Trigger camera

The Trigger camera action asks a Blink camera to take a new still image.

This is handy when you want an up-to-date snapshot from an automation or a script, for example before saving the image somewhere with the camera actions.

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 trigger a camera 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 Blink camera you want to trigger.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Blink: Trigger camera.
7. Select Save.

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 blink.trigger_camera. A basic example looks like this:

action: blink.trigger_camera
target:
  entity_id: camera.blink_front_door

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 camera entity behind that target.

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

• The camera sensors, such as temperature and Wi-Fi strength, only update when a new image is requested. Triggering the camera is one way to refresh them.
• Keep a minimum of 5 seconds between sequential Blink actions. Calls made too quickly after each other can be throttled and ignored.

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: snap a picture and save it locally

Take a new image with a Blink camera and then save it to a local file using the camera snapshot action.

• Trigger: whatever should start the snapshot, such as a motion sensor
• Action 1: Blink: Trigger camera
  • Target: Front door camera
• Action 2: Camera: Take snapshot
  • Target: Front door camera
  • Filename: the path where the image is saved

alias: "Blink snap picture"
sequence:
  - action: blink.trigger_camera
    target:
      entity_id: camera.blink_front_door
  - action: camera.snapshot
    target:
      entity_id: camera.blink_front_door
    data:
      filename: "/config/www/my_image.jpg"

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:

• Record: Requests a Blink camera to record a new video clip.

• Save video: Saves the last recorded video clip of a Blink camera to a local file.

• Save recent clips: Saves all recent video clips of a Blink camera to a local directory.