Activate scene

Use this action to activate a scene. A scene stores a set of states, such as which lights are on, how bright they are, and what color they have. Activating the scene puts all of those 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] back into the stored states in one step.

There is no action to turn a scene off. A scene describes a moment you want to return to, not something that stays switched on. To go back, activate another scene or turn the entities off yourself.

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 activate a scene 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. Select what you want to control. Under By target (see Targets), select the scene you want to activate.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Activate scene.
7. Optional: set a Transition so the change happens gradually instead of instantly.
8. Select Save.

Options in the UI

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 scene.turn_on. A basic example looks like this:

action: scene.turn_on
target:
  entity_id: scene.romantic

This activates the scene.romantic scene.

To ease into the scene instead of switching instantly, add a transition:

action: scene.turn_on
target:
  entity_id: scene.romantic
data:
  transition: 2.5

Options in YAML

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 scene entity behind that target.

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

• Transitions are only supported by lights, and the lights themselves must support them too. The scene doesn’t have to consist only of lights to use a transition.
• The scene state shows the time it was last activated. That makes it easy to check in the UI whether a scene ran.
• To apply a set of states without creating a scene first, use Apply scene.

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.

Automation: activate a scene when someone comes home

Set the living room to a welcoming look as soon as someone arrives.

• Trigger: Zone entered
  • Target: Paulus
  • Zone: Home
• Action: Activate scene
  • Target: Romantic
  • Transition: 2.5

- alias: "Activate the romantic scene on arrival"
  triggers:
    - trigger: zone.entered
      target:
        entity_id: person.paulus
      options:
        zone: zone.home
  actions:
    - action: scene.turn_on
      target:
        entity_id: scene.romantic
      data:
        transition: 2.5

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

These actions work well alongside this one:

• Apply scene: Activates a set of entity states without defining a scene first.

• Create scene: Creates a new scene on the fly.

• Reload scenes: Reloads the scenes from the YAML configuration.