Home Assistant / Alexa Integration - NO SUBSCRIPTION

In this video, Chris shows how he enabled Alexa voice integration to control Home Assistant devices without a Nabu Casa subscription and without all the complex AWS Developer coding. This may not work for everyone, but it's the easiest method to try first.
REFERENCE PAGE for Emulated Hue:
www.home-assistant.io/integra...
⚠️ IMPORTANT NOTE ⚠️
Device discovery may take a while (like 10-15 minutes) so don't freak out if Alexa doesn't find your devices right away. If your devices still haven't been discovered after 15 minutes and you've tested as shown in the Troubleshooting section of the reference page, make sure your Alexa is on the same network (subnet) as Home Assistant.
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DISCLAIMER:
💳 - We purchased a product with our own money
See handydad.tv/disclaimer for details.
☕️☕️☕️ If you liked this video, say thanks with a cup of coffee 👉🏻 ko-fi.com/handydadtv ☕️☕️☕️
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#HomeAssistant #Alexaa

[@handydadtv]

IMPORTANT NOTE! Your Alexa devices must be on the same network as Home Assistant for Emulated Hue devices to be discovered.

[@cdarrigo]

well that explains that.

[@dav1dw]

my devices are on the same network, but they don't show up in homeassistant. Nevermind, I don't think it's worth the effort to get it into homeassistant.

[@cdarrigo]

@@dav1dw I went through it all twice, fine checking my steps and got it running flawlessly. It's totally worth it

[@handydadtv]

@dav1dw I think you misunderstand this integration. You can’t share Alexa devices to Home Assistant. It’s the other way around.

[@dav1dw]

@@handydadtv yes totally misunderstood

[@bstrickland4]

I appreciate you taking the time to edit the audio so that my Alexa device does not wake up. Great attention to detail and I know it takes extra time

[@handydadtv]

Thanks 😊

[@AmaliePreecha]

same, first thing i said, stopped video and told people around me, it was great@@handydadtv

[@revealingfacts4all]

oh brother, this is sweet!!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to put this tutorial together. I, obviously, followed your steps and have integrated Alexa with my home assistant devices.

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@cncisrobot6354]

This is totally the best! I am new to HA and have setup 2 boxes and installs to learn with. I have also done this the hard way which was a nightmare and not free as you have to buy a domain for all the account setups! This way is just a million times easyier and works just the same, thank you for a great video.

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@obi1998]

I'm glad I found your channel through Reddit. The algorithm is slacking. You have a ton of stuff relevant to my interests. And I appreciate your honesty and easy to understand explanations. Easy subscription!

[@handydadtv]

Thanks for subscribing! Welcome to the family!

[@babelhoo]

Wow. So simple, yet I don’t recall seeing this anywhere else, especially not on HA specific channels! I already have setup my Alexa skill and it has been working fine for the last 3 years, so I don’t need this now, I wish I knew this earlier! Got to your channel for the shed video (excellent BTW), didn’t expect also to get HA tips! Great work!

[@handydadtv]

Glad you found me!

[@juanjo_segura]

I've been using my own skill for less than a year, but Amazon send me an email as my free try period was going to end? Did this happened to you? I was happy with my skill, but that mail threatened me

[@babelhoo]

@@juanjo_segura I *think* I got such an email in the past, but it's still working after about 2 years

[@azarelo]

YOOOO...this worked perfectly. I watched this video initially and saved it to watch again if i didn't find any other solution by literally took me 10mins to mess around and set it up (as a person that has never edited my yaml files) and it works flawlessly. Needed this cause while I am going to be setting up zigbee switches around the house now that I have everything hooked up to Home Assistant, I didn't want my alexa dots to be rendered useless. Thanks again for taking the time to make this video.

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@user-wl2ge1hy8j]

This is so great - it worked and I was happy as a little child, because this solved my issue I had with a Philips Hue light, which was controlled by AlexA before and was moved to HomeAssistant and wasn't available on AlexA afterwards anymore. Thank you so much! :) Have a nice Christmas.

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻 Merry Christmas 🎄

[@ABC589]

Thanks for creating this guide. I am currently researching Home Assistant to see if it would work for an upgrade in my family’s smart home. The cloud was my first roadblock however this work around should be able to fix that issue for me.

