Work with openHAB how? openHAB is made for home automation, not media automation so any integration will have to be really simple or it will be a whole lot of work. There are bindings that let OH play specific MP3 files or streams on various players (Sonos, Chromecast, Kodi, Plex, etc.) but there is nothing that let’s you browse, create a playlist, and stuff like that.
I think you are more likely to find something suitable where your primary requirement is a server that supports Alexa and Sonos and in those few cases where OH needs to play specific files or TTS it can do so through the Sonos binding.
Thanks. So would it be safe to say then that OpenHAB is for Home Automation, not to make a Smart Home? Or it may be part of it but just the automation pieces? I consider home automation anything that happens “automatically” like unlocking the door when you come up to it or turning on the lights when you walk in. Smart Home I think extends to anything that helps to improve and simplify things in the house. So something like being able to ask Alexa to play certain music and on the Sonos unit is what I would consider a Smart Home feature. Would it be more safe to say then that doing what I’m looking for is more outside the scope of OpenHAB and even if I do it, OpenHAB won’t be tied to this functionality?
For most users the two terms are synonymous. Smart media control is a whole other problem domain and one for which programs like openHAB, Home Assistant, Wink, Vera, Hue, and any of the other home automation hubs are poorly suited.
That is a fair assessment I think. The big problem you will find is that home automation hubs simply do not possess the ability to find, read, organize, tag, search, create playlist, or otherwise let you choose what to play in that manner. For that you need something that is built to do those sorts of things. But once you have that, you can have OH issue commands to it. The problem is the commands will be static and hard coded.
