ALEXA ACTIONABLE NOTIFICATIONS (Home Assistant + Alexa Skill)

[@Jase26689]

Hi mark is there any chance you could do an updated video of this as a lot of things have changed in Alexa development site. Just can’t get it to work😢.. regards

[@jansi5032]

I have the same problem, but it looks like hes not making viedos in general anymore

[@tripac2007]

We need you mark. Helpp

[@richreinke4918]

an update would be great!!!

[@BBalasa]

Yes please make a advanced video as well , will be surely incorporating into my setup

[@calendil]

Its been a while since I am following you without subbing. I don't know why I haven't subbed before but I did. thank you for the video, I just want to say never change the face expression you have when you are talking in front of camera. It emits positive energy.

[@rodneysmith1750]

Not a Nabu Casa or Duck DNS user, really prefer totally local approaches to most everything, however, still a great video, thanks for all you do Mark!

[@mikew8346]

Would love a video on how to do without cloud access!!

[@vanessawangblast9390]

yesss please...

[@MarkNguyen]

Thanks again Matt😂 for this video. It got me started but took a little more time to tinker around the settings to get it right for my location - AU. For anyone who might still be stuck one thing that got it working for me was when creating the skill, under the 'Primary Locale', you might need to play around with the different country options. I’m in AU but had to select GB for it to work, and also toggle the 'Sync locales' option. I had to do this 2 separate times before everything worked properly. The first time i did it for some reason it worked but only if i switched my alexa device language setting to 'India'.

[@ortigonover]

Thanks a lot!! Waiting for your vídeo about image identification with your reolink camera in home assistant! Cheers

[@whitewidowja]

Is it totally independent from the alexa integration using lamdba, or is it possible to reunite both skills ? I'm not using nabu cada cloud like you are, so just wondering. Great video, so much helpful!

[@Mr-Coke]

Hi Mark, thank you for youre great video. It worked perfect. And i am doing now my automations. But one question. Are these actionable Notifications are possible with the HA Assist too?

[@fredzibulski3111]

Hello Mark love your videos and always nice to learn something new. I have a problem with the activation of the skill in the Alexa app i see the created skill but when I log into my Home assistant does it fail and says try again. could it be that the 2fa is enable on my HA ? maybe question into the round does someone have 2FA enabled and is able to add the skill through the Alexa app ?

[@GregGranito]

Thanks for the great tutorial as always, Mark. One thing to note, I've had success with the Wait for Trigger action. I keep the trigger and response to a single automation.

[@ajithprabhakar]

Very clear and easy to follow instructions, Great job Mark. Looking forward for more videos

[@MarkWattTech]

Thank you for the feedback :)

[@ajithprabhakar]

@@MarkWattTech I am a newbie to home assistant and what I did so far is by following your videos :)

[@MarkWattTech]

@@ajithprabhakar awesome! Welcome to the rabbit hole that is Home Assistant! Plenty more videos to come!

[@dannyjensen4954]

Thanks again. I am so happy now I have so much working now after going through your step by step.

[@raggadust]

Great video Mark! Thank you once again

[@Alexcide007]

Great video! I have two Alexa devices in the same room, a TV and a dot. Wanted a reminder to drink water to kick off on both devices but it was only triggering on one. I added a 5 second delay in between service calls and it's now able to relay the message to both devices.

[@Skhulile84]

Thanks for the great video. Is this possible for Google Home?

[@MarkWattTech]

Ive not had a look into it for Google Home. I would imagine there is something available though.

[@JaimeZX]

This is great! Been waiting for it! Two questions - first, you said there's an "offline" version of this? Can you give us more information on that? Second - I don't see the Node Red flows anywhere... what am I missing? Thanks Mark!! Great work.

[@MarkWattTech]

Hey James. So the first question, the “offline version”, what I mean by this is just not using the home assistant cloud or other services. This would use your HA token and different echo settings. I think the way its done in the video is the better more secure way though. Secondly the node red stuff can be found at : github.com/keatontaylor/alexa-actions/wiki/Examples (1st option Comprehensive flow). You then just need to import that flow. Gimme a shout if you need any further help / clarification.

[@JaimeZX]

@@MarkWattTech Perfect! Thanks again.

[@JaimeZX]

@@MarkWattTech Well. Worked when I went to bed. Doesn't work this morning! No idea. Amazon logs show no recent activity but invoking the script in NR or Developer Tools does nothing. Acts like it fires but Alexa says nothing. :( Alexa Media Player working fine, and I am confused.