[@handydadtv]

Home Assistant is a fun hobby.

[@farmerbob339]

"Alex-A" so obvious. Genius! . . . from new fan. (Longtime LIFX user)

[@handydadtv]

Thanks 😊

[@CaseyNyx]

Thanks for the easy to follow tutorial. This worked to enable voice control of my Tasmota flashed Sonoff plugs to with Alexa via Home Assistant.

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@coastersteve]

Incredibly simple, THANK YOU FOR SHARING!

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@waynebowers6792]

Just letting you know I followed your instructions last night when I got home and everything worked perfectly. Thank you!!

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@bry2k]

Your videos are amazing. I was dreading trying to tackle all of this until I saw your Home Assistant videos. THANK YOU!

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@ryanhakalmazian]

With just a couple of hours of headache I finally got it working, thanks for the help

[@handydadtv]

You're welcome!

[@ryanhakalmazian]

@@handydadtv couple notes. Be care full of the Tabing/spacing because it looks very different in file editor compared to Microsoft's visual studio, you don't have to mention Alexa in the yaml, or give the Ip address

[@mutthunaveen]

wonderful explanation and pretty straight forward. it just worked in first instant.

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@Domingo-Ruiz]

Grande!!!!!! Thank you so much!!!! Now I just need a tutorial to use the updated ESPHOME and I'll be on the runway...You have a new subscriber!!

[@handydadtv]

Thanks for subscribing! Welcome to the family!

[@dobbydobbyzioso7736]

Works perfectly and fast - thank you very much !

[@handydadtv]

Glad it worked for you!

[@DanangWidiantoro]

you’re the best.. thank you 🙏🙏🙏

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@Jetsom]

Thank you for putting this video together! I've put off trying to run HA for years because it seemed overly complicated to get up and running. But you've finally twisted my arm and I got it up and running in under 30mins... Now that I have HA/Alexa working together, how do I get Alexa to trigger a HA automation? (e.g. I want to delete the "bedtime" Alexa routine that I usually use to turn all lights off and instead have her trigger HA to run an equivalent "bedtime" automation). Controlling a specific device has been straightforward... but I haven't quite figured out how to get Alexa to see my automation?

[@handydadtv]

Investigate helpers. Specifically the “Input Boolean” helper. Use an Input Boolean to create a virtual switch and expose it to Alexa. You can tell her to turn it on or off, then use it to trigger an automation in HA. I have Alexa routines for “goodnight” and “good morning” that switch an Input Boolean called “Sleeping”. That triggers certain lights.

[@Jetsom]

@@handydadtv I had set up a few input boolean's for "guest mode" and "holiday mode" but hadn't thought of setting up an Alexa routine to switch the boolean, instead of telling her to turn the boolean on/off, which seemed too unnatural. Thanks for the tip!

[@joachimpucher1115]

Thank you very much sharing! It also works with my blinds - Alexa sees them as dimmable lights :) Greetings from Austria

[@handydadtv]

Good to know it works with blinds!

[@m4k4r10]

THANKS FOR THIS !! So simple I cannot believe it ! :P

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@Blaskarabas]

It works! so easy! Thanx a lot!

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@Fhoven]

Thank you so much. Works like a charm.

[@handydadtv]

Glad it worked out for you!

[@aviadlevy1]

This is great! Such an easy way to do it instead of dealing with AWS servicea Thanks!

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@Adziwo]

Hello, thanks for your video. it helped me a lot! Does this work with sensors?

[@handydadtv]

No, it just lets you use your voice to control devices in HA.

[@paulroberts2899]

Hi Chris - excellent, thank you for showing the way with this! I previously had the Cloudflare/AWS/Lamda rabbit hole working thinking this was the only option (being cheap and up for a challenge :) but it stopped working recently and not able to get it working again. This Emulation Hue approach has me back up and running with the Zigbee switches and dimmers that are on a dongle in the Home assistant server - I was sceptical but it worked - Thanks

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@joellindsey9038]

Excellent video! HA is now working with my Alex-A

[@handydadtv]

Glad it worked for you.

[@panoriega]

Thank you very much! This for sure is easiest way, thanks!

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@erwinfeichter2740]

Thanks a lot! Works great!!! Well explained tutorial.

