---
layout: page
title: "MQTT Birth and Last will"
description: "Instructions how to setup MQTT birth and last will messages within Home Assistant."
date: 2015-08-07 18:00
sidebar: true
comments: false
sharing: true
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logo: mqtt.png
---

MQTT support so-called Birth and Last Will and Testament (LWT) messages. The former is used to sned a message after the service has started. the latter is here to notify other clients about an ungracefully disconnected client or alike.

To integrate MQTT Birth and Last Will messages into Home Assistant, add the following section to your `configuration.yaml` file:

```yaml
# Example configuration.yaml entry
mqtt:
  birth_message:
    topic: 'hass/status'
    payload: 'online'
  will_message:
    topic: 'hass/status'
    payload: 'offline'
```

Configuration variables:

- **birth_message** (*Optional*):
  - **topic** (*Required*): The MQTT topic to publish the message.
  - **payload** (*Required*): The message content.
  - **qos** (*Optional*): The maximum QoS level of the topic. Default is 0.
  - **retain** (*Optional*): If the published message should have the retain flag on or not. Defaults to `True`.
- **will_message** (*Optional*):
  - **topic** (*Required*): The MQTT topic to publish the message.
  - **payload** (*Required*): The message content.
  - **qos** (*Optional*): The maximum QoS level of the topic. Default is 0.
  - **retain** (*Optional*): If the published message should have the retain flag on or not. Defaults to `True`.