Set a Sonos sleep timer
Use this action to set a sleep timer that turns off a Sonos speaker by tapering its volume down to zero after a set amount of time. This is handy for falling asleep to music without leaving it playing all night. If you set the time to 0, the speaker starts tapering the volume down right away.
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 set a Sonos sleep timer from an automation or a script:
- Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
- Open an existing automation or script, or select Create automation > Create new automation.
- 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.
- In the Then do section, select Add action.
- Select what you want to control. Under By target (see Targets), select the Sonos speaker you want to set a timer for. You can also select an area, a device, or a label.
- From the actions shown for that target, select Set timer.
- Set the Sleep time in seconds.
- 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 sonos.set_sleep_timer. A basic example looks like this:
action: sonos.set_sleep_timer
target:
entity_id: media_player.bedroom
data:
sleep_time: 1800
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.
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.
AI assistants like ChatGPT or Claude can also explain actions or suggest the right one when you describe what you want in plain language.
Related actions
These actions work well alongside this one:
- Clear a Sonos sleep timer: Clears the sleep timer on a Sonos speaker.