Cross-Integration Media Player Grouping — We Need Your Vote/Feedback

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TL;DR: We’re proposing an opt-in, backwards-compatible way for media_player entities to support grouping across different integrations (e.g., Sonos speakers + audio matrix/AVR zones).

:point_right: Please upvote the architecture discussion: https://github.com/home-assistant/architecture/discussions/1331

Hey everyone,

We’ve been working on a small but meaningful improvement to media_player that we think a lot of people will benefit from: cross-integration grouping.

The Problem

Today, media_player “grouping” in Home Assistant is integration-defined. While many integrations support grouping within their own ecosystem (e.g., Sonos), there’s no standard, opt-in API for an integration to expose a curated set of groupable media_player entities from other integrations.

That means the UI can’t reliably offer cross-integration grouping controls, even when the underlying audio path is real. For example, if a Sonos speaker feeds into a Triad AMS audio matrix (or any similar hardware routing setup), you can’t present them as a single controllable “group” in Home Assistant - even though the audio is physically flowing from one to the other.

Quick example

  • Before: Sonos speaker (Sonos integration) + Triad output zone (Triad integration) can’t be grouped in the UI.

  • After: The Triad integration can expose a curated set of “groupable players” (including Sonos entities), enabling a single group control in the UI.

What We’ve Built

We’ve implemented an optional get_groupable_players extension to the media_player entity model. It lets an integration return a curated list of players it can group with — including players from other integrations.

Scope / expectations:

  • This is opt-in per integration and fully backward compatible.

  • It does not force unrelated players to sync if the underlying platform can’t do it—integrations only expose pairings that make sense.

We have working PRs for core, frontend, and documentation:

And a reference implementation in the Triad AMS integration (upstream PR):

https://github.com/bharat/homeassistant-triad-ams/pull/63

It demonstrates cross-platform grouping between Sonos speakers and Triad output zones — working today.

Who This Helps

  • Audio matrices (Triad, HTD, etc.)

  • AVR / multi-zone setups where “zones” and “sources” don’t come from the same integration

  • Any installation where the control surface in HA spans multiple audio ecosystems

How You Can Help

Since this changes the entity model, it requires approval through an architecture discussion. The more community support (and real-world use cases) it gets, the more likely it is to move forward.

Please upvote by clicking the up-arrow:

:point_right: home-assistant/architecture#1331

Even better: leave a short comment with your setup (integrations involved + what you’re trying to group).

The original feature request with full technical details is here: Discussion #2342

Thanks for reading — and thanks for your support!

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Thanks for your hard work here, @kiwidan! This is a really important change because it will enable people who have multiple audio systems in their home have a more seamless experience. It’d be really helpful if others could add their weight behind this proposal so that we can get it into core!

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