2026.6.3
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Display a message

The Display a message action shows a short text message on your LaMetric device. You can enrich the message with an icon or animation and play a sound alongside it.

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 display a message 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 LaMetric: Display a message.
  6. Select the LaMetric device to display the message on.
  7. Enter the text to show in the Message field.
  8. Optional: add an icon, a sound, the number of cycles, an icon type, and a priority.
  9. Select Save.

Options in the UI

Device

The LaMetric device to display the message on.
Message

The message to display.
Icon ID (Optional)

The ID number of the icon or animation to display. The full list of icons and their IDs is at developer.lametric.com/icons.
Sound (Optional)

The notification sound to play. See Notification sounds for the full list.
Cycles (Optional)

How many times to display the message. Set to 0 to keep it on screen until it is dismissed.
Icon type (Optional)

The type of icon to display, indicating the nature of the notification. One of none, info, or alert.
Priority (Optional)

The priority of the notification. When the device is running in screensaver or kiosk mode, only critical notifications are accepted. One of info, warning, or critical.

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 lametric.message. A basic example looks like this:

ActionActions are used in several places in Home Assistant. As part of a script or automation, actions define what is going to happen once a trigger is activated. In scripts, an action is called *sequence*. [Learn more] 
action: lametric.message
data:
  device_id: 1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef
  message: "Hello there!"

This shows the text “Hello there!” on the LaMetric device with the given ID.

Options in YAML

device_id string Required

The ID of the LaMetric device to display the message on.

message string Required

The message to display.

icon string

The ID number of the icon or animation to display. The full list of icons and their IDs is at developer.lametric.com/icons.

sound string

The notification sound to play. See Notification sounds for the full list.

cycles integer

How many times to display the message. Set to 0 to keep it on screen until it is dismissed.

icon_type string

The type of icon to display, indicating the nature of the notification. One of none, info, or alert.

priority string

The priority of the notification. When the device is running in screensaver or kiosk mode, only critical notifications are accepted. One of info, warning, or critical.

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.

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.

Tip

AI assistants like ChatGPT or Claude can also explain actions or suggest the right one when you describe what you want in plain language.

Related actions

These actions work well alongside this one:

  • Display a chart: Display a chart on a LaMetric device from a list of numeric data points.