Disable Pi-hole

Use this action to pause ad-blocking on one or more Pi-holes for a set amount of time. This is handy when a site or app misbehaves because something is being blocked, and you want to switch blocking off briefly without leaving it off for good.

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 disable a Pi-hole 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 Pi-hole switch entity you want to disable.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Disable.
7. Set the Duration for which the Pi-hole should stay disabled.
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 pi_hole.disable. A basic example looks like this:

action: pi_hole.disable
target:
  entity_id: switch.pi_hole
data:
  duration: "00:30:00"

This disables switch.pi_hole for 30 minutes.

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 switch entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific switch entity, such as switch.living_room.
• Device: every switch entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every switch entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every switch entity on a floor.
• Label: every switch 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 Pi-hole switch entities.
• To disable every Pi-hole at once, target all Pi-hole switch entities, or use entity_id: all.
• You can re-enable ad-blocking at any time by turning the Pi-hole switch back on.

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: pause ad-blocking for all Pi-holes

Disable every Pi-hole for five minutes when you press an input button, for example to quickly troubleshoot a blocked site.

• Trigger: Input button: pressed
• Action: Disable Pi-hole
  • Target: All Pi-hole switches
  • Duration: 5 minutes

- alias: "Pause ad-blocking for five minutes"
  triggers:
    - trigger: state
      entity_id: input_button.pause_pi_hole
  actions:
    - action: pi_hole.disable
      target:
        entity_id: all
      data:
        duration: "00:05:00"

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.