Alexa and Node-Red

@Bobby_Nobble I couldn’t get that to work with the local node at all. I am guessing you are using the skill cloud based one?

Nope, this is with the local version, what I posted earlier is what I used with the cloud one.

I followed the info in the right hand panel when you click on the Alexa local node.

Maybe it not working like that for you is related to the problems you have with the HA emulated_hue as this is essentially the same thing delivered via a different route.

I don’t see any reason to use the node red Alexa local because it is essentially the same with the emulated hue component for HA. In fact the emulated hue component is so much easier to work with because all devices you expose in HA config will be discovered automatically. In NR, you need to add the flows one by one manually.

emulated_hue doesn’t work for @Jer78 but for whatever reason that does, other than that NR is reportedly better for creating automations, you can certainly try them on the fly and the debugging is good.

If you literally just want to expose things to Alexa at the level emulated_hue can, have got an older Dot in your setup for discovery and you can actually discover them, yes emulated_hue is far less involved, I can see myself using both.

@masterkenobi It’s true, it’s essentially the same thing as emulated_hue which I loved because it’s local but just stopped randomly working for me a few months back and I tried the method @Bobby_Nobble used for the switch but also didn’t work. So at least the method I found works for me and hopefully will be an alternative for someone else experiencing issues. There’s definitely some unknown factors out there.

When you said not working for you, do you still see the devices in the Alexa app? If yes, you might need to check your Echo (the one tied to the emulated Hue) Wifi connection. If that Echo is disconnected, it won’t work.

Yeah all my devices were still in the app but offline. I couldn’t add or change any of them. I finally deleted them hoping to somehow get them added back again and spent so many hours trying every combination. I finally gave up because it was advertising the emulated_hue just fine but would never show up whether I scanned from the app, the web or each of my 5 Echo devices. But it was either my new router, the addition of Echo Shows, or the fact that there was a change on the backend by Amazon because I also have a real Hue bridge. Something or a combination of factors made it impossible for me to get going again.

did you try unplug your echo and plug it back again?

@masterkenobi Yeah tried that.

i never had any problem with emulated hue. the only time it wasn’t working was due to the echo was disconnected from wifi.

100% router in that case.

@Bobby_Nobble that’s what I figured too but everything else works with it and so does node-Red Alexa local skill which is essentially emulated_hue so it may be a combination of things. Could have been a change to emulated_hue back in the summer since others also started having problems around the same time. Oh well, not worth anymore time figuring it out. Got an alternative to work and I actually love node-red now!

1 Like

I really like node-red too. What Alexa integration are you using? It’s confusing between the two.

@johnnyletrois
I’m using the local one because I just need it for switches and input_booleans. I think the cloud based one is capable of locks etc but I like the simplicity and the fact it’s local so haven’t really tried the cloud based one yet.

Nice. I just want simple for now too. I’ll give it a go this evening. My only Alexa devices are two dash wands.

Can you discover with them, thought it was only Echos?

One other advantage with that local one is because it does emulate a hue, like the HA component, there’s no more needed to use dimming.

Be interested to see what sort of things your doing with it beyond simple switches off you don’t mind sharing.

@Bobby_Nobble

Here’s a few of my use cases:

  1. Switches for turning on Harmony Activities (I have 3 Harmony hubs in my house and only one is allowed to use with their Alexa skill at this time) so I created switches for activities in my Basement and Bedroom.
  2. Scripts for turning on scenes like my Dinner Scene or Goodnight Scene. I also use the routines and assign it to them so I just have to say “Alexa, goodnight” rather than “Alexa, turn on the Goodnight Scene”.
  3. Input Booleans that control conditions in my automations. For example, I have one called “Announcements” and if there’s severe weather, it announces it over my Sonos speakers, except there are times I don’t want to be disturbed such as when I have guests over or in the middle of the night. So if I want to disable them I just say “Alexa, turn off Announcements”. Also automatically doesn’t run when Goodnight scene is on.
1 Like

FYI - They did add another skill cleverly called “Harmony - secondary hub” to use with another hub. Though for you I don’t see a “third hub” version. :wink:

@Jer78, I had a strange instance where one of my echos reported not seeing any “smart devices”. After a couple of standard resets i did the following in the alexa app:
-de-register the echo from my Amazon account.
-factory reset (on echo press volume up and mic button at the same time until you get the yellow light)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=202080910

Then re-conected the echo to my amazon account/network and the devices were visible again.

Perhaps worth a try.