Call method

Use this action to call a custom command on the Squeezebox JSON-RPC API. This lets you reach Squeezebox features that do not have their own action in Home Assistant, so you can wire almost any Squeezebox command into an automation or script.

You can find the available commands in the API documentation at http://HOST:PORT/html/docs/cli-api.html?player=, where HOST and PORT are the host name and port of your Lyrion Music Server.

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 call a method 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 Squeezebox players you want to run the command on.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Call method.
7. Fill in the options you want to use.
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 squeezebox.call_method. A basic example looks like this:

action: squeezebox.call_method
target:
  entity_id: media_player.squeezebox_radio
data:
  command: mixer
  parameters:
    - muting

This toggles the muting state of the player by calling the mixer command with the muting parameter.

Options in YAML

Good to know

• In the visual editor, each parameter must be preceded by a hyphen and a space so it populates the list correctly.
• When a parameter is an increment or decrement, put the value in quotes. For example, to raise the volume by five percent, use the mixer command with the parameters volume and "+5".

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.

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.

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:

• Call query: Call a custom Squeezebox JSON-RPC API query and store the result on the player.