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@dereklomax161]

Great work. I got it to work following your guide. The documentation shows using the type: "alexa" is deprecated

[@handydadtv]

That means it probably won’t work forever. So relish this joyous moment! 😁

[@lucb2233]

C'est génial !!!! Excellent !!!

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@DarkHorseIOM]

🤣 ‘alex-a’ 🤣

[@handydadtv]

You’re welcome.

[@sakko9299]

It's to prevent viewers' alexa devices from being triggered if they're listening to this video on speaker.

[@kailee7989]

Thank you

[@adgeegfad]

She who shall not be named. 😂

[@agentduke2]

In a similar manner (that doesn’t draw comments like this :), I avoid this problem by simply calling her “Lexie.” Everyone knows without explaining and it’s different enough I doesn’t trigger any Alexa devices.

[@AlanJones-vc9yr]

Hi. This is brilliant !!. Is it possible to have actionable notifications, i.e. Booleon sent from HA to AlexA, Alexa responds "do you want the eating on?" and waits for a response Yes or No, this could set a boolean for HA to operate heating.

[@handydadtv]

I can’t answer. Newbie here. Ask on Reddit /r/homeassistant.

[@maurizioferrari]

THIS IS GREAT and your tutorial fantastic! Thank you !

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@DJTechnostyler]

Thank you VERY MUCH. You are my hero. Now I can secure my smart home by locking in my devices. Thank you thank you thank you. =)

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@theattorney6072]

Hello, thanks for this. My question is the following : can this process expose alexa echo's to home assistant as a media player to use on automations for exemple ?

[@handydadtv]

No

[@theattorney6072]

@@handydadtv ok thx, so I Guess i need the hacs integration.

[@sammybrown1973]

Thank you, it works 👌

[@handydadtv]

Glad it worked for you.

[@GGVicV]

Great Video! i just had one question, when you click a button in HA why cant that trigger a routine? have you tried making a routine in AlexA and its controlled with one of these buttons?

[@handydadtv]

This is just my opinion, you can do what you want. If you're going to use Home Assistant, I suggest having all device control from HA. That way you only have one place for troubleshooting. I prefer to use a voice assistant to invoke automations in HA. I try to minimize the use of Alexa routines (which won't work if your Internet is down).

[@GGVicV]

@@handydadtv I completely agree with you, i just started moving all my routines to HA, thank you for this video and information!

[@roblentz9200]

Another great video, I am glad I seen this in my algorithm

[@handydadtv]

Oh you’ve already seen it!

[@roblentz9200]

@@handydadtv next I’m looking for the best mesh Wi-Fi system for my starlink that will work with home assistant Do you have a video for that? Or a suggestion?

[@handydadtv]

@roblentz9200 I will only use UniFi, but I’m a bit of a geek. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqqnoX-AfrCaZq8

[@heyitsmeadam]

Awesome video! Is it also possible to use alexa devices to announce when something happens (ex. Door opening)?

[@handydadtv]

Not sure. You may need to use the Simon Says command in an Alexa routine.

[@hestajevel]

This is amazing, I have a question though. I have am alexa supported music streamer connected to my AVR, but unfortunately it can not wake up my AVR. Is there any way to add an action to the built-in "play music" routine in alexa? Or I must have a custom one that will both play music and start my AVR? Just got my alexa stuff, so new to this...

[@handydadtv]

You can create an Alexa Routine to turn on the AVR with a smart switch or IR blaster, then start playing music.

[@greengamer2200]

Thank you very much.

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@kling0n3]

Thumbs up. Worked for me. 😀

[@handydadtv]

Glad it worked 👍🏻

[@bierhoch1011]

thank you. it worked for me. hope it keeps working. :D

[@handydadtv]

Me too!

[@Parslej]

So cool and great explanantion - than you so much! Would be also great if yoy can make quick tutorial how to do some automation routines with this helper boolean usage

[@handydadtv]

This is the only time I used it.

[@Georgetwentyten]

Thank you so, so much dude. This is an amazingly simply yet effective tutorial, you earned a sub and like. ( Thank god I dont have to pay for Nabu Casa )

[@handydadtv]

My pleasure! (At least until they drop this feature so you HAVE to pay for Nabu Casa.)