[@JaimeZX]

aaand now suddenly it works again. So weird.

[@silr3088]

@@MarkWattTech I followed your video and it worked fine for 1 day , then it stopped working, so I deleted the skill and start again from scratch, and now the Echo says what I type on my HA but it never initiates the conversation byitself, I have to tell it " alexa open custom actions" and then it works. I'm not using nabu casa , I'm using it with a long live token.

[@Intimidator443]

Great! Love how detailed are the steps for the tutorials! Cheers from Puerto Rico!

[@jakeoconnor5100]

new to HA, love your vids. i followed your first alexa integration vid to a T, but I'm having trouble with this one i powered thru till the end, but i am not sure where i should be pasting the code to test the new skill. Is there an add on i need?

[@AlanLarson-v3q]

testing on the Amazon side with invocation phrase works fine. Alexa simply says (to 'open actions'), "I'm not sure how to help you with that." Does :8123 need to be added to the Nabu Casa Web Auth and Access Token URI's? BTW, linking takes place on the Alexa side without issue. The messaging simply doesn't make the round trip.

[@you3bi4b]

Great video! Can you do the same thing with google home instead of alexa?

[@JoseBerruezo]

Nice, I would like to know how setup the notifications without ducdns or nabu casa, I cannot open ports in my router.

[@DFJositoR]

Where are you from Mark? Your English is super clear and easy for me to understand

[@MarkWattTech]

I was born in England but lived in Wales all my life 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@palysson1]

Great video, i've been waiting for this video for some time now, thank you. 👍👍

[@wijdanmaanitakrouri4838]

This is awesome! if I want to do the same but with lambda function instead of Home Assistant? what do I need?

[@gavinbennett]

Great tutorial Mark, thanks. Just FYI, I have set this up, works great. But it only works with 1st party Alexa devices, I can't get the Alexa enabled Sonos speakers to trigger.

[@HamishMilne1]

I had an error saying 'There was a problem with the requested skill's response'. This was caused as I did not put the port in the home assistant URL (in the tools > account linking page). Works great now :)

[@MrJztan79]

what do you mean by not put the port in. Per the guild port should not be input it in.? You should able to access HA without need to enter port.

[@captainandre9307]

Great detailed explaination thank you. But on the Account Linking the URI auth and token shows my home assistant example. what should i type in there if I am using Hubitat? Thank you. I can't wait to continue the setup!

[@BBalasa]

Great Walk through , this approach yields more value from smart home setup..

[@MarkWattTech]

Thank you :)

[@Judgejinx782]

Hi, great video. Did you ever post a follow on showing how to do this without the remote access ?

[@daleholden]

Great video would love to see the advanced features

[@williamhubbartt2294]

HI matt, I followed your instructions to a tee, but when I finish on developer panel and say open custom actions I get a msg that says custom notification needs to be linked in task unify. I am at kind of a loss.. any thoughts?

[@guegiurm]

sorry I configured everything as per the guide m acontinues to tell me, A problem occurred with the response of the requested Skill. Do you know what it could be ?

[@alexgerman6307]

Works wonderfully!! Be sure when you create the new files with amazon developer to leave the lambda file path I deleted it by accident and it wouldn't work.

[@enricodalonzo7268]

Great video Mark! Do you know if there's something similar for google home? I did not find anything.

[@MarkWattTech]

Thank you :) I haven’t had a look as the majority of my speakers are all Alexa enabled.

[@rogeriocamargo1984]

Mark, good job man! These days I saw something about alexa-cookbook, but I have no idea how to implement it in Home Assistant to get Alexa shopping list. How is it possible? It would be a good video!

[@russ2991]

This is awesome. Thank you Mark.

[@Kiloptero]

Hi! any idea to use in more than 1 speaker at the same time? Im not able to use in more than one.. looks like when 1 speaker is waiting for the response.. There other are not connected. Thanks!

[@petertaylor7134]

Thanks for another great video. I have spent a hole day trying to get this to work with no results. I have deleted the skill and started for the beginning about 20 times. I just get "There was a problem with the requested skill's response" when doing the test initial. Any idea's?

[@_od_7825]

This is what I have been getting too. I've also started from scratch and copied everything. Have the same issues.

[@Dutchee1967]

@@_od_7825 Thanks to other people in these comments: I had to actually add the port (443, in my case) to my web authorisation (and token) URL in the account linking part.

