Alexa skill error after switching to Lambda after deprecated api_password

[ih8gates (Scott Reston)]

I only just added it yesterday. As a test. But that didn’t change anything.

Alexa skill error after switching to Lambda after deprecated api_password

I just added a speech response to the intent_script to see if that perhaps triggers HA to respond more quickly. It appears to work - I got the response instead of “there was an error…” - but the issue was a transient one, so it’s hard to say for sure.

[ih8gates (Scott Reston)]

I’ve let that bit of my configuration languish a bit… I haven’t made many changes as new enhancements were made. So I’m using emulated hue and intent_scripts for everything. I probably need to clean that all up and simplify.

Taking a look, it seems like routines are a lot easier than doing all of the skill updating in the Alexa Dev console! Looks nice.

Do routines support a “slot” variable like skills do. For instance, I have a skill where I can tell HA to play a playlist on a media_device by giving the playlist’s name.

[petro]

@ih8gates

So I’m using emulated hue and intent_scripts for everything.

Oh man, alexa smart home skill is 100% better than emulated hue. You actually get new devices and the phrases are fluid, unlike emulated hue. 100% recommend switching, even with the minor delays that it adds.

I personally wanted to switch away from intents immediately. I can’t even get my wife (or anyone that visits) to use the correct names of devices let alone having them say “alexa, tell home assistant to xyz”. Holy shit was that annoying. Simpler it is for them, the better.

@ih8gates

Do routines support a “slot” variable like skills do.

No, that’s the downside. No slots, but with the Alexa Smart Home Skill, the need for intents is greatly reduced. It can handle media_players, covers, doors, temperature sensors, switches, lights, and a few other domains with fluid phrases. For example, I can turn the volume up on my tv my saying “alexa, turn up tv” instead of “alexa, ask home assistant to increase the volume”.

[ih8gates (Scott Reston)]

@petro

I personally wanted to switch away from intents immediately. I can’t even get my wife (or anyone that visits) to use the correct names of devices let alone having them say “alexa, tell home assistant to xyz”. Holy shit was that annoying. Simpler it is for them, the better.

I have a bunch of “launch requests” in my setup. So I can say “Alexa, time for bed” instead of “Alexa, tell home assistant time for bed”.

It looks like I can do that with routines. And it looks like I can do the reverse and have Alexa watch something like a binary sensor to trigger a routine. Ug, got some work to do…

[petro]

Huh, never heard of those. I’ll take a look.

[ih8gates (Scott Reston)]

Not a surprise that you haven’t - the Alexa stuff is all over the place.

Got the cloud Alexa integration set up and now kicking off the scripts as routines. No errors! And easier to change behavior. Thanks for the tip on that.