[@Georgetwentyten]

@@handydadtv Not really, cause I use duckdns, so I'd be fine regardless.

[@Georgetwentyten]

@@handydadtv Well, even if they did drop it, it would just mean I'd use my DUCKDNS server for alexa. I wouldn't pay regardless, however my devices would have a bigger delay since they'd be connected via the cloud, not locally.

[@pedrojose9673]

Thank you very much!!

[@handydadtv]

My pleasure

[@buildingsbyair]

very useful - thanks

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@die0ralive]

THANK YOU SO MUCH MAN

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@andybarr2406]

This is brilliant, but I just want to check something out, do you have to have the lights connected to the HA first (via Zigbee) or are you using these as phantom switches for alexa to control, but there are no actual lights?

[@handydadtv]

Either case works. I have Alexa controlling actual devices and virtual switches (aka toggle helpers).

[@thieany]

Thanx, worked like a charm. (once I installed Studio Code Server)

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@thieany]

@@handydadtv My problem was in my guest house which has insteon Hub V1. That's because that house still has a couple of X-10 switches that work fine. Your method worked great for all intseon devices. Hub V1 does not work with Alexa Insteon skill. Home assistant has limited X10 ability. Only command I found was all X-10 devices in a particular home. If one has less than 26 x-10 devices easy to use house only. I just associated them with a device that HA and Alexa could recognize. Now my x-10 switches respond to voice. It was fun.

[@handydadtv]

Oh wow. I’m surprised your X-10 stuff still works. For me, Zigbee is the most cost-effective protocol and very reliable in my home.

[@thieany]

@@handydadtv every X-10 switch still fine. The sending devices were never reliable. I am just happy to be able to set timers so guest house doesn't look empty. Home assistant did the trick after your help. Houses connected by network. I would like the guest house to be easily used by guests without them having control of the house I'm in. Set up separate Alexa account to give control in that house. Will replace any failing X-10 with Alexa compatibility. When you become handy grandpa, you will find separate building for them and families very nice. I don't want to make breakfast for a crowd and it's nice to have your life back in the evening. I will follow your advice when the many Insteon devices fail in my own house. (all controlled by ISY and Mobilinc IOS app) I have iPad minis for switches.

[@TheMilhouse1981]

hi, great video and thanks for the help. However I am not able to make this work. on't know what the problem is. But my Hue Lightstrip or some Shelly Switches won't get recognized by Alexa. Don't know where I turned the wrong way. But I will keep trying. The video with the trusted and untrusted networks is also very interesting. thanks for the content.

[@handydadtv]

My pleasure. Hope you figure it out.

[@MrTedJourney]

What a discovery.Fantastic!! Just one thing. Is this a local solution or is Alexa still needing to use its Amazon cloud?

[@handydadtv]

Alexa is actually a dumb device. It’s dependent on the Internet for everything other than recognizing the wake word.

[@Jo20020]

It was amazing. thank you very much

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@gerrymichailtan]

Wow this works. I can setup routine from alexa to run my home assistant devices. Thanks

[@handydadtv]

Glad it worked for you 👍🏻

[@hakamsaffour]

Thanks for the video is it possible to limit access to entities for multiple echo devices?

[@handydadtv]

Limit access? I don’t know but I don’t think so.

[@tutsy_]

I gave you a like for going out of your way and editing Alex A or muting it when you spoke. I gave you a sub for great content. I'm excited to check out your channel!

[@handydadtv]

Thanks for subscribing! Welcome to the family!

[@fabrizioschiano1]

Great video, thanks ! Do you know if is it possible to add also entities that won't be seen as light bulbs? Let's say I want to increase the volume of my tv (it is an entity in HA) or anything else that is not on/off. For example, thanks to you I am able now to see my TV in Alexa but I see it as a Light Bulb and therefore I can only switch it off.

[@handydadtv]

According to the website: The virtual bridge can turn entities on/off or change the brightness of dimmable lights. The volume level of media players can be controlled as brightness.

[@sameera2056]

Wow, very neat!! I have a query though. Emulated Hue is basically for Philips Hue lights, so it will support all lighting devices. However, will Alexa discover devices like thermostats, curtain controllers, media players etc through this Emulated hue?

[@handydadtv]

I don’t know.