[@_od_7825]

@@Dutchee1967 turns out I needed to remove a / from the link to my Home Assistant instance! It's now working and I'm coming up with too many uses for this!!!

[@francisudeh1393]

@@_od_7825 Hi. Which of the / did you have to remove? I have been battling the same problem for a while now

[@francisudeh1393]

@@Dutchee1967 how did you add the port; (:443) then /auth/authorize?

[@Automation_done_right]

Very nice video, I have a question on the motion detection sensor from Echo, my echo doesn't expose this sensor (or temperature sensor) to home assistant, after using Alexa Media Player integration I can only have Sensors (Next Alarm, Next Reminder, Next Timer) any advice on how to expose motion detection presence sensor from Excho devices to home assistant, I'm using duckdns and SSL not Nabu Casa

[@andreyborisov293]

Great tutorial, thank you!

[@danishrehman3044]

Hi Mark, everything was working fine but suddenly Alexa start saying " There is a problem with the requested skill's response" do you have any fix for this?

[@tiagofurriel296]

Same problem.

[@danishrehman3044]

Still can't figure it out, waiting for any expert to help.

[@compas150]

Same problem here :-(

[@Dutchee1967]

​@@compas150 Thanks to other people in these comments: I had to actually add the port to my web authorisation (and token) URL in the account linking part.

[@frankraym]

​@@Dutchee1967 some homeassitant:port?

[@mrteausaable]

I love to see how trigger routine and scripts on the home assistant using Alexa voice command. Great video by the way, it works as you said.

[@MarkWattTech]

Those parts will be in my next Alexa tutorial 😁

[@johnrobertson6338]

I’m new to this stuff. When there’s a comment about ‘linked in the description below’ or ‘copy’ etc, am I missing something on the KZbin page or is this a function of a ‘subscription’, if so what level.

[@provaid82]

Thanks for the great tutorial , but is this is still working because in last step in alexa app i can't link it

[@clausnrrind1885]

thanks for the video, followed it but for some reason it does not work for me; when i try to connect to the skill from the alexa app it says 'Error: invalid client id or redirect uri', any idea of what i might have done wrong?

[@xenoliving3951]

I got the same issue. You must pick the same region as your amazon account. (I'm in JP, but account is US)

[@chpiggott]

Thanks Mark, followed to the end, but now getting 404: Not Found when linking skill? Any ideas?

[@MrJebsimmons]

Have you seen the issue where the service won't initiate the notification until you say "Alex, start custom actions". This is where I'm stuck. Went through this video several times and recreated skill and all documents to make sure I didn't miss anything. Wondering if it's a permission issue with my alexa device or if i haven't enabled something on the HA side.

[@MrJebsimmons]

The “Hello World” model no longer exists. You need to choose custom and “start from scratch “ for your Alexa Skill. This solved my issue.

[@XSAMU07]

Hi, I have a problem... I'll explain what I would like to do As soon as a sensor is activated I want Alexa to ask me if I want to activate a Gaming zone or a Relaxation zone; once I answer I would like Alexa to ask me what color I want to set the LEDs in the area I have chosen. I succeed in the first step and I receive the question about the area to choose but when it has to ask me the second question it stops and doesn't ask me anything (the nodered switch node does not receive the Gaming or Relax response)... I think the response needs to be set on the Alexa skill but I can't. Am I doing something wrong? Can you help me please? Thanks for the reply

[@cjrgreen]

Brilliant tutorial thanks this will annoy my whole (non techy) family! :) I have been playing with it all day. do you know if there is anyway to tell which device answered the script? if I broadcast it to a group i want a reply to goto the device which answered

[@MarkWattTech]

Hey Chris. If you check out the documentation you will find a section on “sensor last”. You can then use this in a template etc to have the last spoken to echo play/say something :) Edit : Heres the link :) github.com/custom-components/alexa_media_player/wiki#creating-sensorlast_alexa

[@seaeyeare]

Nice! Are actionable notifications possible without home assistant?

[@michaelcorner432]

Please say this is possible!?

[@seaeyeare]

@@michaelcorner432 we will have to see if Mr. @Mark Watt Tech replies. I sure hope it is even if it needs to be created through a custom skill still

[@robertjackson771]

Thank you sooo much I have so many Ideas on this. Please give us a more advances video on this.

