Reload HomeKit

The Reload HomeKit action reloads the HomeKit Bridge integration and reprocesses its YAML configuration. Use it after you change YAML-defined HomeKit settings and want Home Assistant to apply those changes without a restart.

This action only reloads HomeKit instances that are defined in YAML. It does not change instances you manage from the UI.

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 use this action in an automation or script:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation or script, or select Create to start a new one.
3. If you’re setting up a new automation, add a trigger in the When section. Scripts don’t need a trigger.
4. In the Then do section, select Add action.
5. From the search box, search for and select HomeKit Bridge: Reload HomeKit.
6. 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

This action has no additional 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 homekit.reload:

action: homekit.reload

This reloads HomeKit and reprocesses your YAML configuration.

Options in YAML

This action has no additional options in YAML.

Good to know

• Only an administrator account can run this action.
• This action reloads YAML-defined HomeKit instances only. Instances you create in the UI are not changed.
• If you have not changed your YAML, running this action does not make any visible changes.

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: reload HomeKit after a scheduled YAML sync

If another process updates your HomeKit YAML before a set time, you can schedule this action so Home Assistant picks up those changes automatically.

• Trigger: A scheduled time
• Action: HomeKit Bridge: Reload HomeKit

alias: "Reload HomeKit after nightly YAML sync"
triggers:
  - trigger: time
    at: "03:05:00"
actions:
  - action: homekit.reload

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:

• Reset accessory: Resets a HomeKit accessory.

• Unpair an accessory or bridge: Forcefully removes all pairings from an accessory to allow re-pairing.