Stop lawn mower

Use this action to stop a robotic lawn mower and cancel its current task. The mower stays where it is and becomes idle: it does not return to the dock, and the next start begins a fresh run instead of resuming the old one.

This differs from pausing, which keeps the task so it can be resumed, and from docking, which sends the mower home. Use it when you want the mower to stop right away, like when a child or a pet enters the lawn, or when you want to abandon a run and start over later.

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 stop a lawn mower 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. Select what you want to control. Under By target (see Targets), select the lawn mower you want to stop.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Stop lawn mower.
7. Select Save.

Options in the UI

This action has no additional options beyond the target.

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 lawn_mower.stop. A basic example looks like this:

action: lawn_mower.stop
target:
  entity_id: lawn_mower.backyard

This stops lawn_mower.backyard and cancels its current task.

Options in YAML

This action has no additional YAML options beyond the target.

Targets of the action

This action requires a target. The target is the object of the action. You can point the action at a single entityAn 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], a device, an area, a floor, or a label, and Home Assistant will run the action on every matching lawn_mower entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific lawn_mower entity, such as lawn_mower.living_room.
• Device: every lawn_mower entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every lawn_mower entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every lawn_mower entity on a floor.
• Label: every lawn_mower entity that shares a label.

You can also select different target types in one action. For example, you can add a specific entity and an area as targets in the same action to run the action on both of them at once.

Good to know

• This action only works with lawn mowers that support stopping.
• After a stop, the mower reports the idle state. Use the Lawn mower became idle trigger to react to it, for example to bring the mower home after a while.
• To send the mower back to its charging station instead, use the Return lawn mower to dock action.

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: stop the mower when motion is detected on the lawn

Stop the mower as soon as someone or a pet is on the lawn, so it does not resume on its own once they leave.

• Trigger: State: Lawn motion sensor turned on
• Action: Stop lawn mower
  • Target: Backyard mower

- alias: "Stop the mower when someone is on the lawn"
  triggers:
    - trigger: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.lawn_motion
      to: "on"
  actions:
    - action: lawn_mower.stop
      target:
        entity_id: lawn_mower.backyard

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:

• Pause lawn mower: Pauses a lawn mower’s current task.

• Return lawn mower to dock: Returns a lawn mower to its dock.

• Start lawn mower: Starts or resumes a lawn mower’s mowing task.