[@MarkWattTech]

I do plan on revisiting this in my rebooted Alexa series :)

[@ghalisanhaji]

@@MarkWattTech Pleaaaaase Mark, we are still waiting u to actualise this video. Please please please

[@benharrey2453]

Hey Mark, great video. When is the node red version coming out? I have got the flow working to send the question to Alexa. But can see the event being fired?

[@benharrey2453]

Actually just found it! Very nice with the response type. yes no and number..

[@MarkWattTech]

Glad you sorted it 😃

[@tonydicken1818]

Hey Mark! Great video as usual. However I have tried to implement this AT LEAST 5 times without success. There seems to be a real problem if you are outside UK/US. I'm in Austria running my Alexa's in German and English. Keaton Taylor mentions this, but doesn't clearly explain how it can be fixed, certainly not for newbies. I really think you should flag this up at the start of the video to save everyone a lot of time.

[@Rifas-Yoosuf]

Hey Mark: Help us that many of us having same issue with ResponseNone not triggering for EchoShow 8. It's working fine with Echo Dot or older Echo speakers.

[@mechrekt]

Hi, how can I ask Alexa to do something that is not just turn on or off a device in my home assistant, but do some HA automation, for example Alexa clean my kitchen and start an automation that controls my robot vacuum? Thank you!

[@boopeshkumarprabhakaran]

I do have same question

[@007moore6]

Mark, early in the video you mentioned that you had settings for DuckDNS instead of nabu casa. I have tried various configuration attempts but can not get authentication to pass. Any suggestions?

[@jackearnest164]

Amazing Video....very fun stuff ... gotta watch closely for typos but man is this cool...

[@mikeprice820]

If you could do a walk through of the node red examples that would be fantastic! Great video by the way.

[@MarkWattTech]

I’ll be sure to cover it in my newer videos :)

[@alessandroinnocenti9544]

Hi mark thanks for this splendid video, but despite having done all the steps exactly the momsi skill connects to my account assistant, precisely it tells me: at the moment it is not possible to connect the skill. I am in Italy and I have external access but with port: 8123, following the guide it says to use the long-lasting token so I created one and entered it I use ssl I left true with duckdns. Where am I wrong?

[@marcelrymenhout4510]

Hello, great video. I have an issue, creating the skill went ok and the first script in the configuration.yaml "Alexa open customs action works ok", after that I place your script in the scripts.yaml reload the scripts did the small code in call service to test, changed the alexa_device to mine. Nothing happens. Do you have an idea why, please ? Maybe I should mention im using duckdns.

[@macualey]

Is there a way to get these actionable notifications with a google nest speaker?

[@dharmilrao3097]

thanks for the video very helpful indeed how do i download the node red examples for alexa actionable notifications?

[@MarkWattTech]

Sorry for the delay! You need to add the node red pallet :) there is a link for it in the documentation.

[@Jimmypl007]

Would love to know where you found those node-red flows.

[@maxdeathlore]

This is lovely! Is the same possible with Google Assistant?

[@MarkWattTech]

Currently it’s not (that I’m aware of anyway). But it would be great if it was!

[@Wimpieseigen]

Thanks I got it working. More on the advanced features would be great. Like, she ask me if I would like the airco on if the temperature is above value. Now if I say yes, she then ask how many degrees. So a second question on the response off the first question.

[@MarkWattTech]

What would you like to see in a more advanced version? :)

[@Wimpieseigen]

@@MarkWattTech Sorry for my English. More on the advanced features like follow up questions ( It’s. cold, shall I make it warmer? Yes. How many degrees? 2. oké) When there is not enough light in a room that I enter. ( Shall I put on the light? Yes. How long? 2 minutes. Oké). So examples with ResponseNumeric. And ResponseSelect. How can I change Netflix, Hulu, KZbin in different wordt, and how many different words can I put in the slot type. I tried that but could not getting it too work. Perhaps an example. Thanks

[@ertvvf]

Hey nice vid! What are the settings I need to change if I would like to use Canadian French? Thanks!

[@theliquidguy5748]

Sorry, I have no answer. But I do have a question. Have you been able to get it to work in english? because I cannot even succeed at that. when I enable the skill it just tries to link the account and times out. any luck for you?

[@ertvvf]

@@theliquidguy5748 Hi, I wasn't able to get it working in french. I didn't tried in english. Sorry bro :/

[@iot_enthusiast]

Looking forward to a similar content that doesn't need public access to home assistant

[@MarkWattTech]

It is possible to do it. If enough people are interested I will do a video :)

[@gooaphex7845]

@@MarkWattTech I guess there are thousands of them like me for example.

