Toggle alert

Use this action to switch an alert between acknowledged and not acknowledged. If the alert is sending notifications, it’s acknowledged and stops. If it’s already acknowledged, it starts sending notifications again.

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 toggle an alert 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 Toggle.
6. Select what you want to control. Under By target (see Targets), select the alert. You can also select an area, a device, or a label.
7. Select Save.

Options in the UI

This action has no additional 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 alert.toggle. A basic example looks like this:

action: alert.toggle
target:
  entity_id: alert.garage_door

This toggles the alert.garage_door alert.

Options in YAML

This action has no additional 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 alert entity behind that target.

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

• An acknowledgement only lasts while the alert is active. The next time the alert starts, it sends notifications again.
• If the alert is set up with can_acknowledge: false, toggling it to acknowledged fails with an error.

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: toggle an alert with an NFC tag

Place an NFC tag next to your front door. Scanning it acknowledges the garage door alert, and scanning it again turns the alert back on.

• Trigger: Tag
  • Tag: Front door tag
• Action: Toggle
  • Target: Garage door alert

alias: "Toggle the garage door alert with the front door tag"
triggers:
  - trigger: tag
    tag_id: "A7-6B-90-5F"
actions:
  - action: alert.toggle
    target:
      entity_id: alert.garage_door

Automation: toggle an alert from a phone notification

Your alert notification has a button with the ID TOGGLE_LEAK_ALERT. Selecting it switches the water leak alert between acknowledged and active.

• Trigger: Manual event received
  • Event type: mobile_app_notification_action
  • Event data: action: TOGGLE_LEAK_ALERT
• Action: Toggle
  • Target: Water leak alert

alias: "Toggle the water leak alert from my phone"
triggers:
  - trigger: event
    event_type: mobile_app_notification_action
    event_data:
      action: TOGGLE_LEAK_ALERT
actions:
  - action: alert.toggle
    target:
      entity_id: alert.water_leak

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:

• Acknowledge alert: Acknowledges an alert, so it stops sending notifications.

• Turn on alert: Removes the acknowledgement of an alert, so it sends notifications again.