2026.11.0
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Clear images

The Clear images action deletes the images that the Generate image action saved in the media directory. Home Assistant never deletes these images on its own, so they keep taking up disk space. Use this action to remove all of them, or only the ones older than a number of days.

This action can only be used by administrators.

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 clear images 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 AI Task: Clear images.
  6. Optionally, set Older than to the number of days to keep.
  7. Select Save.

Options in the UI

Older than (Optional)

Only deletes images that are older than this many days, from 1 to 3650. For example, a value of 30 keeps the images generated in the last 30 days. If omitted, all generated images are deleted.

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 ai_task.clear_images. This example deletes images older than 30 days:

ActionAn action makes Home Assistant do something, for example, turn on a light, send a notification, or activate a scene. Automations and scripts run a list of actions. [Learn more] 
action: ai_task.clear_images
data:
  days: 30

Options in YAML

days integer (Optional)

Only deletes images that are older than this many days, from 1 to 3650. For example, a value of 30 keeps the images generated in the last 30 days. If omitted, all generated images are deleted.

Good to know

  • The age of an image is counted from when it was generated. Viewing an image doesn’t make it newer.
  • Every file in the AI Task image folder (ai_task/image in your media directory) is deleted, so don’t store your own files there. Other files in the media directory are left alone.
  • To keep the folder small, call this action with days from an automation, for example once a week.

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.

Tip

AI assistants like ChatGPT or Claude can also explain actions or suggest the right one when you describe what you want in plain language.

Related actions

Explore related actions:

  • Generate image: Uses AI to generate an image from a set of instructions.