Techniques are provided for defining and activating scenes in a home automation system. In one embodiment, a user-defined scene is automatically captured based on current states in a home automation system and a last media query. Current states in the home automation system are automatically captured for services to build a set of states, the set of states including states of services provided by multiple different types of devices, the multiple different types including two or more of audio/video (A/V) devices, lighting devices, heating ventilation and cooling (HVAC) devices, security devices, shade control devices, energy conservation devices, or communications devices. A last media query performed by the home automation system is also captured. A user-defined scene is generated from both. The user-defined scene is stored, and when it is determined it should be activated, service requests are sent.