Request sync

Use this action to ask Google to sync your devices from Home Assistant again. After a sync, the Google Home app shows the devices you currently expose, including any you added or removed. It’s the same as saying “Hey Google, sync my devices”.

This action is for the manual Google Assistant setup. If you use Home Assistant Cloud, you don’t need it: Home Assistant Cloud syncs your devices with Google for you when you change which entities are exposed.

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 request a sync 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 Google Assistant: Request sync.
6. In an automation, enter the Agent user ID. See the options below.
7. Select Save.

This action does not support targets. In the UI, you are not prompted to choose an area, device, entity, or label.

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 google_assistant.request_sync. A basic example looks like this:

action: google_assistant.request_sync
data:
  agent_user_id: "YOUR_USER_ID"

This asks Google to sync the devices for the Google account linked to that Home Assistant user.

Options in YAML

Good to know

• This action needs a service_account in your Google Assistant YAML configuration. Without it, the sync fails and Home Assistant logs an error. See Utilize device sync.
• If no agent user ID is given and the action doesn’t run as a user, nothing is synced and Home Assistant logs a warning.
• If the sync fails with an error, see Troubleshooting on the Google Assistant page.

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: sync with Google after Home Assistant starts

When you add or remove devices in your YAML configuration, restart Home Assistant. This automation then asks Google to sync, so the Google Home app shows your devices right away.

• Trigger: Home Assistant
  • Event: Start
• Action: Google Assistant: Request sync
  • Agent user ID: Your Home Assistant user ID

alias: "Sync devices with Google after a restart"
triggers:
  - trigger: homeassistant
    event: start
actions:
  - action: google_assistant.request_sync
    data:
      agent_user_id: "YOUR_USER_ID"

Automation: sync with Google when you add a new entity

When a new entity is added to Home Assistant, ask Google to sync, so a new device shows up in the Google Home app without saying “Hey Google, sync my devices”.

• Trigger: Manual event received
  • Event type: entity_registry_updated
  • Event data: action: create
• Action: Google Assistant: Request sync
  • Agent user ID: Your Home Assistant user ID

alias: "Sync devices with Google when an entity is added"
triggers:
  - trigger: event
    event_type: entity_registry_updated
    event_data:
      action: create
actions:
  - action: google_assistant.request_sync
    data:
      agent_user_id: "YOUR_USER_ID"

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.