[@stijnmoke6184]

Ohhh this is lovely! Didnt think of this earlier... Would love to see a google home version... I dont have alexa here. Willing to do so? Is it even possible?

[@MarkWattTech]

Not 100% for Google. I have a few Google devices in boxes whilst I wait to move. But expect some Tutorials for them when I do! :)

[@stijnmoke6184]

@@MarkWattTech Cool thanks !

[@stijnmoke6184]

@Mark Watt Tech, any updates on this for google?

[@simonburke6681]

Thanks Mark, I followed all the instructions and my account links succesfully. When I test Alexa says "there was a problem with the requested skills response", Any idea what might have gone wrong? I have tried reloading as suggested by another user with the same problem and that didn't help.

[@lycakito1814]

Yeah this happens to me too, did you figure out what it was?

[@victoraceves7732]

@@lycakito1814 The same here :/

[@simonburke6681]

@@lycakito1814 No, couldn't get this working unfortunately. I'm in Australia so I wonder if it might be geographic product support constraint.

[@simonburke6681]

@@victoraceves7732 let me know if you get it working

[@lycakito1814]

@@simonburke6681 yeah will do … in UK but I found Alexa integration cloud also fails when I do the skills for that. Plus Google Assistant, none of that works either for me!

[@garethcheyne9619]

Great video, love your work.

[@MarkWattTech]

Thank you 😄👊🏻

[@Kiloptero]

The token is needed to link the skills with HA.!

[@jerrychambers9649]

Thanks Matt. So could this work with Amazon delivery notifications. Could it just ask me if I want to clear my notification when there is a notification available. It gets old telling Alexa to clear my notifications and then it just goes and prompts with “do you want to clear your notifications” and I’m of course wanting to clear it or I would not have said it to do so the first time. So annoying. Would it work on that?

[@RichSimpson]

+1 for this, I hate it, anything to make her delete all notification sin one hit would be great. I bicker and argue with Alexa more than anyone else! I despise her LOL

[@Hasher411]

How about 'ALEXA NON-ACTIONABLE NOTIFICATIONS' ... I have just started using Home Assistant and have shelved my SmartThings and Hue hubs but miss a skill that I use to have that ran on groovy that SmartThings will know longer be supporting. The skill was Ask Alexa. The skill enabled me to get the status of devices. It was really nice to be able to say “Alexa, ask the house for house status” and have her tell me what lights or devices that I forgot to turn off. I use to use this all the time when I went to bed and it was nice to ask the dot in my bedroom instead of having to get out of bed and go around the house to find what lights or devices I left on. I had Ask Alexa set to just tell me the names of the devices that were on. Example: ME: “Alexa, Ask the house for status” … Echo: "the living room light is on, the tv is on, the porch fan is on, the kitchen light is on, the security tv is on."

[@junskie85tv19]

Helo, i just wanna know how we can set up the constant volume of amazon alexa speaker during triggering of automation. Because if we decrease the volume into 30%. When the automation triggered, the volume will not increase... Its annoying we cannot hear if there's an emergency.

[@frankraym]

I think anyone wanting to get the best smart home experience should use both Alexa and Google. since they both have their pros and cons. As someone who uses both I can say with confidence that both have their own uses.

[@gsethi2003]

Sorry I know it's been quite a whiile since you posted but have you changed your mind about using both systems? If not, what can Google home provide that Alexa can't, thanks.

[@blopak2]

Hello Mark. Thanks for the video. Sad for me… I have the same results that what was trying the Keaton’s tutorial directly… I’m from Chile, in South America… there’s can be any problem with that? After I'm doing all the steps and after the skill was perfectly connected to my HA… when I call the skill whit the invocation frase… Alexa responds whit a don't know message… (but in Spanish). There’s any suggestions? I really really want’s Alexa Actionable Notifications working on my home automations. Thanks again.

[@MarkWattTech]

With the skill setup are you able to use the script in the dev tools demo? Im not sure how it all works with other country’s as I have only rested the UK.

[@blopak2]

​ @Mark Watt Tech Hi again Mark. When I use the Alexa Simulator on Dev Console... Alexa say "There was a problem with the requested skill's response". I imagine that in your case Alexa response whit the message "This is a test of the Alexa actions custom skill. Did it work?" even in the Alexa Simulator? this is the goal?. Thanks.

