Get area ID: area_id
The area_id template function returns the unique area ID for a given area name or alias, 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] ID, or deviceA device is a model representing a physical or logical unit that contains entities. ID. Every areaAn area in Home Assistant is a logical grouping of devices and entities that represents a room or space in your home, such as the living room, kitchen, or garage. [Learn more] in Home Assistant has an internal ID that stays the same even if you rename the area, and this function lets you look it up.
This is useful when you need the area ID to pass to other area functions like area_entities or area_devices, or when you want to find out which area a particular entity or device belongs to. For example, you could use it in an automationAutomations in Home Assistant allow you to automatically respond to things that happen in and around your home. [Learn more] to determine which room triggered a motion sensorSensors return information about a thing, for instance the level of water in a tank. [Learn more] and then act on all devices in that room.
Usage
Here’s how to use this template function. Copy any example and adjust it to your setup.
{{ area_id("Living Room") }}
living_room
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 = are usually required. A few optional parameters have no default value, so the signature shows them without a = as well. To check whether a parameter is required, look at the parameter list below the signature. Each parameter is marked as Required or Optional.
The most common optional parameter without a default value is default. The default parameter sets the value a function returns when the function can’t produce a result, for example, when float gets text that isn’t a number. If you leave out default, there is no fallback value, so most functions raise an error and the template fails. The parameter list of each function says what happens. If you set default, the function returns your value instead.
How to read a signature
Here is the signature of the round filter as an example:
round(
value: Any,
precision: int = 0,
method: str = "common",
default: Any,
) -> float | int | Any
-
roundis the name of the function. - Between the parentheses are the parameters. Each parameter has a name, followed by a colon and the type of value the parameter expects. The type only tells you what kind of value to pass. For
default: Any, you pass a value of any type, such as0or"unknown", not the wordAny. -
= 0and= "common"are default values. You can leave outprecisionandmethod, androunduses these default values. -
defaulthas no=, but the parameter list marksdefaultas optional. If you leave outdefaultandroundgets a value that isn’t a number,roundraises an error. -
->shows the type of value the function returns. - Inside a signature,
|means “or”. This function returns a decimal number, a whole number, or the value you passed asdefault.
round is a filter, so the first parameter, value, is the value before the |. For example, {{ 3.14159 | round(2) }} returns 3.14.
The types you’ll see most often:
-
str: text, such as"hello" -
int: a whole number, such as5 -
float: a decimal number, such as3.14 -
bool:trueorfalse -
list: a list of values, such as[1, 2, 3].list[str]is a list of texts. -
dict: a set of keys and values, such as{"name": "Kitchen"} -
datetimeandtimedelta: a date and time, and a duration. For details, refer to Dates and times. -
None: no value -
Any: any type of value
Some signatures use special forms:
-
*argsmeans you can pass any number of values, separated by commas. For example,average(1, 2, 3). -
value | name(...)means the function is a filter. The value before the|is passed to the filter as its first parameter. Some filter signatures, like theroundexample, show this value as the first parameter between the parentheses instead.
area_id(
lookup_value: str,
) -> str | None
Function parameters
The following parameters can be provided to this function.
Good to know
- Returns
Nonewhen no matching area is found for the lookup value. - The area ID is stable and does not change when you rename the area, so it is safe to hard-code in templates.
- An entity without an area of its own uses the area of its device. The result is
Noneonly if neither has an area. - Uppercase and lowercase letters and spaces in area names and aliases don’t matter.
Try it yourself
Ready to test this? Open Settings > 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.
Find the area of an entity
Look up which area a specific entity belongs to.
{{ area_id("sensor.living_room_temperature") }}
living_room
Find the area of a device
Look up which area a device is assigned to by passing its device ID.
{{ area_id("deadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeef") }}
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.
AI assistants like ChatGPT or Claude can also explain or fix templates when you describe what you want in plain language.
Related template functions
These functions work well alongside this one:
-
Get area name: area_name - Returns the friendly name of an area from its ID, entity ID, or device ID.
-
Get entities in an area: area_entities - Returns a list of entity IDs associated with a given area.
-
Get devices in an area: area_devices - Returns a list of device IDs associated with a given area.
-
Get all areas: areas - Returns a list of all area IDs in your Home Assistant instance.