Seek media

Use this action to jump to a different position in the media currently playing on a media player.

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 seek to a position 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 you want to control.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Seek media.
7. Set the Position you want to jump to.
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.media_seek. A basic example looks like this:

action: media_player.media_seek
target:
  entity_id: media_player.living_room
data:
  seek_position: 120

This jumps to 120 seconds into the media on media_player.living_room.

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 with media players that support seeking. The exact meaning of the position value depends on the 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: skip the intro with a button

Jump to a fixed position when you press a button, for example to skip past an intro.

• Trigger: Button is pressed
• Action: Seek media
  • Target: Living room TV
  • Position: 90

- alias: "Skip the intro with a button"
  triggers:
    - trigger: state
      entity_id: input_button.skip_intro
  actions:
    - action: media_player.media_seek
      target:
        entity_id: media_player.living_room
      data:
        seek_position: 90

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:

• Play media: Starts playback on a media player.

• Pause media: Pauses playback on a media player.