I use amazon echo as „Main Gateway“ for all my devices from different brands. Lights, switches, sensors, camera etc…some via skill others vir echo integrated zigbee hub. for years and I am running lots of routines for different purposes. Works more or less but I am missing advanced features, so I want to extend the system with HomeAssistant.
I need to find a way to forward devices that are allready connected to echo directly to my home assistant service. Neither the HA Cloud, nor the Alexa integration are able to import the devices…
Am I making a big mistake or is it not possible? Or can anyone help out?
Directly forwarding devices from Amazon Echo to Home Assistant isn’t typically possible due to ecosystem lock-in and proprietary communication. The most reliable solution is to re-pair Zigbee devices directly to Home Assistant using a Zigbee adapter and integrate Wi-Fi devices txtag via their specific Home Assistant integrations. While bridges or limited Alexa Media Player integration exist, they don’t offer full device control transfer. Re-pairing grants Home Assistant full access for advanced features and customization, offering a more robust smart home system in the long run.
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I did exactly what Harry eluded to. Before I got Home Assistant, I was strictly an Alexa automations guy. All the items I could pair with Home Assistant, I did. After that I have been slowly replacing items that are strictly Amazon only and items that rely on wifi. Besides my cameras and a few light switches, I have just about replaced all wifi items. I went from about 40 automations in Amazon to about 5 left.
The nice thing is that anything you pair in Home Assistant, you can share with Amazon Alexa using the Home Assistant skill in Alexa. So you can still tell your HA paired lights to turn on or off using your voice in Alexa. You cannot, however, share items with HA that are only paired in Alexa. So you will need to be creative. It has been fun.
BTW…I use the Nabu Casa subscription to communicate with Alexa. Marry that subscription with the HACS Alexa Media Player and you have all you need to do just about everything that you could do in Alexa and SO MUCH more.
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