[@MarkWattTech]

@@blopak2 The first time you run it that is the expected response yes. Another way to test the skill is via the Alexa Dev tool. There will be an option that allows you to test your skill. You can then identify if its an issue with your HA config or your skill config.

[@javierdenia852]

great videoo!! thanks fot time for we!

[@Skhulile84]

Quick question. I only have a Google Home Mini, but planning to get an Echo soon, I wanted to test this with just using the Amazon Alexa app on Android, all has been setup except that at the last point of testing it doesn't respond with the voice "This is a test of the alexa actions custom skill. Did it work?" do you think it could just be because I am actually not using the actual Echo device?

[@MarkWattTech]

It should work on any Alexa enabled device as it is an Alexa skill. Edit - tested on my iPhone Alexa app and it works.

[@Skhulile84]

@@MarkWattTech Thanks for the prompt response. That's interesting. Does your iPhone appear on the Alexa Media player custom integration in Home Assistant? On my side the integration doesn't show any Alexa devices so I thought the reason could be because it's not an Echo device? If your iPhone does show, maybe I'll need to go back to your video where you show how to install the custom Alexa Media Player integration in Home Assistant?

[@MarkWattTech]

@@Skhulile84 it doesn’t show in the integration as it’s not a “real” Alexa device. However it can use the Alexa service which is why it can use the skill. So on my iPhone alexa App I can say “custom actions” (name of your skill) and it will respond with my skill question. In my case “do you want me to turn off all the lights”

[@Skhulile84]

@@MarkWattTech Thanks for the prompt response again! Really appreciate the work you put into this. I'll then go and watch both your videos again to see where I could have gone wrong.

[@Skhulile84]

@@MarkWattTech Hi, I managed to repeat the steps. however I am now getting an error that says "Skill reponse was marked as failure Request identifier: amznq.ecgo-api..... the target Lambda application returned a failure response". Then Alexa says "There was a problem with the requested skill response" Could you please assist. Thank you

[@francisjutras3651]

Hahaha!!! So amazing! I love it 😆. Again.. Crystal clear explanation! You are THE Man! Thanks! I'm french Canadian. I Pick Up the "us" link and change "en" by "fr" in language_strings.json and it work perfectly!.. I've got a warning message from Alexa developer page.. hmm "utterance conflict".. someone have an Idea of what IT is? Anyways, I'm all in for advanced video!! With your Room assistant tutorials.. It's gonna be.. Dynamite!! Surrelly Do the automation to ask if I want to turn the light off When nobody is in the Room. Simple and effective. Same for the shades, in summer/winter to save electricity. Surrelly try to get automation base on custom response like.. choose between different mood (for party.. music and Lights). And a simple question to start vacuum robot 'cause we dont want to schedule it (cat issue) So.. a lot of fun here! Thanks again Master!

[@augustinmeignan]

Hi I followed all your instructions and the github page but I can't manage to make it work I have "utterance conflict" I live in France and I set it up in French Any idea on how to solve this ?

[@dahmu031]

​ @Mark Watt Tech , I know your busy with your new job and such, but any chance you could update this video for the current implementation method? I'm a subscriber and love your videos, this one just doesn't work the same way anymore

[@MarkWattTech]

Heya :) It’s up there on the top of my list. Hopefully when I get a chance I can see what’s changed and fix it 👍🏻

[@drharis]

@@MarkWattTech Hi I am also looking forward for this. I followed everything as described and tried deleting and reconfiguring but when I say the invoke word, alexa says, ""There was a problem with the requested skill's response." I am unable to get pass this. :(

[@MarkWattTech]

In the next couple of weeks I will be looking into this! Sorry for the delay.

[@drharis]

@@MarkWattTech Thank you! Waiting,,. Can I be cheeky and ask your opinion for the best doorbell and CCTV cameras compatible with HA. I am planning to upgrade my CCTV cameras as they are few years old. I am using ring doorbell but it has issues with not triggering ding event.

[@dahmu031]

@@MarkWattTech I take it more and more folks need your brilliance :)

[@KrispKiwi]

Hey Mark, with the " initial: '{"text": "This is a test of the alexa actions custom skill. Did it work?", "event": "actionable.skill.test"}'" I'm getting an error in Studio Visual Code Incorrect type. Expected "integer" Can we delete this text once we have everything set up?

