Blog: Home Assistant Tags (#14507)

Co-authored-by: David F. Mulcahey <david.mulcahey@me.com>
Co-authored-by: Paulus Schoutsen <balloob@gmail.com>
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---
title: Tags
description: Instructions on how to get started with tags in Home Assistant
ha_category:
- Automation
ha_release: 0.115
ha_quality_scale: internal
ha_codeowners:
- '@home-assistant/core'
ha_domain: tag
---
<p class='img'>
<img src="/images/blog/2020-09-15-home-assistant-tags/tag-reader.jpg" alt="Tag Reader for Home Assistant">
<a href="https://github.com/adonno/tagreader">Tag Reader for Home Assistant</a>
</p>
Home Assistant allows using tags to automate anything. Home Assistant is compatible with any type of tag. Our mobile apps work out of the box with NFC tags, but anything that can read IDs from something can be used.
To make tags accessible to anyone in your house hold, there is also a [standalone tag reader](https://github.com/adonno/tagreader) available that works with Home Assistant.
## Writing your first tag
The easiest way to get started with tags is to use NFC tags ([stickers](https://amzn.to/3bQU0nN), [cards](https://amzn.to/2RlqPzM)) with the official Home Assistant mobile apps. Once you have scanned a card, hover it with your phone to scan it.
<div class="videoWrapper">
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Xc120lClUgA" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div>
<div class='note' data-title='for iPhone users'>
Only iPhone XS, XR and iPhone 11 or later support background NFC tag reading.
</div>
<div class="videoWrapper">
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/xE7wm1bxRLs" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div>
## Managing tags
Home Assistant has a dedicated panel that allows you to manage your tags. You can add names, automate or delete them. If you open the tag dashboard from the mobile app, you can also write them directly to a tag.
![Tag user interface in Home Assistant](/images/blog/2020-09-15-home-assistant-tags/tag-ui.gif)
## Building an RFID jukebox
One of the most fun applications of tags is to pick music in your living room. To make this super easy, you can use the below automation:
{% raw %}
```yaml
automation:
- id: handle_tag_scan
alias: Handle Tag Scan
mode: single
# Hide warnings when triggered while in delay.
max_exceeded: silent
variables:
# Map scanner device ID to media player entity ID
media_players:
0e19cd3cf2b311ea88f469a7512c307d: media_player.spotify_balloob
# Map tag ID to content
tags:
A7-6B-90-5F:
media_content_id: spotify:album:0h2knr6qpiAq0tV5ri5JMF
media_content_type: album
04-B1-C6-62-2F-64-80:
media_content_id: spotify:playlist:0OtWh3u6fZrBJTQtVBQWge
media_content_type: playlist
trigger:
platform: event
event_type: tag_scanned
condition:
# Test that we support this device and tag
- "{{ trigger.event.data.tag_id in tags }}"
- "{{ trigger.event.data.device_id in media_players }}"
action:
- variables:
media_player_entity_id: "{{ media_players[trigger.event.data.device_id] }}"
media_content_id: "{{ tags[trigger.event.data.tag_id].media_content_id }}"
media_content_type: "{{ tags[trigger.event.data.tag_id].media_content_type }}"
- service: media_player.play_media
data:
entity_id: "{{ media_player_entity_id }}"
media_content_id: "{{ media_content_id }}"
media_content_type: "{{ media_content_type }}"
- delay: 2 # timeout before we allow processing next scan
```
{% endraw %}
## Printing tags
NFC tags come in many different shapes and formats. [NFC Stickers](https://amzn.to/3bQU0nN) are great to make existing objects scannable, like books or photos. But another fun use case is to get printable NFC cards. The great thing about these cards is that they are very accessible. Kids as young as 1 year old will be able to use it.
To get started with printing cards, you need the following hardware:
- [Inktjet Printer](https://amzn.to/3khMrts)
- [Compatible card printing tray](https://amzn.to/3hq59x2)
- [Printable NFC cards](https://amzn.to/3iqHpKx)
The seller of above tray + cards also made a [layout tool](https://brainstormidsupply.com/id-card-printing-layout-tool.html/) available to prepare printable PDFs. It runs fully in your browser and no data is sent to their server. If you've used above equipment, pick Canon MP tray as what you're printing on.
Happy printing!
![NFC Cards](/images/blog/2020-09-15-home-assistant-tags/cards.jpg)
## Tag Scanned events
When a tag is scanned, the `tag_scanned` event is fired. This event contains the values:
| Value | Description |
| - | - |
| `tag_id` | Identifier of the tag. Use this to decide what to do.
| `device_id` | Device registry identifier of the device that scanned the tag. Use this to decide where to do it.

