On the Interfaces tab in the alexa developer console
It looks like graph smartthings is having a difficult time tonight could that cause the skill response I am getting. The very first time I attempted to turn on office after updating my json file I got my sonos to turn on
May want to try tomorrow if SmartThings is having issuesâŠ
Thanks Michael, this was working like a charm once smartthings was over the issues that I was seeing the other night
I did my first macro triggering a webcore piston it was a great success but it didnât run any aliases and my 2nd new macro didnât work at all, didnât trigger webcore piston.
I also tried to change the encircled part to any device and actions but didnât work, same with IFTTT, I checked the url of IFTTT and run it through the google chrome, it was good and running well.
@MichaelS help please
Sorry for the delay in responding. I am not clear on what you are attempting to accomplish here. Can you go into a bit more detail?
Hi there,
Iâm about a month in with SmartThings as it has only just reached Australasia. Also excited to discover Ask Alexa after being properly disappointed with standard interactions between Alexa and SmartThings. I admit I was a little daunted by the setup, but the instructions are very detailed and I muddled through with care. Its clear though that Iâve done something wrongly at some point.
One thing I noted along the way was that the lambda setup screen differ slightly from the instructions in terms of the execution role.
I used the EU (Ireland) location for the setup, but didnât really understand what the impact of that might be for me in New Zealand.
When testing in console I donât believe Iâm getting any activity from Ask Alexa. The Echo show displays a Lambda Error. My Live Logging in Smartthings IDE also isnât showing activity for Ask Alexa, beyond that which I think came from the App when interacting with its settings:
Also Ask Alex appears in my Alexa skills under the Dev tab - it does claim to be enabled. Does this matter? Apologies, Iâm not sure which, if any of these things is relevant.
The other oddity was:
var url=âhttps://graph-ap02-apnortheast2.api.smartthings.com:443/api/smartapps/installations/â + STappID + â/â ;
Should this have matched the âeu-west-1â I used or is it okay so long as it came from the SmartApp and matches SmartThings IDE?
Last dumb question. Standard SmartThings Smart App and Alexa skill. Keep or remove?
Should I start again? Apologies for the level of my question, I really do feel like a bit of a dummy, but am hoping to become a lot more proficient. Wishing I was 25 and not 45.
Any assistance greatly appreciated.
Paul
YeahâŠI have been off the site for a while and need to update the instructions; however, the location shouldnât make that much of a big dealâŠit will probably just affect latency.
The good news is that from what is shown, most of the items appear to be set up properly. The response you are getting from the log indicate you have the Alexa Skill set up correctly, and it is interfacing with the Lambda properly.
Again, the fact you are getting the response within the SmartThings log indicates you have this set up properly. I assume that piece came over from the automated code creator invoked when you do the setup? If so, the app polls itself and auto inserts the address. This should be correct.
Keep itâŠthere are still some thing that are easily done with the main integration (i.e. âAlexa, turn off the officeâ instead of âAlexa, tell SmartThings to turn off the officeâ).
Basically, I would start with âAlexa, ask SmartThings for Helpâ. I would be interested in the vocal output and what the logs say".
Thank you so much for responding Michael. Iâm not 100% sure what I did, but after you gave me a bit of confidence I did some tweaking around and everything burst into life. Will take her for proper spin tomorrow.
Thanks again and great work.
Paul
That is excellent! Enjoy!
MichaelS - is there a link/page with a basic description of what this solution will do? Iâm very interested in using an Echo device to announce notifications.
Is anyone having an issue with Ask Alexa lately? Mine stopped working, I tried re-setting it up and nothing is working. Example, I have a routine called Movie Time. When I say âAlexa, tell smart things to run movie timeâ it responds with âhereâs your movie: {insert movie name here}â. No commands seem to work. . .
One thing I noticed on setup is the lambda skill setup is updated now and completely different from before. The only runtime we can choose is Node.js 12.x. Is this the problem?
I just updated mine to 12.x and it works fine.
From what you are describing it almost sounds like you skill is not fully recognized by Alexa. What you are activating is the native Alexa items. To test if you SmartThings is actually installed properly just say âAlexa, open Smartthingsâ. If it gives you anything but âWhat would you like to do with your SmartThings devicesâ Or âSimply give me a commandâŠâ then it means your skill isnât fully recognized by Alexa.
Hope that helps.
With all of the news about SmartThings changing and items like Echo Speaks being forced to change, the question has come up âWhat about Ask Alexa?!?â.
The good news: Ask Alexa continues to work in the new SmartThings app and will continue to work as long as Groovy is supported. Even AFTER groovy goes away, there might be options (community provided or even SmartThings) to allow the Groovy code to be used, but more in a local-type environment (i.e. Compute in your home). Nothing outside of today is guaranteed, but keep an eye on this site for more info.
I will NOT be developing an API version of Ask Alexa as many of the use cases for developing Ask Alexa in the first place are no longer around (Admittedly, SmartThings and Amazon have done a great job of narrowing/closing this gap). I personally look forward to seeing how this transition goes. I havenât planned to jump ship yet, only because every other platform I have investigated comes with its own challenges. My time is limited these days and I just want things to workâŠand SmartThings seems to have hit that mark for the time being and I believe the changes in the environment may provide the stability everyone wantsâŠeven at the cost of SOME customization.
Enjoy!
It appears Ask Alexa isnât working with Webcore pistons. Am I the only one with that problem? I moved to the new app and thatâs the only thing that isnât working. The piston works fine if I just run it, and Ask Alexa is responding properly, but the Webcore piston isnât being run.
Any ideas?
So you are attempting to run a Piston with WebCore? In what method? While the ST app is new, it shouldnât have changed any of the interactions with how it works.
Can you describe your circumstances?
I have a webcore piston that checks to see if the garage door is open and if it isnât, it will open. I also have one that works the other way. I then have an Ask Alexa macro that I run by saying âAlexa, ask the house to open the garage doorâ. When I say that macro i have it set to a macro type of âWebCore Trigger (Run/Execute)â. So, the sequence would be
As it is I do step 1, step 2 doesnât take place, but she responds in step 3. When I just go into WebCore and manually trigger the piston, it works fine, so I know the piston is working. It just appears Ask Alexa is not actually triggering the piston.
Also, my logs show the Ask Alexa macro being triggered.
I just did a few tests on my system. I can successfully trigger a WebCore piston on my system. I am using the old and new ST app.
One thing I havenât done is migrate things over fully to the new system. Ask Alexa uses a âhackâ to pass information from one SmartApp to another. If you have 100% migrated to the new system I am curious if they âclosedâ that gap.
The way to tell is to watch the live logging to see if the macro is showing any errors. Next, go to the IDE and look at the events under âMy Locationâ to see if you are truly sending the signal to activate the piston.
If SmartThings closed that gap, the next best way to do this would be with a virtual switch that activates the piston.
Let me know what you find out.
What does your piston look like? You can see if the piston is being activated by turning on FULL logging on the piston and watching that? Also, are there any conditions on your piston? Ask Alexa could be activating the piston, but if the first item in the piston is a condition, it wonât run. It has to be a DO piston.
