Some aspects of this disclosure relate to apparatuses and methods for implementing techniques for a use equipment (UE) to determine, based on a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, a sensing beam to wirelessly communicate with a base station over a channel in an unlicensed spectrum. The UE can receive, using a receiving beam, control information including a TCI state, determine a sensing beam indicated by the TCI state included in the control information, sense a channel occupancy of the channel between the UE and the base station by performing Clear Channel Assessment using the sensing beam. Furthermore, the UE can determine, based on the channel occupancy, whether the channel is free to be utilized for communication by the UE using the sensing beam.