Button pressed

Use this trigger when you want an automation to run every time a button 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] is pressed. It works with both button entities provided by your devices and integrations, and with button helpers you create yourself. This is useful when a button starts a task on a device and you also want Home Assistant to take a follow-up action, or when you want to start an automation from a button on your dashboard.

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), select the button entity or button helper you want to monitor. You can also select an area, a floor, a device, or a label.
5. From the triggers shown for that target, select Button pressed.
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. For how an automation is built in YAML, refer to Automations in YAML.

In YAML, put the settings that are specific to this trigger under options. Keep target, if the trigger uses one, and general settings such as id, alias, enabled, and variables at the top level, next to trigger.

When this trigger starts an automation, it passes data about what happened to the automation. You can use this trigger data in the templates of your conditions and actions. To see which data is available, refer to Trigger data in templates.

In YAML, refer to this trigger as button.pressed. A basic example looks like this:

trigger: button.pressed
target:
  entity_id: button.air_purifier_reset_filter

This fires every time button.air_purifier_reset_filter is pressed.

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 button or button helper behind that target.

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

To learn which entities Home Assistant includes for a device, area, floor, or label, and how it handles several entities, refer to Automation targets.

Trigger variables

When the trigger reacts, the trigger variable identifies the entity that made it react. This is useful when a target contains multiple entities, such as a device, area, floor, or label.

The following trigger-specific variables are available:

• trigger.entity_id: Entity ID of the entity that made the trigger react.
• trigger.from_state: Previous state object of that entity.
• trigger.to_state: New state object of that entity.
• trigger.for: Timedelta object of how long the trigger criteria were met, if applicable.

For example, use {{ trigger.to_state.name }} in an action to include the name of the entity that made the trigger react in a notification.

The trigger variable describes the entity that made the trigger react. It doesn’t contain all the entities of the target.

Good to know

• This trigger works with both button entities provided by your devices and integrations (domain button) and button helpers you create yourself (domain input_button).
• This trigger fires when Home Assistant detects a button press from the button entity.
• Changes to unavailable or unknown do not count as button presses.
• If you only need to press a button from an automation, use the related Press button action instead.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Go to Settings > Automations & scenes, create a new automation, and add this trigger. Save the automation, and then make the trigger react. For example, change the state of the targeted 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], turn on a light that the trigger monitors, or change its brightness. To check whether the automation ran, open its traces.

More examples

Real scenarios where this trigger fires in automations and scripts. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup. In the visual editor, select the UI options listed in the example when they are available, or paste the YAML code.

Automation: send a notification when a filter reset button is pressed

Use this automation to keep a record of when a maintenance button was pressed.

• Trigger: Button pressed
  • Target: Air purifier filter reset button
• Action: Send a notification message
  • Target: My Device (notify.my_device)

- alias: "Notify when the filter reset button is pressed"
  triggers:
    - trigger: button.pressed
      target:
        entity_id: button.air_purifier_reset_filter
  actions:
    - action: notify.send_message
      target:
        entity_id: notify.my_device
      data:
        message: "The air purifier filter reset button was pressed."

Automation: turn on a light when an identify button is pressed

Use this automation when a button helps you locate a device and you want a nearby light to turn on at the same time.

• Trigger: Button pressed
  • Target: Front door camera identify button
• Action: Turn on light

- alias: "Turn on the porch light when the camera identify button is pressed"
  triggers:
    - trigger: button.pressed
      target:
        entity_id: button.front_door_camera_identify
  actions:
    - action: light.turn_on
      target:
        entity_id: light.porch

Still stuck?

To find out why the trigger didn’t react, make the change that it should react to, and then open the traces of the automation. If the automation didn’t run, there’s usually no trace, but some triggers record a Did not trigger trace. 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 trigger you’re using and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.