# Action

> Something Home Assistant can do, like turning on a light or sending a notification. Automations, scripts, and dashboards perform actions.

Source: https://contributors.home-assistant.io/glossary/action/

- In code: `hass.services`, `services.yaml`, `ServiceCall`, `async_register`
- Also: actions, perform an action
- Formerly: service, service call (old name: don't use it in new text)

Integrations register actions, and describe their fields in `services.yaml`. An action can target entities, devices, areas, floors, or labels.

Actions used to be called services, and were renamed in Home Assistant 2024.8. The code still uses the old name: `hass.services`, `services.yaml`, and `ServiceCall`. In text, always say action, and "perform an action", not "call a service".

## Related terms

- [Automation](https://contributors.home-assistant.io/glossary/automation/): A rule that performs actions when a trigger happens and its conditions are met, like turning on the lights at sunset when someone is home.
- [Script](https://contributors.home-assistant.io/glossary/script/): A named sequence of actions that can run from an automation, a dashboard, or by voice.
- [Target](https://contributors.home-assistant.io/glossary/target/): What an action works on: entities, devices, areas, floors, or labels.
- [Selector](https://contributors.home-assistant.io/glossary/selector/): Describes what kind of value a field takes, like an entity, a number, or a time, so the UI shows the right control for it.