--- title: "Automating Home Assistant" description: "A quick intro on getting your first automation going." --- Once your {% term devices %} are set up, it's time to put the cherry on the pie: {% term automation %}. We're going to create two automations: One, to turn on the lights when the sun sets. And a second one to dim the light at a certain time in the evening before a workday. ## Turning on the lights before sunset ### Prerequisites This tutorial assumes the following: - You have [installed Home Assistant](/installation/) - You have completed the [onboarding steps](/getting-started/onboarding/) - You have followed the steps on [adding an integration](/getting-started/integration/) - You have a light that is integrated into Home Assistant - If you don't have a light yet, and are unsure what to buy, try [Philips Hue](/integrations/hue/), [nanoleaf](/integrations/nanoleaf/), or products supporting [WLED](/integrations/wled/) ### To automatically turn on the lights before sunset 1. Go to {% my automations title="**Settings** > **Automations & scenes**" %} and select **Create Automation**. ![The automation editor.](/images/getting-started/automation-editor.png) - Then, select **Create new automation**. This brings up an empty automation page. ![The start of a new automation.](/images/getting-started/new-automation.png) 2. The first step is defining what should {% term trigger %} the automation to run. - In this case, we want to use the event of the sun setting to trigger our automation. - Select **Add trigger**, type `Sun` and select it. ![Use the sun as trigger.](/images/getting-started/sun-trigger.png) 3. Select **Sunset**. - We want the automation to be triggered a little before that, so let's add `-00:30` as the offset. This indicates that the automation will be triggered 30 minutes before sunset. Neat! ![A new automation with a sun trigger filled in.](/images/getting-started/new-trigger.png) 4. Once we have defined our trigger, we need to define what should happen. - Select **Add action**. 5. Type `light` and select **Light turn on**. - For this automation, we're going to turn on all lights in the living room, so let's select the **Area**. - This only works if your lights are assigned to an {% term area %}. - To learn more about grouping devices in areas, refer to the [area documentation](/docs/organizing/areas/). ![A new automation with the action set up to turn on the lights in the living room.](/images/getting-started/action.png) 6. To save the automation, select **Save**. Give the automation a name, add a **Description**, and **Save** again. - When choosing a name, be specific, so that you can find it even when you have many automations. For example, `Turn on living room table light at sunset`. - Now wait until it's 30 minutes before sunset and see your automation magic! - Or follow these steps to [test your automation](/docs/automation/troubleshooting/#testing-your-automation) right away. ## Dimming the lights the night before a workday This automation dims the light at a specific time before a workday. ### Prerequisites This tutorial assumes the following: - You have [installed Home Assistant](/installation/) - You have completed the [onboarding steps](/getting-started/onboarding/) - You have followed the steps on [adding an integration](/getting-started/integration/) - You have a dimmable light that is integrated into Home Assistant ### To dim the light the night before a workday 1. Go to {% my automations title="**Settings** > **Automations & scenes**" %} and select **Create automation**. ![The automation editor.](/images/getting-started/automation-editor.png) - Then, select **Create new automation**. This brings up an empty automation page. ![The start of a new automation.](/images/getting-started/new-automation.png) 2. We want the light to start dimming at 21:45. This means we want an automation that is triggered by time. - Select **Add trigger** > **Time and location** > **Time**. - Select **Fixed time** and enter the time. ![A new automation with a fixed time trigger filled in.](/images/getting-started/automation_trigger_fixed_time.png) 3. We want to do this only if tomorrow is a workday. - Select **Add condition** > **Entity** > **State**. - Under **Entity**, enter `workd` and select your workday sensor. - Under **State**, select **On**. 4. Next, we want to make sure the light is only dimmed when it is actually on. No reason to do this if the light is not on. - To achieve this, we use an **If-then** action. Select **Add action** > **Building blocks** > **If-then**. - You now get a block called **Conditionally execute an action**. From the **Entity** list, select your light. - Under **If**, select **Add condition** > **Entity** > **State**. - Under **State**, select **On**. ![Screenshot showing the if section of an if-then action](/images/getting-started/automation_if-then-action_if.png) 5. Now we want to define the action that is performed when the condition is true (when the light was on). - Under **Then**, select **Add action** > **Light turn on**. - Under **Entity**, select your light. - Define the light settings, such as brightness, temperature, or color. The available settings depend on your light. ![Screenshot showing the then section of an if-then action](/images/getting-started/automation_if-then-action_then.png) 6. To save the automation, select **Save**. Give the automation a name (for example, `dim living room table light night before workday`), add a **Description**, and **Save** again. 7. [Test your automation](/docs/automation/troubleshooting/#testing-your-automation). {% include getting-started/next_step.html step="Presence detection" link="/getting-started/presence-detection/" %} If after completing this getting started you are interested in reading more about automations, we recommend the following pages: - [Triggers](/docs/automation/trigger/) - [Conditions](/docs/automation/condition/) - [Actions](/docs/automation/action/) Please note, these pages may require a bit more experience with Home Assistant than you probably have at this point of this tutorial.