Unfortunately, this is what these big unaccountable tech companies like Amazon do. The recent fiasco with Autovoice and Google AutoVoice Assistant Action is back for all supported languages is another example, and I just wonder if something similar happened here. Hopefully things can be worked out because I really like this skill and appreciate all the work put into it.
Maybe the Amazon Alexa customer service team but to be honest Iām not sure how much they can do or what influence they have. Thanks for your support though!
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Thanks for your support!
I suppose itās similarā¦probably one individual abusing the API and Amazon tearing it down for everyone instead of limiting or blocking that individualā¦I suppose they need to protect their systems.
Iāll keep you all updated.
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Canāt believe they just pulled that without any explanation?
Hi John. The initial email telling me it had been removed only mentioned something about someone triggering too many routine requestsā¦however there was no real detail so hopefully Iāll find out more when they eventually get back to me. Thereās nothing in the documentation that I can find about API limits, but obviously they have to protect their systems and rather than just blocking that one user they block the Skill for everyone.
Iāve since added some additional throttling but itās now just a waiting game to see what they say.
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No problem at all mate. And thanks for letting us all know and also thanks for such a great skill. 
Is there any way each individual user could stand up their own instance of the service? This way there wouldnāt be one instance generating too many requests.
I would assume that would require an AWS developer account for each user and the user would have to create their own skill and host it themselves. This is the way HAASKA works to get Alexa integration with Home Assistant. Basically you host a skill you create yourself- Setting up haaska Ā· mike-grant/haaska Wiki Ā· GitHub It is extremely complicated though. I havenāt tried it and hosting a skill yourself is probably beyond the scope for many Smartthings users.
Iāve been using Node Red/Home Assistant/Alexa Media Player as a workaround for some announcements, but that was a mess to setup too. I attached a screenshot but itās making my head spin a little just looking at it. Iām just keeping my fingers crossed this skill can get working again before moving more over.
Yeah, unfortunately Iāve not really set it up in a way than can easily be translated to someone else.
It would indeed require each person to have an Alexa developer account as well as setting up several AWS services.
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You needed to have some collection of those things for the original Ask Alexa smart app, so it might be possible.
I agreeā¦Unless @voice_monkey plans to monetize the service (which, honestly, he should), then the instructions for those intrepid enough to venture into the world of AWS should be allowed to try.
Hats off to @voice_monkey for this service, but as I have noticed with Amazon, every good service seems to get shut down because of abuses of a small percentage of users. Such a shame, and from a larger view, is the reason SmartThings is changing their model, why Echo Speaks is no longer a thing, etc. 
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Echo Speaks is still a thing; 4.0 beta (āES liteā) seems to be coming along well. Just not on SmartThings.
I should have said āEcho Speaks is no longer on a thing on SmartThingsā 
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Iām using this on SmartThings ā¦ via alexa is talking like a child when she learns to speak ā¦ kkkkk. Iām using nodered on a local server and the smartthings, samsung automation studio and echo remote 2 palettes
Links:
Thanks @niquini now that you mention this i recall a post from @dlindval (link below) doing this Node Red setup on another thread. It sounds easier then trying to install home assistant on top, and one would just need node red for this to work. Given options are limited to get Echo integration working with Smartthings, with Voicemonkey being down, Node Red might be one of the only viable alternatives right now (unless you buy a Hubitat). Its probably easier then hosting your own Alexa skill. Iām sure we can discuss Node Red further in the linked thread.
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My Goodnight routine has two Voicemonkey calls. The first still works. The second does not, and I get this in the logā¦
EDIT: Neither of them work now.
I chatted with amazon support and told them Iām not buying new alexas if they keep breaking my smart home. They need to figure out how to limit uses or disable individuals instead of disabling skills/apps for everyone.
The legal fees would pile up. 
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They just need to limit individuals. Throttle the individual user after X amount of API calls a day.