Restart FFmpeg sensor

Use this action to restart an FFmpeg sensor. The sensor stops analyzing its stream and starts again right away. This helps when a camera stream has dropped and the sensor stopped working.

This action works with the binary sensors of the FFmpeg motion and FFmpeg noise integrations, which use FFmpeg to analyze a camera or audio stream.

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 restart an FFmpeg sensor 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. From the search box, search for and select Restart.
6. Optional: In Entity, select the FFmpeg sensor. Leave it empty to restart all FFmpeg sensors.
7. Select Save.

This action does not support targets. You choose the sensor with the Entity option instead.

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 ffmpeg.restart. A basic example looks like this:

action: ffmpeg.restart
data:
  entity_id: binary_sensor.driveway_motion

This restarts the binary_sensor.driveway_motion sensor.

Options in YAML

Good to know

• Restarting is the same as stopping the sensor and starting it again.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Open Settings > 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: restart a sensor that stopped working

If the camera stream drops, the FFmpeg sensor becomes unavailable. This automation restarts it after it has been unavailable for 5 minutes.

• Trigger: State changed
  • Entity: Driveway motion (binary_sensor.driveway_motion)
  • To: Unavailable
  • For at least: 5 minutes
• Action: Restart
  • Entity: Driveway motion (binary_sensor.driveway_motion)

alias: "Restart the driveway motion sensor when it stops working"
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id: binary_sensor.driveway_motion
    to: "unavailable"
    for:
      minutes: 5
actions:
  - action: ffmpeg.restart
    data:
      entity_id: binary_sensor.driveway_motion

Automation: restart the sensors every night

Some camera streams slowly get out of sync. Restarting the FFmpeg sensors every night at 03:00 gives them a fresh start.

• Trigger: Time
  • At time: 03:00
• Action: Restart
  • Entity: Leave empty to restart all FFmpeg sensors

alias: "Restart all FFmpeg sensors every night"
triggers:
  - trigger: time
    at: "03:00:00"
actions:
  - action: ffmpeg.restart

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

Explore related actions:

• Start FFmpeg sensor: Starts analyzing the stream of an FFmpeg-based sensor.

• Stop FFmpeg sensor: Stops analyzing the stream of an FFmpeg-based sensor.