Alexa reported an execution error so I ran the simulator in the IDE and saw the access token error. Anyway, I saw a new version available today so I started from scratch again and everything is working now. Not sure what I did wrong the last time. Thank you for your attention.
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I’ve been holding of on Ask Alexa. It might be about time.
I am capable with AWS, use it today for other stuff, have an account.
Can anyone give me an estimate of time investment for initial setup?
The initial setup took me, and bare in mind that I am a numpty with no prior experience, nor did I have Lambda/Gethub accounts, the better part of 3 hours.
Having said that, if you are experienced, I would imagine that it would take around 30 minutes to an hour at tops.
Keep in mind that, once you have it setup, updating (manually in my case) is an absolute breeze. Takes all of 5 minutes to complete.
Ask Alexa, in my opinion, is one of the top 3 must-have apps for ST.
The first time I set it up it took me 35 minutes… but I’ve got a bit of experience. Now I can do an entire install in about 10 minutes…
Give yourself a couple of hours. at least one for the initial install and set up and then and unlimited amount of exploring and learning what you can do with it…
Just like CoRE, AskAlexa is an extremely power tool.
What are the other two??? I’m guessing CoRE… is there one I’m missing???
Just got this set up today, been fun playing around with it, though I definitely need to figure out exactly how I want to use it, otherwise I’m going to be logging into the Amazon Developer console every day.
One quick question…Do macro’s work with voice report macros? I was hoping they would. My nest is currently named “Nest Thermostat - Upstairs” in smartthings, I would like to keep the name. But in my voice report it’s annoying to hear it say it’s name a couple of times in a row. So I created an alias just called “nest” that points to it…but from what I’m seeing, the alias’s are only used when verbally referencing one, they are not used on voice reports macros…?
Oh man…now you’re going to make me chime in at the risk of offending others aren’t you 
?
Please keep in mind that I’m new to the HA stuff, and I certainly don’t know all of the programs out there, but for my purposes, my “Top 3” programs are CoRE, Ask Alexa, and a toss up between Simple Device Viewer and SmartTiles.
Once again, I am a numpty, so I am clearly too stupid to know better. Oh, wait…now I’ve offended the people who’ve created the aforementioned apps…Oh God…[slowly backing away from the keyboard mode /ON], [Start working on a CoRE program to make Ben shut up mode /ON].
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I recommend reading the directions all the way through before installing. Will give you the concepts before the fun begins. If you have all of your accounts created it can take less than an hour to install. Reach out if you have difficulty.
I just installed it today. I already had a developer account and an aws account, it took me maybe 10 minutes? And it was my first time using either site, I only had the account set up but wasn’t using them.
There is a bit of a learning curve to keep in mind. Any time you wan to add access to a device, change a name, add a routine, etc, etc. You have to update the slots in the Alexa skill to include the new names (if you don’t know what that is, you’ll know once you follow the install).
Correct. But you can do a voice filter to change the name of a device, filtering it down to nest. See the advanced section to turn on voice filters.
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Ahhh, I forgot about that. I saw it in the documentation, but I haven’t come across it in the SmartApp yet. Okay, I’ll try that, thanks.
Indeed. Work through the very nice docs and then install. Try to learn a little about what you are doing. I’ve updated my device list now and I understand why. . . . There’s a lot to learn here. Don’t rush.
Hey Chad,
I’m having a look at writing some custom voice reports too but having a little trouble. Perhaps when you get a working “Alexa, ask smartthings for the nest temperature”, you could let me know the settings you used. I’ve tried following the instructions on the wiki but having trouble. I set up a voice report for temperature but when I ask alexa, she tells me that “the device setup to report the temperate is nest” rather than tell me the actual temperature.
Include a copy of what you report looks like (i.e. screenshot)…I am also interested in the full output (you can get this from the live logging. This should be rather easy to get working for you.
I am a newbie here, and a newbie to automation. Let me say that I’m amazed!
Most likely going to be spending way to much time here studying.
What strikes me is how I wish I would have found this forum a few years ago when we were caring for my Mother who had dementia and Alzheimers. I bought her an Echo to play her music for her, to make is simple for all of us. I thought that was pretty inventive, but now - wow! There are so many ways we can help our loved ones now and monitor them with all of these advances. Kudos to you all -
LisaMay
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That post made my day…thanks! And sorry about your mom… 
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Does anyone plan to do a video to show us how to set up this great app
The written instructions are so well laid out that I highly doubt a video will be made. Having never done anything like this install, and despite being a complete pillock, I found it to be spot-on easy to complete by following the guide.
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And I am not sure I would want to do a video, but some people (@femwitjava) are encouraging me to
This is what I get in live logging. It looks like it think I want a list of the temperature devices rather than me querying for the temperature.
This is what is returned after asking “what is the nest temperature”
20:18:19: debug The only device you have selected for temperature readings is the Nest Thermostat.
20:18:19: debug List Type: nest temperature
20:18:19: debug -List command received-
If I ask for the nest thermostat temperature I get the correct result. Note: I have the full device status option turned on.
20:24:33: debug The nest thermostat temperature reading is currently 22 degrees, and the thermostat’s mode is: ‘heat’. The relative humidity reading is 45%. The heating setpoint is set to 20.5 degrees.
20:24:33: debug Type: thermostat
20:24:33: debug Param: undefined
20:24:33: debug Num: undefined
20:24:33: debug Op: undefined
20:24:33: debug Dev: nest thermostat
20:24:33: debug -Device command received-
20:24:32: debug --Begin commands received–