Stop effect

The Stop effect action stops a running effect on LIFX lights. Use it to end an effect that runs until you stop it, such as Color loop effect or Move effect, or to cut a longer effect short.

One call covers both kinds of effect. Home Assistant stops the effects it runs itself, such as Pulse and Color loop, and it also turns off the effects that run on the light’s own firmware, such as Move, Flame, Morph, and Sky. Lights that aren’t running an effect are left alone, so it’s safe to point this action at a whole area or floor.

Using this action from the user interface

If you prefer building automations and scripts visually, Home Assistant walks you through this action step by step. You pick what to target, tweak a few options, and save. No YAML knowledge required.

To stop a running effect from an automation or a script:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation or script, or select Create automation > Create new automation.
3. If you’re setting up a new automation, add a trigger in the When section. Scripts don’t need a trigger. They run when something else calls them.
4. In the Then do section, select Add action.
5. From the search box, search for and select Stop effect.
6. Select what you want to control. Under By target (see Targets), pick the area your LIFX lights are in (like your living room or bedroom). You can also select a floor, a device, a specific entity, or a label.
7. Select Save.

Options in the UI

This action has no options. All you choose is what to target.

Using this action in YAML

If you work directly in YAML, or you want to know exactly what Home Assistant does under the hood, this section has the technical reference. It lists the field names you use in YAML, their types, and which ones are required.

In YAML, refer to this action as lifx.effect_stop. A basic example looks like this:

action: lifx.effect_stop
target:
  entity_id: light.living_room

This stops any effect running on the living room lights.

Options in YAML

This action has no options. All you provide is the target.

Targets of the action

This action requires a target. The target is the object of the action. You can point the action at a single 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], a device, an area, a floor, or a label, and Home Assistant will run the action on every matching light entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific light entity, such as light.living_room.
• Device: every light entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every light entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every light entity on a floor.
• Label: every light entity that shares a label.

You can also select different target types in one action. For example, you can add a specific entity and an area as targets in the same action to run the action on both of them at once.

Good to know

• This action only works on lights that belong to the LIFX integrationIntegrations connect and integrate Home Assistant with your devices, services, and more. [Learn more]. When you target lights by entity and none of them is a LIFX light, Home Assistant reports an error: “The targets of action lifx.effect_stop include no LIFX light”. When you target an area, floor, device, or label that holds no LIFX light, nothing happens and no error is returned.
• Whichever effect you stop, each light goes back to the color and power state it had before the effect started. Home Assistant restores that state for the software effects, Pulse and Color loop, and the light restores it itself for the firmware effects, Move, Flame, Morph, and Sky.
• This can turn a light off. A light that was off when the effect started with Power on enabled is turned back off when you stop the effect.
• Starting Pulse or Color loop on a light ends the other software effect that’s already running there, but it doesn’t clear a firmware effect such as Move, Flame, Morph, or Sky. Use this action first when you want to swap a firmware effect for a software one, or whenever you want a light to stop animating without starting something new.
• You can also stop an effect from the regular light.turn_on action by setting its effect to effect_stop.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Open Settings > Tools > Actions, search for this action, fill in the fields, and select Perform action. You see what happens on your actual 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] without writing a line of YAML.

More examples

Real scenarios where this action shows up in automations and scripts. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup. In the visual editor, select the UI options listed in the example or paste the YAML code.

Automation: stop all light effects at bedtime

At 11 pm, stop any effect still running on your LIFX lights and turn them off, so nothing keeps animating overnight.

• Trigger: Time is 11:00 pm
• Action: Stop effect
  • Target: Living room lights (light.living_room)
• Action: Turn off light
  • Target: Living room lights (light.living_room)

alias: "Stop light effects at bedtime"
triggers:
  - trigger: time
    at: "23:00:00"
actions:
  - action: lifx.effect_stop
    target:
      entity_id: light.living_room
  - action: light.turn_off
    target:
      entity_id: light.living_room

Automation: stop effects when everyone leaves

When the last person leaves home, stop any running effect and send a confirmation to your phone.

• Trigger: Everyone leaves the home zone (zone.home)
• Action: Stop effect
  • Target: All LIFX lights (light.living_room, light.hallway)
• Action: Send a notification message
  • Target: My Device (notify.my_device)

alias: "Stop light effects when everyone leaves"
triggers:
  - trigger: numeric_state
    entity_id: zone.home
    below: 1
actions:
  - action: lifx.effect_stop
    target:
      entity_id:
        - light.living_room
        - light.hallway
  - action: notify.send_message
    target:
      entity_id: notify.my_device
    data:
      message: >
        The light effects have been stopped.

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with the action you’re calling and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Related actions

Explore related actions:

• Pulse effect: Run a flash effect on LIFX lights by changing to a color and back.

• Color loop effect: Run an effect on LIFX lights that loops colors around the color wheel.

• Move effect: Start the firmware-based Move effect on a multizone LIFX light, such as the LIFX Z, Lightstrip, or Beam.

• Flame effect: Start the firmware-based Flame effect on a matrix LIFX light, such as the LIFX Tile or Candle.

• Morph effect: Start the firmware-based Morph effect on a matrix LIFX light, such as the LIFX Tile or Candle.

• Sky effect: Start a firmware-based effect that animates a sky scene across a LIFX Ceiling, Luna, Mirror, E26 Candle, or E26 Tube.

• Set state: Change the color, brightness, and power of a LIFX light in a single step.