Upload file

The Upload file action sends a media file, such as a photo or video, to your Immich instance. Optionally, you can place the uploaded file directly into one of your albums.

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 upload a file from an automation or a 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 Immich: Upload file.
6. Select the Immich instance to upload to.
7. Select the File to upload.
8. Optionally, enter an Album ID to place the file in a specific album.
9. 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 immich.upload_file:

action: immich.upload_file
data:
  config_entry_id: YOUR_CONFIG_ENTRY_ID
  file:
    media_content_id: "media-source://media_source/local/photo.jpg"
    media_content_type: "image/jpeg"
  album_id: YOUR_ALBUM_ID

This uploads a local photo to the selected Immich instance and places it in the given album.

Options in YAML

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.

Script: upload a camera snapshot

Take a snapshot of a camera entity with the camera.snapshot action, store it using a local media path, then upload it to a specific album in your Immich instance.

sequence:
  - variables:
      file_name: camera.yourcamera_{{ now().strftime("%Y%m%d-%H%M%S") }}.jpg
  - action: camera.snapshot
    data:
      filename: "/media/{{ file_name }}"
    target:
      entity_id: camera.yourcamera
  - action: immich.upload_file
    data:
      config_entry_id: 01JVJ0RA387MWA938VE8HGXBMJ
      file:
        media_content_id: "media-source://media_source/local/{{ file_name }}"
        media_content_type: "image/jpeg"
      album_id: f2de0ede-d7d4-4db3-afe3-7288f4e65bb1

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.