[RELEASE] Alexa Helper

You can’t combine them, unfortunately…The link to here goes into a bit more detail: https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/docs/testing-an-alexa-skill#h2_register

And I fixed the area you pointed out in the wiki to point to this link above.

Thanks Micheal. What would you recommend. Doing the household or just resigning developer account using the same account I have all my Echos devices setup on. Just means I have to redo the app setup stuff and lambda again.
Thanks

Actually, the Lambda has nothing to do with this…you will use the same ARN number, but I do recommend you simply create a developer account that is the same as your normal Alexa account. In addition, the app can remain the same…it is just the developer section, so you WILL have to create the intent, utterances and fill the slots.

Hey all,
I’ve been using helper perfectly for a year. Last night- my sleep and this morning my awake momentary buttons stopped working. My non-Alexa helper momentary buttons work fine still. These sleep and awake buttons trigger hue dimmer, IFTTTT sequences, dimmers, home monitoring etc. nothing in ST was changed in in ther interim. Any idea what’s going on?

I got a note that ST was doing a code upgrade…could you have been affected by that? What if you press the buttons by themselves in the app…do the automations work?

Even when pressed in the app- doesn’t work.

The upgrade is supposed to happen in a few hours. Every other ST automation is working fine

Have you gone into the app and ensured the buttons are still associated with the actions? I recommend going into the IDE and reloading the latest code. Is there anything in Live Logging to indicate what is happening?

Yes, the button is still associated. When I get back home on a computer, will check the logs.

Though perhaps you’re right, I believe my app was copy pasted in instead of github, I’ll see what’s going on…

On 4.5.2 and 2.9.9g and 2.0.6. Could that be it? Why would it suddenly stop yesterday if that’s the case?

No idea…something changed but it may have been on the back end. The logs will probably hold a clue…

No idea what to say. Just got home again and everything is working fine. My logs won’t load into last night and this morning- I think the new updates are being pushed now.

So odd.

Unfortunately, with a cloud system being run by a DevOps mentality company, that happens…Glad it is working for you!

Enjoy!

When I try to add scenarios now in Alexa helper, I’m able to add all the info until I get to adding the scenario “switch state reacts to” button and it shuts down my SmartThings app. Even in scarios previously added that work, it shuts my app down. Any thoughts?
Thanks

What version are you running…there is a bug in an older version running on the iPhone that causes that. I have since fixed that.

I recommend getting this and replacing the scenario code: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MichaelStruck/SmartThingsPublic/master/smartapps/michaelstruck/alexa-helper-scenario.src/alexa-helper-scenario.groovy

Let me know if that helps.

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I feel stupid. I always see the purple code in my IDE and missed that. Fixed the issue and thanks for the help Michael.

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Funny how the world works…After leaving Alexa Helper to focus on Ask Alexa, Amazon has put a feature in that now brings Alexa Helper back into the spotlight…Amazon Routines. This new functionality allows for you to create CUSTOM NATIVE commands and run small ‘scripts’. The issue is that these scripts are rather limited and you still can’t do things like lock and close doors. However, by having the routine flip a virtual switch, you can have Alexa Helper run a full scenario of items.

I am porting this concept over to Ask Alexa to allow for even MORE control. Be on the look out for it in the next couple weeks, but until then, I wanted to make people aware (again) of Alexa Helper as this may give you what you want for the full control over your environment!

Go Amazon!

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FYI, I just made a routine through the Alexa app and it will let you lock doors but it won’t let you unlock them.

I finally update the app after a LOOOONG time. My issues is that I added and deleted some device from my ST. I went into the helper and added the new one. However when I go back to my Alexa App the old ones are still there and the new ones are not. Again it has been a while since I have updated this so am I missing something

When you sat that you go into the Alexa app, do you mean the Amazon one? Or the SmartThings app? Can you share screenshots? and highlight some of this?

I go into the helper app. Everything that I want in Alexa is selected correctly but the actual Alexa app is not updating

There are different contexts here. There is the SmartThings Alexa Helper, which is the app I designed. There is the SmartThings Alexa app, where you select the devices within your SmartThings environment that you want the device to recognize, and then there is the Amazon Alexa app, which is outside of SmartThings, but show you hat it heard and does a lot of the home automation routines and such.

Again, screen shots would help a bit here.