Arm away instant

Use this action to arm your Total Connect alarm panel in away mode with no entry delay. With zero entry delay, the alarm sounds instantly if an entry or exit zone is faulted, instead of giving you time to disarm. This is equivalent to “arm away instant” on most alarm panels.

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 arm away instant 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 area, floor, device, label, or entity you want to control.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Arm away instant.
7. Select Save.

Options in the UI

This action has no additional options beyond the target.

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 totalconnect.arm_away_instant. A basic example looks like this:

action: totalconnect.arm_away_instant
target:
  entity_id: alarm_control_panel.home

This arms alarm_control_panel.home in away mode with zero entry delay.

Options in YAML

This action has no additional YAML options beyond the target.

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 alarm_control_panel entity behind that target.

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

• With zero entry delay, there is no grace period to disarm. The alarm triggers immediately if an entry or exit zone opens while armed.
• For a normal entry delay, use Arm alarm away instead.

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: arm away instant when everyone leaves

Use this automation to arm the panel in away mode with no entry delay once the last person leaves home.

• Trigger: Everyone leaves the home zone
• Action: Arm away instant
  • Target: Home alarm panel

alias: "Arm away instant when everyone leaves"
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id: zone.home
    to: "0"
actions:
  - action: totalconnect.arm_away_instant
    target:
      entity_id: alarm_control_panel.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:

• Arm home instant: Arms the alarm panel in home mode with zero entry delay.