[@Dutchee1967]

Same here. I'm guessing so. It doesn't make a difference for my automations, which randomly keeps telling me that "there was a problem with the requested skill's response" Not been able to fix that one yet. When running the actions while editing the automation it appears fine, when running the actions on the automations page I get the error, just like when the automation runs on schedule... Then again, 4 times in a row it worked ok, and then it failed again.. 😢

[@gangmeow]

love the guide. i cant complete it since 443 cant authenticate to my home assistant only 8123. and apparently amazon requires 443

[@WoWJB1020]

You can set a NAT/portforward on your firewall to listen for port 443 and then pass it as 8123 to the HA server

[@EduardoBaladao]

Hi Mark, very nice video!!! Unfortunately I got a scrip error during test and can´t go further. not a valid value for dictionary value @ data['entity_id'] Seems like it didnt found my echo or not conected with my HA, but every steps got accomplished. Any Idea?

[@DarixCn]

I have the same problem. No idea for a fix.

[@pierrebrunon3508]

@@DarixCn I don't know if you have solved your issue yet. I had the same one. You need to adjust a bit the activate_alexa_actionable_notification script in the service section. You need to have: - service:media_player.play_media target: entity_id: your_echo See full scritp bellow: activate_alexa_actionable_notification: description: "Activates an actionable notification on a specific echo device" fields: text: description: The text you would like alexa to speak. event_id: description: Correlation ID for event responses alexa_device: description: Alexa device you want to trigger sequence: - service: input_text.set_value data: entity_id: input_text.alexa_actionable_notification value: '{"text": "{{ text }}", "event": "{{ event_id }}"}' - service: media_player.play_media target: entity_id: media_player."your_echo_name" data: media_content_type: skill media_content_id: "your_skill_name" mode: single alias: activate_alexa_actionable_notification

[@DarixCn]

@@pierrebrunon3508 Thanks for the help! That got it working.

[@edwardrauscher8598]

@@pierrebrunon3508 I'm having the same issue, but have a question on your solution. Doesn't this defeat the purpose of it being a template? Changing data_template to data, and adding a static entry for a Alexa device limits the use to just one Alexa device, where the template allows for the option in an automation to choose a specific Alexa device. Or am I missing something?

[@PrimalDashes]

@@edwardrauscher8598 So I've had to do this with another project. In the end, you create a separate script for each Echo device and then call that script based on what device you're targeting. A little more of a pain, but just as effective in the end.

[@TeamOrtus]

Another nice video :)

[@DerekWalker55]

Great video, yes please do a video on the more advanced actions. Thanks

[@MarkWattTech]

What would you like to see in the advanced version? :)

[@DerekWalker55]

@@MarkWattTech What I would really like to see (if possible) is to ask Alexa a question, which triggers an automation that then uses the TTS to "respond" with the answer. In my home I have a list of chores for the kids that rotate on a weekly basis, I have Home Assistant update sensors for each childs chore for the week, I use the TTS from Home Assistant to announce the chores in the morning, but it would be really cool if the kids could say "Alexa what are the chores for this week" and it runs the automation.

[@MarkWattTech]

@@DerekWalker55 I am storyboarding my ideas for the advanced options now so will Make a note of this. You can do this yes :) you just have a script call which calls your tts service :) You can do this without actionable notifications too. You can just have a script that announces your your set TTS then use a template to grab the name of the child whos turn it is. The echo will then say “its xxx turn to do chores”. I do something similar with asking the echo what the temp of specific raspberry pis are.

[@anthonyjones5981]

@@MarkWattTech I'd really like you to cover something similar in my case. I have a cat flap which is intergrated with HA. I'd like to ask Alexa 'Where is Bailey or Bella?' and she responds with 'Bailey/Bella is inside/outside' Any help on this would be great!

[@mefistofeli]

Hi, thx for this excellent guide, keep them coming. If I say the test command then out works, also a node red flow works with this as a trigger. However if I try to run the script using your test script or even using an inject node on the working node red flow the script is getting executed with no warnings but alexa doesn't say anything. Anyone else having this problem? Could it be a weird firewall thing?

[@MarkWattTech]

Heya :) thanks for the feedback. Plenty more ti come. So its running but just no sound? If you test the notification via the alexa developer tools (there is a test tab) does alexa make sound in your browser? Just to identify if its tue skill or HA :)

[@mefistofeli]

Testing it from the developer console works fine

[@mnededeejay]

@@MarkWattTech Also having the same problem here, where testing via the "test tab" works fine but not via my alexa device

[@EricOnYouTube]

Where is the link to the Alexa developer page?

