Join media players

Use this action to group media players together for synchronous playback. This only works on supported multiroom audio systems.

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 join media players 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 media player that plays the audio the others should follow.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Join media players.
7. Set the Group members that should play in sync with the target.
8. 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 media_player.join. The target plays the audio, and the group members follow it:

action: media_player.join
target:
  entity_id: media_player.living_room
data:
  group_members:
    - media_player.kitchen
    - media_player.bedroom

This syncs the kitchen and bedroom speakers with the living room speaker.

Options in YAML

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 media_player entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific media_player entity, such as media_player.living_room.
• Device: every media_player entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every media_player entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every media_player entity on a floor.
• Label: every media_player 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 on multiroom audio systems that support player groups. To remove a player from a group, use Unjoin media player.

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: group the speakers for a party

Sync several speakers when a trigger fires, for example to play the same music throughout the house.

• Trigger: Party scene activated
• Action: Join media players
  • Target: Living room speaker
  • Group members: Kitchen speaker, Bedroom speaker

- alias: "Group the speakers for a party"
  triggers:
    - trigger: state
      entity_id: input_boolean.party_mode
      to: "on"
  actions:
    - action: media_player.join
      target:
        entity_id: media_player.living_room
      data:
        group_members:
          - media_player.kitchen
          - media_player.bedroom

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:

• Unjoin media player: Removes a media player from a group.