Play pin

Use this action to start playing a pin on a Linn or OpenHome device. Pins are the presets you’ve saved on the device, such as a radio station or a playlist, so this is a quick way to start your favorite content from an automation or a script.

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 play a pin 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 device you want to play the pin on.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Play pin.
7. Set the Pin ID of the content you want to play.
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 openhome.invoke_pin. A basic example looks like this:

action: openhome.invoke_pin
target:
  entity_id: media_player.linn_bedroom
data:
  pin: 1

This starts playing pin 1 on the bedroom Linn 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 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

• Pins are the presets stored on the device itself. Set them up in the Linn or OpenHome app, then refer to them here by their ID.

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: play a morning radio pin on a button press

When you press a physical button, start your favorite radio pin on the kitchen device to ease into the morning.

• Trigger: Button pressed
• Action: Linn / OpenHome: Play pin on the kitchen device

alias: "Play morning radio pin"
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id: binary_sensor.kitchen_button
    to: "on"
actions:
  - action: openhome.invoke_pin
    target:
      entity_id: media_player.linn_kitchen
    data:
      pin: 1

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.