[@MotoMisch]

Very nice Video! Is there a way the get the devices from Alexa to HomeAssistant? So the other way around ? (e.g. the Alexa SmartPlug)

[@handydadtv]

Not that I know of.

[@vialarmsecurityandfire8145]

Brilliant!

[@handydadtv]

Thanks 😊

[@JayLurk007]

I followed your video and your advice on creating toggle helper to expose to Alexa via Emulated Hue few weeks ago. It worked flawlessly. I recently added a Zooz Zwave light to home assistant and followed the exact same steps, but this time just a light entity. I even then tried just doing another input Boolean like I did the first time. However, Alexa won’t discover the new “devices”. You ran into this issue at all?

[@handydadtv]

No, I didn’t have that issue. Make sure your Alexa and Home Assistant are on the same network. And be sure to define the entities that you want exposed by Emulated Hue in your configuration.yaml file.

[@HousewerkRecords]

Great video. I believe all data is still going through an Amazon server somewhere. I’m going for local control only these days

[@handydadtv]

Definitely! ALL functionality of Alexa is dependent on the cloud.

[@kerbalgaming1808]

May be worth adding a note about installing Studio Code server. Does not come bundled with home server, and for a while i was very confused when you said "im gonna go into studio code server", and trying to follow along as a new user i dont have this. Some users will need a guide for SCS, i downloaded to docker and the setup page looked very confusing, so i'll be watching a video tutorial about that shortly. But may be worth adding a note along the lines of "before anything, install SCS" ect. Will hopefully come back to your guide once i have SCS setup

[@handydadtv]

Good point. This video builds on my last one where I setup HA and installed SCS.

[@kerbalgaming1808]

@@handydadtv Noted, i shall have a look. Just thought i'd mention as when googled in videos this is one of the top ones, so new users may find this one before your other like i did :) Thank you for your content, and the reply.

[@chrismog5524]

Hi, can this allow amazon lady to control items (both hue and non-hue stuff) added into HA via zigbee2mqtt via a sonoff dongle? with/without a hue bridge?

[@handydadtv]

Yes

[@juanjo_segura]

I tried this since Amazon send me an email saying my 1-year of free AWS was going to end (I thought it could be used free forever with a light use as it can be the skill for my Home Assistant. What you explain works flawlessly, at least if you only sync lights. I tried with sensors, courtains & AC and nor of these work well, because they are treated as lights and it can't be changed

[@handydadtv]

This method definitely has limitations but it works great for most people.

[@hussainirusham2925]

Thanx, this is great... i just tried it and at first HA gave me a notification that host IP cannot be set, so i deleted the host IP line and it worked perfect!

[@handydadtv]

Outstanding 🙌🏻

[@typxxilps]

beautifull idea and explanation and it looks like that it can not really be closed soon. 9:56 have you recogniced the message: WAITING FOR ROYAL PHILIPS ELECTRONICS the dutch royals seem to be back in business and have entered your home - funny to watch cause I could not believe and have never heard about Philips as a royal company.

[@handydadtv]

Wow you’re very observant! I missed that message completely.

[@RockBell93]

Hi HandyDad. I've been trying home assistant to expand my actual all Xiaomi home security system with other appliances. Yet even with HACS plugins, the experience have been a real pain. Some sensors won't get detected, window binary sensor will function on reverse (open-closed), other gadgets will lose functionality (fans, bulbs...). Any comments if should I switch to other brand of sensors? Or is this some class of "expected loss" of functionality when operating out of the expected software (Xiaomi app) Thanks for the videos!

[@handydadtv]

I have no experience with those sensors. I have a Ring alarm and that integration works well. I have automations based on Ring contact sensors.

[@typxxilps]

I have Xiaomi since 2018 and well, it works quite well, astonishing well for over 5 years. There are far more complicated systems you might have not tried out before. Security system based on Xiaomi might work but would not be certified here cause it has no theft or manipulation protection. Someone can remove the sensor or put it to a different position somewhere else and the sensor would fool you in a safety you would not have. Here our sensors cause an alarm if someone is trying to take them apart to move or open them cause they have a spring loaded contact which causes the alarm. Therefore we do not use them - only for the weekend house in the backyard or the old shed.

[@asdkjh4370]

Understand pain and i was there for years. - Nothing really changes - HA is dodgy system and also privacy issues.

