Get label description: label_description

The label_description template function returns the description text of a labelLabels in Home Assistant allow grouping elements irrespective of their physical location or type. Labels can be assigned to areas, devices, entities, automations, scenes, scripts, and helpers. Labels can be used in automations and scripts as a target for actions. Labels can also be used to filter data. [Learn more] from its internal ID. When you create a label in Home Assistant, you can optionally give it a description that explains its purpose, and this function lets you retrieve that description.

This is useful when you want to display additional context about a label beyond its name. For example, if you have a label called “Critical” with a description like “Sensors that trigger emergency alerts”, you could display that description in a dashboard or use it in notificationsYou can use notifications to send messages, pictures, and more, to devices. [Learn more] to provide more context. If the label has no description set, the function returns None.

Usage

Here’s how to use this template function. Copy any example and adjust it to your setup.

{{ label_description("critical") }}

Sensors that trigger emergency alerts

{{ "critical" | label_description }}

Sensors that trigger emergency alerts

Function signature

The signature is a technical summary of this template function. It shows the name of the function, the values (called parameters) it accepts, and what type of data each parameter expects (for example, a piece of text or a number).

Function parameters that have a = with a value after them are optional. If you leave them out, the default value shown is used automatically. Function parameters without a default are required.

label_description(
    lookup_value: str,
) -> str | None

Function parameters

The following parameters can be provided to this function.

Good to know

• Returns None when the label does not exist or has no description.
• Only accepts a label ID, not a label name. Resolve a name with label_id first.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Open Developer tools > Template, paste the example into the Template editor, and watch the result update on the right. Edit the values to see how the function adapts to your own 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].

More examples

Real scenarios where this function comes up in automations and templates. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup.

Display a label’s description

Retrieve the description text for a specific label.

{{ label_description("energy_monitoring") }}

Devices and sensors used for tracking energy usage

List labels with their descriptions

Loop through all labels and display their names along with descriptions, using labels and label_name.

{% for lbl_id in labels() %}
  {{ label_name(lbl_id) }}: {{ label_description(lbl_id) }}
{% endfor %}

Outdoor: Items located outside the house
Critical: Sensors that trigger emergency alerts
Energy Monitoring: Devices and sensors used for tracking energy usage

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with your template and expected result, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Related template functions

These functions work well alongside this one:

• Get label ID: label_id - Returns the label ID for a given label name.

• Get label name: label_name - Returns the friendly name of a label from its ID.

• Get all labels: labels - Returns a list of all label IDs, or the labels assigned to a specific entity, device, or area.

• Get areas with a label: label_areas - Returns a list of area IDs that have a specific label assigned.

• Get devices with a label: label_devices - Returns a list of device IDs that have a specific label assigned.

• Get entities with a label: label_entities - Returns a list of entity IDs that have a specific label assigned.