Get schedule

Use this action to read the configured time ranges of one or more schedules, for example to include today’s schedule in a notification. You can read several schedules in one call.

This action returns its result in a response variable, which you can use in later steps of the same automation or script.

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 get a schedule 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 schedules you want to read.
6. From the actions shown for that target, under Schedule, select Get schedule.
7. Select Save.

Options in the UI

This action has no additional options beyond the 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. For how an automation or a script is built in YAML, refer to Automations in YAML and Scripts.

In YAML, refer to this action as schedule.get_schedule. Store the result in a response variable so you can use it in later steps:

action: schedule.get_schedule
target:
  entity_id:
    - schedule.vacuum_robot
    - schedule.air_purifier
response_variable: schedules

This returns the configured time ranges for schedule.vacuum_robot and schedule.air_purifier.

Options in YAML

This action has no additional YAML options beyond 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 schedule entity behind that target.

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

Response data

The response contains a field for every schedule entity you targeted. Each schedule has seven fields, one for each day of the week in lowercase, containing a list of the configured time ranges. Days without any ranges are returned as an empty list. Each time range has a from and a to time.

A shortened example of the response looks like this:

schedule.vacuum_robot:
  monday:
    - from: "09:00:00"
      to: "15:00:00"
  tuesday: []
  wednesday: []
  thursday:
    - from: "09:00:00"
      to: "15:00:00"
  friday: []
  saturday: []
  sunday: []
schedule.air_purifier:
  monday:
    - from: "09:00:00"
      to: "18:00:00"
  tuesday: []
  wednesday: []
  thursday:
    - from: "09:00:00"
      to: "18:00:00"
  friday: []
  saturday:
    - from: "10:30:00"
      to: "12:00:00"
    - from: "14:00:00"
      to: "19:00:00"
  sunday: []

You can then use this response data in a later step, for example to send today’s time ranges in a notification:

action: notify.nina
data:
  title: "Today's schedules"
  message: |-
    Your vacuum robot will run today:
    
    {% set today = now().strftime('%A').lower() %}
    {% for event in schedules['schedule.vacuum_robot'][today] %}
    - from {{ event.from }} until {{ event.to }}
    {% endfor %}
    

Good to know

• Each day is keyed by its lowercase English name, such as monday, regardless of your interface language.
• A day with no configured time ranges is returned as an empty list.
• The response data uses the same format as the YAML configuration of a schedule. You can use it to create a new schedule from an existing one. For the steps, see Copying a schedule.

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: List the time blocks of a heating schedule

If you want to create a new schedule based on one you already have, list the time blocks of the existing schedule and use them as a reference when you create the new one. For example, you can create a new heating schedule with extra time blocks for the weekend. This automation uses a button helper to start the copy and creates a persistent notification with the time blocks.

• Trigger: State changed
  • Entity: Copy heating schedule button
• Action: Schedule: Get schedule
  • Target: Heating schedule
  • Response variable: schedules
• Action: Persistent Notification: Create persistent notification
  • Title: Time blocks of your heating schedule
  • Message: (A template that lists the time blocks of each day)

alias: "List the time blocks of the heating schedule"
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id: input_button.copy_heating_schedule
actions:
  - action: schedule.get_schedule
    target:
      entity_id: schedule.heating
    response_variable: schedules
  - action: persistent_notification.create
    data:
      title: "Time blocks of your heating schedule"
      message: |
        Use these time blocks to create your new schedule.
        {% for day, blocks in schedules['schedule.heating'].items() %}
        {%- set ns = namespace(times=[]) %}
        {%- for block in blocks %}
        {%- set start = block['from'] | string %}
        {%- set end = block['to'] | string %}
        {%- set end = '24:00:00' if end == '23:59:59.999999' else end %}
        {%- set time = start ~ ' to ' ~ end %}
        {%- if block.get('data') %}
        {%- set time = time ~ ' (`' ~ block['data'] | to_json ~ '`)' %}
        {%- endif %}
        {%- set ns.times = ns.times + [time] %}
        {%- endfor %}
        {%- set summary = ns.times | join(', ') or 'no time blocks' -%}
        - **{{ day | capitalize }}**: {{ summary }}
        {% endfor %}

Still stuck?

To test the action on its own, run it in the automation editor with Run action, and check the message that it shows. To see what the action did when the automation ran, open the trace of that run. For details, refer to Testing automations. For common problems and their solutions, refer to Troubleshooting automations.

If that doesn’t help, 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:

• Reload schedules: Reloads schedules from your YAML configuration.