[@markusmaucher]

I am actually using a Philips Hue Bridge and some Hue Light bulbs and got all that integrated into the alexa (app) before. Working fine. Now getting another (emulated) hue bridge running seems alexa to get confused. It simply doesn't find my entities from the new emulated hue bridge. Any hints on what I can do/change?

[@handydadtv]

Ask on Reddit /r/homeassistant

[@justarandomdude52]

Thank you for this video! "Node-RED Alexa Home Skill Bridge" and "Node-RED Smart Home Control" seem even more powerful, has anyone tried and can compare?

[@handydadtv]

I never found the need to use NodeRED.

[@andrebonneau8738]

Good to know , ideal to control lights or switches but less for other devices.

[@handydadtv]

Yes, I don’t think it would work for thermostats or other complex devices.

[@andrebonneau8738]

@@handydadtv well strangly enough it can control my Samsung TV volume 😉

[@handydadtv]

Interesting

[@schogaia]

It sees the volume as "brightness" of the emulated light.

[@kevwatkins]

@@handydadtv I have managed to use your tip to control my Home Assistant Generic Thermostat. Thank you!

[@Deuce1912]

Can you explain more about the Sleeping part that you added? I've tried this, but I'm not able to see it in the Alexa app. Also, is there a way to use it by voice? I'm switching from smartthings to home assistant, and I currently say, "Activate goodnight," and it runs the routine.

[@handydadtv]

Sleeping is a Helper, which means it’s a virtual device. The entity, called input_boolean.sleeping is exposed in config.yaml (around 7:31 in the video). You can turn it on or off by voice or in a Alexa routine.

[@Deuce1912]

@@handydadtv I've setup the boolean in my config, but I don't see it in Alexa. I'd like to add all of the lights in the house to it and then say something like, "Activate sleeping" and have it turn off all of the lights.

[@handydadtv]

Double check the config.yaml. It needs to be declared as shown in the video.

[@Jetsom]

@@Deuce1912 Did you create the helper under Settings > Devices & Services > Helpers before exposing it in the config?

[@MasterOfHalo25]

Do you need a physical hue bridge? The documentation for Emulated Hue says it's required, but you never brought it up in your video as far as I saw. Right now I have everything setup perfectly, but alexa on my tablet does not discover new devices 😢

[@handydadtv]

I don’t have a physical Hue bridge. This feature emulates the bridge.

[@unuxx201]

Hello, I've been looking for something like this for a long time, thank you very much. Is the entity "switch.kitchen_scene_controller:" fictitious or is the name taken from Alexa? Unfortunately, no new device is found in the app for me.

[@handydadtv]

That’s the name of my HA device.

[@ianarmstrong5607]

Hi Chris. I followed your video and the devices? appear in the Alexa app but in most cases the 'server is unresponsive'. They work in Home Assistant. Did you get this at some stage? The only devices that work have been found by Magic Home. I didn't think was needed. The names in Home Assistant match the names in the Alexa app exactly. Any thoughts please??

[@handydadtv]

Make sure Home Assistant and Alexa are on the same network (and not a guest network). Try restarting Home Assistant.

[@Michael-ho9od]

You are the best! I got halfway through the masters class setup in AWS for the alternate setup and just gave up but by chance found this and had it working flawlessly in 5 min!

[@handydadtv]

Glad it worked for you 👍🏻

[@cyborgltd]

Question: I have the devices already named and connected to Alexa. I use Vera Plus to install it. Do I use the same device name I already created in Alexa or do I have to reinstall the device?

[@handydadtv]

If you already have it working, why mess with it?

[@OdaviidS]

thank you, for the Alex-A 👍

[@handydadtv]

You’re welcome. 😜

[@rtxworld8126]

Its like no complexity its lot easier thank you sir

[@handydadtv]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@gsparrow321]

Awesome work! Within studio code server, when I try to reference by switches under entities within the yaml config, it isn't pulling anything up. I'm assuming I'm missing an include... Can someone help?

[@handydadtv]

I’m not sure. Did you figure it out?

[@gsparrow321]

@@handydadtv no but I did get it to work using another file editor.

[@s6a6n6d6m6a6n]

Great vid, this exposes HA entities in Alexa. How about the opoposite of that? Is there a solution for that? I want plugs that are in Alexa to be exposed to HA to be controlled in HA automation. Is that possible without HACloud? Case in point, i have a bunch of these Linkind doggone plugs that cannot be integrated with Tuya/SmartLife, but instead only work with an app called AIDOT, and work perfectly in Alexa. Any ideas would be appreciated.

[@handydadtv]

Not possible

[@cnkosm6536]

Thanks for the video. On/Off works great (for switch entities) but for light entities Brightness always goes to 100%, as soon as I turn on the device. I can reduce it but Alexa doesn't remember the position, after I turn the device off and always goes to full brightness as soon as I turn it on. For media_player entities volume on TV goes to 100% as well, which is very annoying! Is there a solution on this?

[@handydadtv]

I suggest you ask on Reddit /r/homeassistant.

[@cdeme123]

Great video. The next one on this subject should be how to expose Alexa devices to your home assistant and/or how to trigger Alexa routines from HA.

[@handydadtv]

When you compare the power and flexibility of HA automations against the limitations of Alexa routines, why would you ever need to trigger a routine from HA?

[@handydadtv]

Unless you wanted Alexa to announce something that was detected by HA. Perhaps.

[@cdeme123]

@@handydadtv , thanks for the reply. I'm a techy guy too but a total noob when it comes to HA. I got an Alexa for xmas and fooled around with some automations and decided it would be a fun project. Since then, we've had some scary developments in the neighborhood and I now know for a fact that my next door neighbor associates with or is a violent criminal (everywhere I go there has to be at least one). I am putting sensors on all my downstairs doors and windows (Zigbee). I have a HA setup with a Zigbee dongle. I am planning an Echo device in my bedroom with a scene that will let me know audio/light that after 10:30pm, "one of the downstairs doors or windows is open." So Alexa needs access to HA devices and HA needs to be able to run a skill or routine in Alexa. Don't know if I can do this without all the cross-account stuff and Lambda function, etc. I plan on researching this more. I do not want another month subscription to something...to many of those as it is. Sorry this is long.

[@handydadtv]

@cdeme123 FWIW, HA has voice features built in. Not as good as Alexa yet, but something to investigate.

[@myroslavzoriy5904]

Hi, HandyDad, I did everything you told, for me worked up to the point where my Alexa should detect devices - and i dont see any of them. May be you have some idea?

[@handydadtv]

Make sure everything is on the same network. Try the troubleshooting advice on www.home-assistant.io/integrations/emulated_hue/

[@myroslavzoriy5904]

@@handydadtv Thanks. Troubleshooting i did firstly - did not help, Btw, via Browser when i put the link from traoubleshoot - i see all my devices. Therefore the queston - how can i save that "everything" on same network. I have same Unity mashine as you, and all my devices are on "secured" network (on your example). Homeassistant is connected directly to dream mashine - and this should be not a problem. And question again - what about my Alexa, on which network is she ? The same as my Phone ? coz i manage this via phone

[@jmbaude7111]

great video 👌Have you install a skill on your phone ?

[@handydadtv]

I have the Home Assistant app.

[@jmbaude7111]

​@@handydadtvil would say on your alexa phone app. Because when i try to discover devices on my alexa app she say sorry nothing 😢

[@handydadtv]

@jmbaude7111 A few others had this issue too. Not sure how they fixed it. Google it.

[@sergiubobeica3220]

@HandyDadTV what about the Alexa Smart Home Skill? My Alexa says it requires Smart Home skill to be enabled. In order to enable it an AWS account is needed which is free for the first 12 month only. Do I need Smart Home skill enabled or there is another way to do it?

[@handydadtv]

Using Hue Emulation avoids the need for an AWS account.

[@scottibyte]

Ok, so I do have a home assistant supervised installation. I am a very detailed systems guy. Every time that I get into doing anything with Home Assistant, I burn a day or two and end up giving up. Simple things like actually finding studio code server after you install it are darn near impossible. I finally got HACS installed after months of trial and mostly err. The problem with HA is if you used HA from the beginning its not bad. I swear by my Hubitat and I have incredibly complex automations on it. I have wanted to just write an automation to get home assistant to speak a response on Alexa. After months, I just gave up. Echo Speaks on Hubitat was a total of 10 minutes and it works solidly. Anyway, I have come to a dead end after installing Studio Code Server and never being able to find it again.

