[NO LONGER SUPPORTED] Ask Alexa

The issue may be the placement of the mics on the devices…they are closer to the base and any hard surfaces will reflect sound…try this (temporarily)…put the DOT on a towel and see if it improves the response :slight_smile:

Thank you, I went and looked and it was already at 10 so I put it to 12, we will see what happens when I get home from work.

Ok…Let me know…However, when things work and then suddenly don’t that is usually an indication something happened at Amazon. USUALLY it resolves itself.

I have updated the code to 2.2.0:

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Did you get this resolved?

I have added the ability to disable certain lock and door functions per your suggestion. This will be in version 2.2.1 when it is released (no ETA yet…probably before end of the month). Great suggestion and hope you enjoy using the app!

I made the change the other day, but never tested it. I will do it tonight when I get home and let you know the result.

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I DID use the RAW code from github for copying and pasting. Attached is a
screenshot of what I was referring to when I said I “put my own information
in”. The ID, token, etc.

Sorry for the delay getting back to you. Had a family issue come up and had
to take care of it first.

Michael, I got back to you via email about this. Sorry for the delay…family stuff.

I checked and it is working as it used to, thank you for the help.

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No worries…so your screenshot looks fine…did you also do everything with the developer site? When you say something like “Alexa, Ask SmartThings Help” what does it say?

It says “for help with what you can say, take a look at the things to try
section in the Alexa app”. But it says the same thing if I just say “Alexa
help”

So it doesn’t sound like the skill is actually active…be sure to say “Ask Smarthings…” after Alexa…

OMG I finally got it working. I didn’t do the stuff on the developer site correctly but have now fixed it. Today’s lesson is: don’t do this kind of stuff when your mind is on other things. It won’t end well.

Thank you SO much @MichaelS for holding my hand through this!

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I just jumped into the ST world a few weeks ago and ran into an immediate red flag to all the money I spent on smart devices when my wife couldn’t simply say “Alexa, unlock the front door.”

Well, I just wanted to post to say a huge THANK YOU to @MichaelS and everyone else that helped him with testing and features. This is the most amazing piece of community work I’ve seen yet. And the documentation and installation instructions are the coup de grace. We can only dream that someday every SmartApp will be this well documented.

I have so much more to learn about how to configure and use this SmartApp (particularly around the reporting side which is still a bit of a mystery to me), but I’m up and running and my wife can unlock the front door now from her desk so we’re all happy.

Thanks again for the tremendous work.

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Jarrett,

Thanks so much for the kind words. There are a lot to talented people that came before me and that are coming up, but I still appreciate the accolades.

@MichaelS
Hello, I’m new to this part of ST… Usually I find my way through the smartapps fine, but having some issues on this one. BTW, I absolutely love this app the most (Rboy schlage door lock used to be my fav).

  • I have my Developer account created, Echo Dot is connected using same loginID.
  • I have my Lambda account created
  • All the code is in place, did not get any errors along the way.
  • I have the Ask Alexa smartApp installed and configured (no conflicting devices)

I am able to run commands and get results…
But was curious of one issue (which could be something I missed)…??

Pertaining to the Custom Slot Info:
In the IDE, I have the link to see the Set up Page. When I open that link in a new tab I did not see the items required to complete the Custom Slot Info… I had to skim through this thread and use other people’s input. Not sure why I am not seeing this info.
CANCEL_CMDS
DEVICE_TYPE_LIST
LIST_OF_DEVICES
LIST_OF_MACROS
LIST_OF_OPERATORS
LIST_OF_PARAMS
LIST_OF_SHPARAM
LIST_OF_SHCMD

I see things like the following (I remove the device/mode/routine/etc names)
Should I be seeing more than this on that page?
Switches (Valid Commands: On, Off, Toggle, Status)
Dimmers (Valid Commands: On, Off, Toggle, Status Level {number}, low, medium, high, up, down, increase, decrease)
Doors (Valid Commands: Open, Close, Status)
Locks (Valid Commands: Lock, Unlock, Status)
Open/Close Sensors (Valid Command: Status)
Thermostats (Valid Commands: Open, Close, Status)
Temperature Sensors (Valid Commands: Status)
Presence Sensors (Valid Command: Status)
Motion Sensors (Valid Command: Status)
Modes (Valid Command: Change/Status)
Smart Home Monitor (Valid Command: Change/Status)
SmartThings Routines (Valid Command: Run {Routine})
Ask Alexa Macros (Valid Command: Run {Macro})

Oh, almost forgot, I am getting this response often…

“The Ask Alexa SmartApp was developed by Michael Struck to intergrate the SmartThings platform with the Amazon Echo. The SmartApp version is: 2.2.0. And the Amazon Lambda code version is: 1.2.2b. Want to do something else?”

I asked Alexa about the dimmers (Alexa heard: “ask smartthings about the demers”)… not sure why it wasn’t “dimmers”.

EDIT: One other question, when a household account is added and switched to, I noticed none of the Ask Alexa cmds work. Is there a way to share or enable the skill to this account?

First…thanks…I am pleased this is your favorite app…it is mine too :slight_smile:

There are a lot of questions here…let me see if I can parse through them:

If you want to send me the link to your page (privately, of course) I can see what you are seeing. Right off the bat the first thing that comes to mind is that your OAuth isn’t working, but later on you say it is so that probably isn’t the issue. Do you have devices actually set up in the app itself? Even if you don’t something should come up on that page as you would have had to copy the first three lines to your Lambda account.

I assume this is from the help/cheat sheet? Again, it almost appears you don’t have any devices selected in your smartapp that you want to control.

My app has no control over HOW it hears the words. How do you actually know it heard demers? Are you looking in the live logging? This could be symptom (again) of you not having any devices set up in your app and the developer slots not being populated.

I assume you mean in the Amazon app? The skill is connected to a specific account and if that skill is not part of that account it would not work.

Let me know if you can give me more information, but screenshots of your app would be helpful.

@MichaelS
Thank you for the reply…

I have located the setup list for the Custome Slot Info… I will place blame on myself as there really isn’t much clarity at 2-3am. I was only using the URL provided in the IDE logs and totally missed the other URL location within the APP. Although I will say (unless I missed this part too), it would be nice if there was a way to generate this URL in the IDE logs as well. I was able to cut/paste from my phone and email myself the link in order apply the values to my Developer account.

I actually took the token and user values from the IDE log entry and did my best guest to plug them in for the 3 lines (Lambda code)

Having said all that, I have the app working great this morning… Amazing what a good night of sleep and your comments can do! Thank you again!

When you click the link the URL is generated in the Live Logging of the IDE and the App…Either way, I am glad you got it working!