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Practical NFC Tag Ideas for Home Assistant: What I Actually Use Mine For

I bought a pack of 120 NFC tags and have used only a small number so far. The most useful ones are simple: I touch my phone to a tag in the kitchen to control our living-room lamps, and another tag hidden beneath a shelf starts a Christmas playlist. They are physical shortcuts for things my household already does.

The kitchen tag for our living-room lamps

I stuck an NFC tag to the kitchen wall. Scanning it with my phone triggers Home Assistant to toggle our four living-room lamps. My wife does not like asking Google to turn the lamps on, but she is happy to use the tag. It gives us a convenient alternative to a voice command when walking past the kitchen.

The important detail is that the tag identifies the action; it does not control the lamps by itself. The phone reads it, Home Assistant recognises the scan and the automation handles the lights. A toggle is convenient, although it is worth checking the behaviour you want if the four lamps are ever in different states. A dedicated turn on action and a separate turn off action might suit some households better.

The Christmas playlist tag

Another tag is tucked under a shelf. Scanning it starts a Christmas song playlist on a group of speakers I have connected to Home Assistant. The group combines my Google Home speakers. I could also set the automation to play on just one or more TVs or one or more Wi-Fi speakers. Hiding the tag keeps the shelf looking ordinary while still making the action easy to find if you know where to tap.

This one is seasonal, but I like the idea of a physical shortcut to a particular playlist. The tag triggers the automation; the music still depends on the player and music service connected to Home Assistant. I have not included my exact media-player entities or playlist ID here because those details differ from one setup to another.

How a scan reaches Home Assistant

With a tag set up in Home Assistant and its companion app on an NFC-capable phone, the sequence is:

  1. The phone reads the tag.
  2. The Home Assistant companion app passes the tag's identity to my Home Assistant instance.
  3. Home Assistant fires a tag scan event and matches the tag to an automation.
  4. The automation runs its actions, such as controlling lights or starting music.

Home Assistant has a Tags panel where you can name and manage tags and, from the mobile app, write one to a physical NFC sticker. An automation can use a particular tag as its trigger. I would create and scan a tag before sticking it permanently in place, then confirm that the intended automation runs. The Home Assistant Tags documentation explains the current setup and trigger options.

Your phone needs NFC, the companion app must be connected to your Home Assistant instance, and the device or service you want to control must already work in Home Assistant. The behaviour when scanning also varies by phone; for example, an iPhone may show a notification to tap. An NFC tag is a shortcut, not a replacement for the underlying integration.

A few more ideas I might try

These are ideas, not automations I have already installed:

  • Bedside lights: a tag within reach of the bed could trigger a nighttime lighting scene, if I decide exactly which lights and brightness levels it should use.
  • Leaving home: a tag near the exit could turn off selected lights. I would keep door locks and other security actions separate from an easily scanned sticker.
  • Laundry reminder: a tag near the washing machine could start a timer or send a reminder through Home Assistant. It would need a clear way to avoid starting multiple timers by mistake.
  • A nonseasonal playlist: the hidden shelf idea could be reused for music we play throughout the year.
  • Guest Wi-Fi information: a tag near the entrance could open a page with our guest network details. I would also display a Wi-Fi QR code for visitors whose phones do not handle the NFC tag as expected. This would share access to an existing guest network; it would not turn the network on through Home Assistant.

I would add these one at a time, based on whether reaching for the phone is genuinely easier than the existing switch, app or voice command.

Homebox tags work differently

I also put NFC tags on storage boxes. Those contain a direct link to the corresponding Homebox location, so a scan opens the list of items in that box. Home Assistant is not involved in that setup. I describe the steps in How I Use NFC Tags with Homebox to See What’s Inside Storage Boxes.

Tags to consider

The 120-tag pack I purchased is currently unavailable. These rewritable NFC tags on Amazon UK are a similar alternative, but they are not the tags I bought and I have not personally tested them. Check the current listing, availability and compatibility with your phone before ordering. This is an affiliate link; I may earn a commission if you buy through it.

The tags have been worthwhile for me because the useful ones remove small bits of friction from everyday routines. I would start with one action you already repeat, test the scan where the sticker will go, and only then look for more places to put them.