Add bonus time

The Add bonus time action grants extra screen time to a Nintendo Switch, on top of the maximum allowed screen time.

This is useful when you want an automation to reward a little extra play time, for example after chores are done or on a special occasion.

This action does not support targets. In the UI, you are not prompted to choose an area, entity, or label. Instead, you select the Nintendo Switch to grant bonus time to through the Device option.

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 add bonus time 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 Nintendo Switch parental controls: Add bonus time.
6. Choose the Device, then enter the Bonus time.
7. 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 nintendo_parental_controls.add_bonus_time. A basic example looks like this:

action: nintendo_parental_controls.add_bonus_time
data:
  device_id: 1b4a46c6d0f3406c80d275f5b0c6483b
  bonus_time: 15

This adds 15 minutes of bonus screen time to the selected Nintendo Switch.

Options in YAML

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: Reward bonus time when chores are done

This automation grants 15 minutes of extra screen time whenever a helper that tracks finished chores is switched on.

• Trigger: the chores-done helper turns on
• Action: add bonus time to the Nintendo Switch
  • Device: the child’s Nintendo Switch
  • Bonus time: 15

alias: "Bonus screen time for finished chores"
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id: input_boolean.chores_done
    to: "on"
actions:
  - action: nintendo_parental_controls.add_bonus_time
    data:
      device_id: 1b4a46c6d0f3406c80d275f5b0c6483b
      bonus_time: 15

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.