[@Beardofy]

Could you turn this into one automation by using the choose and wait options?

[@MarkWattTech]

You could yeah. Anywhere you can utilise a script or automation, you can use it :)

[@JustinRicheson]

Is there any way to debug this? "Alexa, Open custom actions" doesn't do anything for me....

[@Rich33527]

Is there a way to use Amazon Polly voices with this skill?

[@explosiveenterprises1479]

I have followed your instructions to a T (very Detailed BTW) but keep getting the same error. I deleted the skill and tried again but get the same exact error when i say "alexa open custom actions" i get the response "there was a problem with the requested skills response" --- Any thoughts? It all seemed to go great and there was no confusion when following along with your video.

[@explosiveenterprises1479]

To anyone that had this same problem as me: Reload HA - Fixed the problem DOH!!!!!

[@MarkWattTech]

@@explosiveenterprises1479 glad you managed to get it working :)

[@simonburke6681]

@@explosiveenterprises1479 nope, no luck

[@harborg115]

Hi Mark , Newbie to Home assistant. Struggling to get account linked with HA. When linking my Alexa app it shows the HA page but with an error message “Error: invalid client id or redirect url”. I’ve tried using the remote IP address from nabu casa and also my remote duckdns address to HA but I get the same error on the Alexa app each time . Any ideas ?

[@MarkWattTech]

Hey Graham. Welcome to the rabbit hole of Home Assistant! For the first part of the setup (just Alexa setup) try following my newer video on Alexa In Home Assistant 2022 part 1. It’s slightly different so it may just be that. Give me a shout if your still stuck and I will do my best to get back to you :)

[@chizhuk]

Been trying this myself for a couple of days now. Set up and deleted a couple of times. Have got the account to link via phone app so assume all is working. BUT. Saying 'Open custom actions' only works on the Android app and not on my echo dot or Alexa on the tablet. Blue ring and bing bong on the echo and the tablet offers 'Custom Carts' game. Any pointers?

[@chizhuk]

/UPDATE/ For me, de-register and re-register 3rd gen echo dot worked. Don't know why I didn't think of it at the time.:(

[@tabss777]

Hello Mark, thanks for your guide. I tried several times and i am stuck in the test about Alexa Skill. After i do everything and i proceed with testing i get "Target lambda application returned a failure response. I tried finding this error if was about my language (IT) but seems not directly connected because i was able to add IT to the language_strings.json but still having the issue please can you support me? i've also requested to join your FB group

[@tabss777]

i managed to get it working with Nabu casa link, now the skill works both from test console and if i invoke by voice, but the script does not trigger any voice speaking without error. The play media script with skill linked doesn't work

[@tabss777]

i managed to get it working with Nabu casa link, now the skill works both from test console and if i invoke by voice, but the script does not trigger any voice speaking without error. The play media script with skill linked doesn't work

[@chrisrayala]

Hi. I'm at time stamp 16:22. I am stuck when copying the script to home assistant. I am getting the error "Message malformed: extra keys not allowed @ data['script']". Please help.

[@theliquidguy5748]

I think there is a chance that when you replaced your home assistant URL in the "lambda_function.py" code, you made a typo. try redoing the whole code file.

[@gustavsvensson6877]

Is this possible with Google Assistant?

[@jonathancrawford2181]

I've followed the video when I copy and paste... input_text: alexa_actionable_notification: name: Alexa Actionable Notification Holder max: 255 initial: '{"text": "This is a test of the alexa actions custom skill. Did it work?", "event": "actionable.skill.test"}' ...into configuration.yaml, the last line comes up with a parsing error - Incorrect type. Expected "integer". I think this is causing me issues further down stream, as when I ask Alexa to Open Custom Actions, she replies, "There was a problem with the requested skills response" Can anyone offer any guidance on what the parser is moaning about? Thanks in advance

[@mrteausaable]

I got your steps to work correctly but today all my alexa actionable notification saying "This is a test of the alexa actions custom skill. Did it work?" instead of the script.activate_alexa_actionable_notification my custom text. What's wrong and how do I fix this? The HA automations works fine and correct.

[@mrteausaable]

I figure it out. The input_text: alexa_actionable_notification: need to be on the configuration.yaml file. It will not work if you created in the Helper. I learned it the hard way. Hint!