Increment counter

Use this action to increase a counter by its configured step size, for example to count how often something happens, like a door opening or a routine running. The step size defaults to 1, but you can set a different step when you create the counter.

If the counter has a maximum, it stops at that maximum and does not go higher.

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 increment a counter 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 counter you want to increase.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Increment counter.
7. Select Save.

Options in the UI

This action has no additional options beyond the target.

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 counter.increment. A basic example looks like this:

action: counter.increment
target:
  entity_id: counter.front_door_openings

This increases counter.front_door_openings by its step size.

Options in YAML

This action has no additional YAML options beyond the target.

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 counter entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific counter entity, such as counter.living_room.
• Device: every counter entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every counter entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every counter entity on a floor.
• Label: every counter 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 counter goes up by its step size, not always by 1. The step is whatever you set when you created the counter.
• When the counter reaches its maximum, it stays there and does not increase further.

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: count how often the front door opens

Increase a counter each time a sensor reports an event, for example to count how many times the front door opens.

• Trigger: Front door contact sensor opens
• Action: Increment counter
  • Target: Front door openings

- alias: "Count front door openings"
  triggers:
    - trigger: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.front_door
      to: "on"
  actions:
    - action: counter.increment
      target:
        entity_id: counter.front_door_openings

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:

• Decrement counter: Decreases a counter by its step size.

• Reset counter: Resets a counter to its initial value.

• Set counter value: Sets a counter to a specific value.