monitoring settings
Open the unit's motion automation profile (or select an existing profile to assign to it)
Toggle each alert type on or off as needed — changes apply immediately to every unit using that profile
Mobile app
Tap More (...) at the bottom of the screen → tap Monitoring under Settings
Open the unit's motion automation profile
Toggle each alert type on or off — changes apply to every unit using that profile
Managing notifications
Each team member can independently control how they receive presence detection notifications without affecting the alert settings for the rest of the organisation.
Web app
Click your organisation name in the top left → click Notifications
Adjust your preferences under the Presence detection section: push, email, or both
Mobile app
Tap your profile icon → tap your name in the top left → tap Notifications
Adjust your preferences under the Presence detection section
Turning off notifications does not disable the feature. Alerts will still appear in the event log even if you disable push and email notifications. If you want to stop receiving a particular alert entirely, disable the alert type in the unit's motion automation profile, not in your notification preferences.