Create calendar event

Use this action to add a new event to a calendar, for example to block out time or record that something happened.

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 create a calendar event 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 calendar you want to add the event to.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Create calendar event.
7. Set the Summary and the start and end of the event.
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 calendar.create_event. A basic example looks like this:

action: calendar.create_event
target:
  entity_id: calendar.family
data:
  summary: "Bowling night"
  start_date_time: "2024-03-10 20:00:00"
  end_date_time: "2024-03-10 23:00:00"
  location: "Bowling center"

This adds a Bowling night event to calendar.family.

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 calendar entity behind that target.

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

• Set the timing of the event in one of three ways: a start and end time, a start and end date for an all-day event, or in to create it a number of days or weeks from now.
• The end of an event is exclusive, so an all-day event on 2024-03-10 uses an end date of 2024-03-11.

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: log when the washing machine finishes

When the washing machine finishes, record it on a calendar so you have a history of when laundry was done.

• Trigger: Washing machine power drops to idle
• Action: Create calendar event
  • Target: Home log
  • Summary: Laundry finished

alias: "Log when the washing machine finishes"
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id: sensor.washing_machine_status
    to: idle
actions:
  - action: calendar.create_event
    target:
      entity_id: calendar.home_log
    data:
      summary: "Laundry finished"
      start_date_time: "2024-03-10 18:00:00"
      end_date_time: "2024-03-10 18:01:00"

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:

• Get calendar events: Gets the events on a calendar within a date range.