Announce on satellite

Use this action to announce a message on an Assist satellite, for example to let the house know dinner is ready.

If you provide text, the satellite converts it to audio using the text-to-speech system of its configured pipeline. You can also provide a media ID to play your own audio instead.

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 make an announcement 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 satellite you want to announce on.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Announce on satellite.
7. Set the Message you want to announce, or a Media ID, and any other options.
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 assist_satellite.announce. A basic example looks like this:

action: assist_satellite.announce
target:
  entity_id: assist_satellite.kitchen
data:
  message: Dinner is ready!

This announces a message on assist_satellite.kitchen.

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 assist_satellite entity behind that target.

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

• Provide either a message or a media ID. A message is read out with text-to-speech, while a media ID plays your own audio.
• A chime plays before the announcement by default. To use your own sound, set a preannounce media ID. To turn the chime off, set preannounce to false.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Open Developer 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: announce when the laundry is done

When the washing machine finishes, announce it on the kitchen satellite.

• Trigger: Washing machine power drops to idle
• Action: Announce on satellite
  • Target: Kitchen satellite
  • Message: The laundry is done

alias: "Announce when the laundry is done"
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id: sensor.washing_machine_status
    to: idle
actions:
  - action: assist_satellite.announce
    target:
      entity_id: assist_satellite.kitchen
    data:
      message: The laundry is done

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:

• Start conversation on satellite: Starts a conversation from an Assist satellite.

• Ask question on satellite: Asks a question on an Assist satellite and gets the response.