Update profile

The Update profile action changes the information and pictures on your Mastodon profile.

This is handy when you want your profile to reflect what is happening at home, for example updating your bio with the current indoor temperature or swapping your header image with the season. You can update your display name, bio, pictures, and several profile settings.

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 update your profile 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 Mastodon: Update profile.
  6. Select the Mastodon account to update and set the fields you want to change.
  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

Mastodon account (Required)

The Mastodon account to update the profile of.

Display name (Optional)

The display name to set on your profile.

Bio (Optional)

The bio to set on your profile. You can mention other people or use hashtags.

Profile picture (Optional)

An image to set as your profile picture. WEBP, PNG, or JPG. At most 8 MB. Downscaled to 400x400px. Cannot be combined with deleting the profile picture.

Delete profile picture (Optional)

Permanently remove your current profile picture. Cannot be combined with setting a profile picture.

Header picture (Optional)

An image to set as your profile header. WEBP, PNG, or JPG. At most 8 MB. Downscaled to 1500x500px. Cannot be combined with deleting the header picture.

Delete header picture (Optional)

Permanently remove your current header picture. Cannot be combined with setting a header picture.

Lock profile (Optional)

Lock your profile. A locked profile requires you to approve followers and hides your posts from non-followers.

Automated account (Optional)

Signal to others that the account mainly performs automated actions.

Discoverable (Optional)

Whether your profile should be discoverable. Public posts and the profile may be featured or recommended across Mastodon.

Extra fields (Optional)

Up to four additional profile fields as name and value pairs, such as your homepage or pronouns. This replaces all existing fields, not just the ones you set here.

Attribution domains (Optional)

Websites allowed to credit you, which protects against false attributions. This replaces all existing attribution domains, not just the ones you set here.

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 mastodon.update_profile. 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: mastodon.update_profile
data:
  config_entry_id: 6b4be47a1fa7c3764f14cf756dc9899d
  display_name: "Home Assistant"
  note: "Automated updates from my smart home."

To find the config_entry_id, go to Developer tools > Actions, select this action, choose your Mastodon account, and switch to YAML mode.

Options in YAML

config_entry_id string Required

The ID of the Mastodon config entry to use.

display_name string

The display name to set on your profile.

note string

The bio to set on your profile. You can mention other people or use hashtags.

avatar map

An image to set as your profile picture. WEBP, PNG, or JPG. At most 8 MB. Downscaled to 400x400px. Cannot be combined with delete_avatar.

delete_avatar boolean

Permanently remove your current profile picture. Cannot be combined with avatar.

header map

An image to set as your profile header. WEBP, PNG, or JPG. At most 8 MB. Downscaled to 1500x500px. Cannot be combined with delete_header.

delete_header boolean

Permanently remove your current header picture. Cannot be combined with header.

locked boolean

Lock your profile. A locked profile requires you to approve followers and hides your posts from non-followers.

bot boolean

Signal to others that the account mainly performs automated actions.

discoverable boolean

Whether your profile should be discoverable. Public posts and the profile may be featured or recommended across Mastodon.

fields list

Up to four additional profile fields as name and value pairs. This replaces all existing fields, not just the ones you set here.

attribution_domains list

Websites allowed to credit you, which protects against false attributions. This replaces all existing attribution domains, not just the ones you set here.

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: