To-do item added

The To-do item added trigger is useful when you want Home Assistant to react as soon as a new task appears on a list. You can use it to send a reminder, start a follow-up script, or highlight that a shared list has changed.

Using this trigger from the user interface

If you prefer building automations visually, Home Assistant walks you through this trigger step by step. You pick what to watch, tweak a few options, and save. No YAML knowledge required.

To use this trigger in an automation:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation, or select Create automation > Create new automation.
3. In the When section, select Add trigger.
4. Select what you want to monitor. Under By target (see Targets), pick the to-do list you want to watch. You can also select an area, floor, device, entity, or label if that target resolves to one or more to-do lists.
5. From the triggers shown for that target, select To-do item added.
6. Select Save.

Options in the UI

This trigger has no additional options beyond the target.

Using this trigger 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 trigger as todo.item_added. A basic example looks like this:

trigger: todo.item_added
target:
  entity_id: todo.shopping_list

This fires every time a new item is added to todo.shopping_list.

Options in YAML

This trigger has no additional YAML options beyond the target.

Targets of the trigger

This trigger requires a target. The target is the object that Home Assistant will watch. You can select 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 as a target, and Home Assistant will watch every matching todo entity behind that target.

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

You can also select different target types in one trigger. For example, you can add a specific entity and an area as targets in the same trigger to monitor both of them at once.

Good to know

• This trigger fires after Home Assistant adds a new item to the targeted to-do list.
• Changes to unavailable or unknown do not count as items being added.
• Trigger data includes the to-do list entity_id and the affected item_ids, which can help if you build a more advanced automation later.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Go to Settings > Automations & scenes, create a new automation, and add this trigger. Save the automation, then change the state of the targeted entity to watch the trigger fire 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].

More examples

Real scenarios where this trigger fires in automations and scripts. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup.

Automation: send a phone notification when a grocery item is added

If you share a grocery list with someone else, this automation lets you know when the list changes so you can check it before your next trip to the store.

• Trigger: To-do item added
• Target: Grocery list
• Action: Send a notification message
  • Target: My Device (notify.my_device)

alias: "Notify me when the grocery list changes"
triggers:
  - trigger: todo.item_added
    target:
      entity_id: todo.grocery_list
actions:
  - action: notify.send_message
    target:
      entity_id: notify.my_device
    data:
      message: >
        A new item was added to the grocery list.

Automation: start a packing review script when a travel item is added

If you keep a travel checklist in Home Assistant, this automation can start a script that reviews the list whenever someone adds a new item before a trip.

• Trigger: To-do item added
• Target: Travel checklist
• Action: Turn on script

alias: "Review packing list when a new item is added"
triggers:
  - trigger: todo.item_added
    target:
      entity_id: todo.travel_checklist
actions:
  - action: script.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: script.review_travel_checklist

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with the trigger you’re using and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Related triggers

These triggers work well alongside this one:

• To-do item completed: Triggers when a to-do item is marked as done.

• To-do item removed: Triggers when a to-do item is removed from a list.