Device usage report

The Device usage report action retrieves details regarding what Nintendo applications have been used today on a specified Nintendo Switch device.

This action returns response data containing a breakdown of application usage per player on the device.

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 retrieve the report for 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 retrieve a device usage report 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: Device usage report.
6. Choose the Device.
7. In the Response variable field, enter a name to store the result, for example usage_report.
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 nintendo_parental_controls.device_usage_report. Because this action returns data, supply a response_variable to capture the output:

action: nintendo_parental_controls.device_usage_report
data:
  device_id: 1b4a46c6d0f3406c80d275f5b0c6483b
response_variable: usage_report

Options in YAML

Response data

The action returns a dictionary mapping each player’s nickname on the device to a list of applications played today:

{
  "Player 1": [
    {
      "name": "Super Mario Odyssey",
      "playing_time": 45,
      "image": "https://example.com/image.png",
      "whitelisted": true
    }
  ]
}

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: Send a daily usage report notification

This automation runs every evening at 20:00, retrieves the device usage report, and sends a notification.

• Trigger: Time is 20:00
• Action:
  • Retrieve the device usage report into report
  • Send a notification with the results

alias: "Daily Nintendo Switch usage report"
triggers:
  - trigger: time
    at: "20:00:00"
actions:
  - action: nintendo_parental_controls.device_usage_report
    data:
      device_id: 1b4a46c6d0f3406c80d275f5b0c6483b
    response_variable: report
  - action: notify.notify
    data:
      title: "Daily Switch Usage"
      message: >
        Device report retrieved for {{ report.keys() | list }}.

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.