Send a notification message

The Send a notification message action sends a message to one or more notify 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]. Use it when you want an automation or script to send a message to a phone, browser, speaker, or another notification target that provides a notify entity.

This is the recommended action for notify entities. It lets you choose targets the same way you choose other Home Assistant entities: by entity, device, area, floor, or label.

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 send a notification from an automation or a script:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation or script, or select Create to start a new one.
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), pick the notify entity, device, area, floor, or label that should receive the message.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Send a notification message.
7. In Message, enter the notification text.
8. Optional: In Title, enter a title for the notification if the selected notify entity supports titles.
9. 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 notify.send_message. A basic example looks like this:

action: notify.send_message
target:
  entity_id: notify.my_device
data:
  message: "The garage door has been open for 10 minutes."

This sends the message to notify.my_device.

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 notify entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific notify entity, such as notify.living_room.
• Device: every notify entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every notify entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every notify entity on a floor.
• Label: every notify 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

• The action targets notify entities. If an integration still provides only a legacy notify action, use that integration’s action instead.
• The Title field is available only for notify entities that support titles. If the target does not support titles, Home Assistant sends the message without a title.
• After a message is sent, the notify entity state is updated to the date and time when the message was last sent.
• To show a notification in the Home Assistant interface instead, use Send a persistent notification.

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: send a notification when the garage door stays open

If the garage door stays open for 10 minutes, send a message to your phone.

• Trigger: State
  • Entity: Garage door (binary_sensor.garage_door)
  • To: On
  • For: 00:10:00
• Action: Send a notification message
  • Target: My Device (notify.my_device)
  • Message: The garage door has been open for 10 minutes.

alias: "Notify when the garage door stays open"
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id: binary_sensor.garage_door
    to: "on"
    for: "00:10:00"
actions:
  - action: notify.send_message
    target:
      entity_id: notify.my_device
    data:
      message: >
        The garage door has been open for 10 minutes.

Automation: send a notification when someone arrives home

When a person arrives home after dark, send a short message to your device.

• Trigger: State
  • Entity: Paulus (person.paulus)
  • To: Home
• Condition: Sun is below horizon
• Action: Send a notification message
  • Target: My Device (notify.my_device)
  • Message: Paulus arrived home.

alias: "Notify when Paulus arrives home after dark"
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id: person.paulus
    to: home
conditions:
  - condition: sun
    after: sunset
actions:
  - action: notify.send_message
    target:
      entity_id: notify.my_device
    data:
      message: "Paulus arrived home."

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:

• Send a persistent notification: Sends a notification that is visible in the notifications panel.

• Send a notification: Sends a notification message to selected targets.