Convert to list: list

The list filter converts a value to a list. When applied to a string, it splits the string into a list of individual characters. When applied to a dictionary, it returns a list of the dictionary’s keys. When applied to other collections like generators or sets, it materializes them into a list. This filter is frequently used at the end of a filter chain to materialize the result of select, reject, map, selectattr, and similar filters into an actual list. These filters return generators (lazy sequences), and converting them to a list is necessary before you can use the result in further operations or display it.

Usage

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

{{ "hello" | list }}

['h', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o']

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.

value | list() -> list

Function parameters

The following parameters can be provided to this filter.

Materializing filter chains

Most template selection filters like select, reject, and map return generators. Use the list filter to convert them to an actual list.

{{ [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] | select("gt", 3) | list }}

[4, 5]

Good to know

• Use this after select, reject, map, selectattr, and rejectattr so you can count, loop, or slice the result.
• Applied to a string, this produces a list of single characters. Use split(" ") for words.
• Applied to a dictionary, this produces a list of keys, not values or pairs.

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.

Get dictionary keys as a list

Extract the keys from a dictionary into a list.

{{ {"name": "Kitchen", "temperature": 21.5} | list }}

['name', 'temperature']

Collect entity names into a list

Gather all light names that are currently on into a list for display.

{{
  states.light
  | selectattr("state", "eq", "on")
  | map(attribute="name")
  | list
}}

['Living Room', 'Kitchen']

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:

• Convert to set: set - Converts an iterable to a set, removing duplicate values.

• Convert to tuple: tuple - Converts an iterable to a tuple.

• Flatten nested lists: flatten - Flattens nested lists into a single flat list.

• Combine iterables: zip - Zips multiple iterables together into a list of tuples, pairing elements by position.