How to make a light source invisible in glass and metal?

[Elvissuperstar007]

It's very inconvenient, you turn off the visibility of the lamp, but it still appears in the glass and metal

[skientia]

There are several visibility options.
Unfortunately, the video attachement cannot be viewed without downloading it. As a broad suggestion:

Visibility / Object Layer options


Ray Switch node:


Upcoming trace set option (introduced in 2026 Alpha):


Any intricate requirement (more than what any of the above options offer) would likely call for AOVs in compositing.

[Elvissuperstar007]

how is this related to the question?, here the light source is displayed in the glass although it is off, and if I turn off all the options it will stop glowing, logically it should also hide as an object

[skientia]

how is this related to the question?

It was an open suggestion of all the thinkable possibilities.
The video was not downloaded, thus the project file (situation) not analyzed.

If there is shading involved (reflection, refraction), then the single "Visible" option will not suffice and instead, the Visible on Specular (and others) or Ray Switch will be required. In other cases, a multi-light setup is the most suitable and viable solution.

A reproduced rudimentary scenario with some simple and viable options:

Was any of these options tested?

[Elvissuperstar007]

Isn't it easier to do this by default in light sources?, some kind of crutches

[skientia]

The developers likely follow the logic of "it's not plausible, therefore not ideal as the default behavior" whereas the end-user rarely leave a quad / area light visible unlike mesh lights.