Save recent clips

The Save recent clips action saves all recent video clips of a Blink camera to a local directory.

This is handy when you want to keep your own copies of recent recordings. Blink keeps recent clips available for download for up to an hour, and a clip is removed from the list once it has been downloaded. Each clip is saved with the file pattern %Y%m%d_%H%M%S_[camera name].mp4.

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 save recent clips 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 Blink camera whose clips you want to save.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Blink: Save recent clips.
7. Enter the Output directory where the clips are saved.
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 blink.save_recent_clips. A basic example looks like this:

action: blink.save_recent_clips
target:
  entity_id: camera.blink_front_door
data:
  file_path: "/config/www/blink"

This saves the recent clips of camera.blink_front_door to the /config/www/blink directory.

Options in YAML

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 camera entity behind that target.

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

• The directory in file_path must be one that Home Assistant is allowed to write to. By default, the www folder in your configuration directory and each configured media directory are allowed. To save somewhere else, such as /tmp, add that directory to allowlist_external_dirs in the homeassistant: section of your configuration.yamlThe configuration.yaml file is the main configuration file for Home Assistant. It lists the integrations to be loaded and their specific configurations. In some cases, the configuration needs to be edited manually directly in the configuration.yaml file. Most integrations can be configured in the UI. [Learn more] file.
• The filename of each saved clip follows the pattern %Y%m%d_%H%M%S_[camera name].mp4 and is not configurable.
• Keep a minimum of 5 seconds between sequential Blink actions. Calls made too quickly after each other can be throttled and ignored.

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: save recent clips on a schedule

Save the recent clips of a camera every few minutes, so new recordings are downloaded before they expire.

• Trigger: every 3 minutes
• Action: Blink: Save recent clips
  • Target: Front door camera
  • Output directory: the directory where the clips are saved

alias: "Save recent Blink clips"
triggers:
  - trigger: time_pattern
    minutes: "/3"
actions:
  - action: blink.save_recent_clips
    target:
      entity_id: camera.blink_front_door
    data:
      file_path: "/config/www/blink"

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:

• Save video: Saves the last recorded video clip of a Blink camera to a local file.

• Record: Requests a Blink camera to record a new video clip.

• Trigger camera: Requests a Blink camera to take a new image.