[@handydadtv]

I never tried Hubitat. I went from Insteon to HomeSeer to Home Assistant. Maybe Hubitat should be my next stop on the home automation train.

[@scottibyte]

@@handydadtv I have a crazy complex SOHO Network and home automation configuration. My actual goal is to get HA to do TTS to an Alexa device.

[@Camato]

emulated hue was wayyy to complicated for me with all the yaml, restart home assistant to add new stuff... annoying. I use node-red-contrib-amazon-echo in Node-Red for that. Just add a node in node red with a nice name and trigger whatever I want from it. It can even dim or set light colors. But make sure your port 80 is free tho (disable emulated hue for that to run)

[@handydadtv]

Thanks for the info.

[@leafsfan7444]

Do you think you could set this up like the !secrets command so that it pulls all of this from a seperate yaml file and keep your configuration.yaml file nice and clean?

[@handydadtv]

I don’t know. That’s beyond my expertise.

[@Tom-fn8xc]

Interestingly, when I tried this it added all of my HA smart devices to the Alexa app even though I didn't have them defined in the configuration.yml. I had to delete a bunch I didn't want. Otherwise its working well, thanks for the video!

[@handydadtv]

This will happen unless you set expose_by_default false.

[@user-ww5tz6vq8o]

is there a way to add camera? I added but it is acting as on/off switch on Alexa

[@handydadtv]

Not with Hue emulation.

[@Mrreee-nz9ew]

Do you have to add the enties if you set expose by default to true

[@handydadtv]

I didn’t use that feature, but according to the doc, it will automatically expose all your devices.

[@miltiadesz206]

Should the home assistant be exposed to the internet for this to work? Can it work locally when you are connected to the same network with HA but without being exposed to the internet?

[@handydadtv]

HA shouldn’t require external access for this to work.

[@Gal1983]

How does it work with a blind shutter? Will it work with like a dimmer with percentages?

[@handydadtv]

Not sure.

[@josesosa7532]

Wow excelent tip ! Could you help me for add amazon plug into home assistant ?

[@handydadtv]

You need to find the right integration for the brand of plug.

[@dav1dw]

this is brilliant if i can get it working. the part i'm not clear on is the entities. Where did you get light.island_dimmer: ? I suspect that matches somewhere with your lights but I don't have any alexa in home assistant so i'm confused.

[@handydadtv]

Open a device and select the Control that turns on the light. That opens a window that looks like an on/off switch or a dimmer switch. Click the gear icon and the Entity ID will be shown.

[@dav1dw]

@@handydadtv That's the thing, the lamp that amazon controls does not show up in homeassistant nor does it supposed to.

[@handydadtv]

@dav1dw I’m confused. This video describes how to get Alexa to control Home Assistant. If your light isn’t supposed to be in Home Assistant, I don’t understand why you need to know the entity ID.

[@JoshComley]

Does this also sync groups set up in HA via Helpers?

[@handydadtv]

Light groups should work. Input Booleans work like virtual lights.

[@JoshComley]

Thank you for the reply and the video!

[@GagliardiPhotography]

Thanks for the video! I successfully installed it but it works only with non philips hue lights. I configured my philips hue light in HA with ZA, they work well but they don't work with emulated hue. Sometimes they work for on/off commands only, some times they are unreacheble. Do you know how to fix this?

[@handydadtv]

I don’t know but I thought the web page may have said something about limitations if you already have a Hue bridge. Read up on that. Otherwise ask on Reddit /r/HomeAssistant.

[@GagliardiPhotography]

Probably it won't work with Philips Hue Lights. However I also tried to configure a switch and a scene from HA but alexa does not recognize them. Do I have to put some extra lines to the beginning of the configuration?

[@handydadtv]

You need to expose each device in configuration.yaml

[@GagliardiPhotography]

I did it, following the rules you gave in the video. It workd for lights but not for scenes and switches. I'm able to see the devices on the site ath the page /api/v2/lights but Alexa does not see them, even asking to check for new devices@@handydadtv

[@handydadtv]

@GagliardiPhotography I have no idea why it’s not working for you. Sorry.