Play camera stream

Use this action to send a live camera stream to a media player, for example to show the front door camera on a TV when someone rings the doorbell. This action needs the stream integration to be set up.

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 play a camera stream 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 camera you want to stream.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Play camera stream.
7. Set the Media player to stream to. Optionally, set a Format.
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 camera.play_stream. A basic example looks like this:

action: camera.play_stream
target:
  entity_id: camera.living_room_camera
data:
  media_player: media_player.living_room_tv

This streams camera.living_room_camera to media_player.living_room_tv.

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

• This action only works with camera entities, and needs the stream integration to be set up.

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: show the front door camera when the doorbell rings

Stream the front door camera to a TV when someone presses the doorbell.

• Trigger: Doorbell is pressed
• Action: Play camera stream
  • Target: Front door camera
  • Media player: Living room TV

- alias: "Show the front door camera when the doorbell rings"
  triggers:
    - trigger: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.doorbell
      to: "on"
  actions:
    - action: camera.play_stream
      target:
        entity_id: camera.front_door
      data:
        media_player: media_player.living_room_tv

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:

• Take camera snapshot: Takes a snapshot from a camera.

• Record camera feed: Creates a recording of a live camera feed.

• Turn on camera: Turns on a camera.

• Turn off camera: Turns off a camera.

• Enable camera motion detection: Enables the motion detection of a camera.

• Disable camera motion detection: Disables the motion detection of a camera.