Download file

Use this action to download a file to the location configured for the Downloader integration.

The download directory must exist and be writable by Home Assistant.

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 download a file 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 Downloader: Download file.
6. Enter the URL to download.
7. Set the other options if you need them.
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. For how an automation or a script is built in YAML, refer to Automations in YAML and Scripts.

In YAML, refer to this action as downloader.download_file. A basic example looks like this:

action: downloader.download_file
data:
  url: "https://example.com/file.txt"

This downloads file.txt to the configured download location.

Options in YAML

This action does not support targets.

Good to know

• If the configured path is not absolute, Home Assistant treats it as relative to the configuration directory.
• When a download finishes, Home Assistant emits either downloader_download_completed or downloader_download_failed on the event bus.

Still stuck?

To test the action on its own, run it in the automation editor with Run action, and check the message that it shows. To see what the action did when the automation ran, open the trace of that run. For details, refer to Testing automations. For common problems and their solutions, refer to Troubleshooting automations.

If that doesn’t help, 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.