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---
title: "Home Assistant Tags"
description: "Power your home and life with NFC tags, now a first-class citizen in Home Assistant."
date: 2020-09-15 00:01:00
date_formatted: "September 15, 2020"
comments: true
author: Paulus Schoutsen
categories: Announcements
og_image: /images/blog/2020-09-15-home-assistant-tags/social.png
---
![Photo of a Tag Reader](/images/blog/2020-09-15-home-assistant-tags/tag-reader.jpg)
RFID tags have been on my radar for home automation since [@hoveeman](https://github.com/hoveeman) published [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvCseOQidSw) two years ago of him using RFID cards to play music in his house.
It has been [my dream](https://twitter.com/balloob/status/1256728762680393728?s=12) ever since to get this easily accessible to every Home Assistant user. It already got a lot more accessible when [@maddox](https://github.com/maddox) released [Magic Cards](https://github.com/maddox/magic-cards). But this was still a separate application that you had to run besides Home Assistant, and it required a separate RFID reader.
Can we do better? Yes, we can. Today we are introducing <b>Home Assistant Tags</b>. A collaboration between our iOS, Android, frontend, core and hardware groups. With Home Assistant Tags, we're making scannable tags (NFC/RFID) a first-class citizen in Home Assistant. Easy to read, write and automate!
## The Apps
The official Home Assistant apps have been updated with NFC support. This dramatically lowers the bar for starting to automate your house with NFC tags. All you need now is tags!
From the apps you can now write a special Home Assistant URL to tags. Once you hover over one of these tags with your phone, they will trigger the Home Assistant app and send the identifier to your Home Assistant instance for processing. Tags are not bound to the phone that wrote them, any phone can scan them.
Thanks to [@David-Development](https://github.com/david-development) for the NFC support in the Android app and thanks to [@zacwest](https://github.com/zacwest) for the NFC support in the iOS app.
<div class="videoWrapper">
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Xc120lClUgA" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div>
<div class='note' data-title='for iPhone users'>
Only iPhone XS, XR and iPhone 11 or later support background NFC tag reading.
</div>
## Standalone Tag Reader
Having mobile tag readers is great, but there is more! The original RFID jukebox that peaked my interest worked with a dedicated RFID reader. This RFID reader was connected to a Raspberry Pi that was running a script to read the tags and send them to Home Assistant.
<p class="img">
<img src="/images/blog/2020-09-15-home-assistant-tags/old-system.jpg" alt="Photo of the old system">
Photo of the old system.
</p>
These solutions work great but were bulky and required hardware skills and technical skills to set up. The hardware cost for building a single reader could be around $30 (RFID reader + Raspberry Pi 0), but that's just for 1 room. What if you want more rooms? That adds up quickly.
[@adonno](https://github.com/adonno), with the help of [@MagnusO](https://github.com/magnusoverli), has been working on a smaller tag reader based on [ESPHome](https://www.esphome.io). It's powered by an ESP8266 chip and a PN532 NFC module. The case is 3D printed.
Because it's powered by ESPHome, setting up is a breeze. Once powered on, it will create an access point that allows you to add your WiFi configuration. After that Home Assistant will pick it up and you can start scanning tags.
![Photo of a tag reader with orange accents](/images/blog/2020-09-15-home-assistant-tags/orange-reader.jpg)
The nice thing about standalone tag readers is that they are dedicated to a room. This means automations know in which room to act when a music card is scanned and can pick the right media player. This makes it easy to have cards that can work in every room.
The tag reader is open-source and [available on GitHub](https://github.com/adonno/tagreader). You can make one yourself or buy one of the pre-built ones or DIY kits that Adonno is [selling](https://adonno.com/product/tag-reader/).
## Managing Tags in Home Assistant 0.115
Home Assistant 0.115 will contain a brand new tag manager, thanks to [@bramkragten](https://github.com/bramkragten) and [@dmulcahey](https://github.com/dmulcahey). On this screen you can create new tags, see the tags that have been scanned and can easily create automations for each tag. The new UI tightly integrates with the mobile apps, allowing you to write existing IDs to new tags with the tap of a button.
![Tag user interface in Home Assistant](/images/blog/2020-09-15-home-assistant-tags/tag-ui.gif)
## Building the RFID jukebox
All previous things put the pieces in place for us to be able to build our own jukebox. We can do this with just a few lines of YAML using some of the cool new features coming in Home Assistant 0.115:
{% raw %}
```yaml
# Note, this is using new automation features introduced in Home Assistant 0.115
automation:
- id: handle_tag_scan
alias: Handle Tag Scan
mode: single
# Hide warnings when triggered while in delay.
max_exceeded: silent
variables:
# Map scanner device ID to media player entity ID
media_players:
0e19cd3cf2b311ea88f469a7512c307d: media_player.spotify_balloob
# Map tag ID to content
tags:
A7-6B-90-5F:
media_content_id: spotify:album:0h2knr6qpiAq0tV5ri5JMF
media_content_type: album
04-B1-C6-62-2F-64-80:
media_content_id: spotify:playlist:0OtWh3u6fZrBJTQtVBQWge
media_content_type: playlist
trigger:
platform: event
event_type: tag_scanned
condition:
# Test that we support this device and tag
- "{{ trigger.event.data.tag_id in tags }}"
- "{{ trigger.event.data.device_id in media_players }}"
action:
- variables:
media_player_entity_id: "{{ media_players[trigger.event.data.device_id] }}"
media_content_id: "{{ tags[trigger.event.data.tag_id].media_content_id }}"
media_content_type: "{{ tags[trigger.event.data.tag_id].media_content_type }}"
- service: media_player.play_media
data:
entity_id: "{{ media_player_entity_id }}"
media_content_id: "{{ media_content_id }}"
media_content_type: "{{ media_content_type }}"
- delay: 2 # timeout before we allow processing next scan
```
{% endraw %}
<p class='img'>
<img src='/images/blog/2020-09-15-home-assistant-tags/cards.jpg' alt='Photo of printed NFC cards'>
Printed NFC cards. <a href="/integrations/tag/#printing-tags">Learn how to make them</a>
</p>
## Time to get scanning!
With these new features, you will be able to do a lot of cool things. Get yourself some [NFC tags](https://amzn.to/3bQU0nN) or [NFC cards](https://amzn.to/2RlqPzM) to get going. Here is some inspiration:
- NFC cards to play music
- NFC stickers on books that play grandparents reading the book
- NFC tags to activate scenes in the room
- NFC cards to open recipes on screens in the kitchen
- NFC tags to allow access to your home
<div class="videoWrapper">
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/sF83ZK9kFL4" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div>

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