Multi Mode switch in Alexa

Hi,
I have a problem with the integration of a multi mode switch into amazon Alexa.
The switch has 9 states.
I integrated it as other.mode
In the Alexa App the switch is correctly shown with the associated name and modes.
All the 9 modes can be selected from the Alexa app and are transferred back to openhab.

But apperantly my voice commands for the switch modes are wrong. I tried to use the numbers (mode 1-9) or the direct name of the mode which is also shown in the alexa app.

In both cases I get an error message, that this is not supported. Are voice commands for these types of switche even possible?

Thank you for your help.

@TrapperJohn Could you please provide how you configured your item and also include the utterances you used to interact with that device?

I changed it to a switch with only 3 inputs.
It is a number item with three switch setting
1=Manual
2=Auto
3=Off

it is configured in alexa as other.input with the same 3 values.
As said before the alexa app recognizes the three setting and i can switch them from the alexa app. I just do not know how to switch them with a voice command.

I am not sure what other information you might need but I will provide every detail I can.

Have you tried using the utterance examples listed in the documentation?

Yes I did.
I changed it to a mode device so the capability is @setting.mode
the modes are defined as

1=Manual
2=Auto

So the utterance schould be

  • Alexa, set the <device name> <capability name> to <mode name>.

So I tried
Alexa set blinds mode to one
Alexa set blinds mode to manual

In both cases I get an error message
modes are not supported on this device

Can you please provide your item definition including all Alexa metadata parameters? Also, did you configure this device as a single or group endpoint?

I’m slightly struggling with this, too.
I have a Number type item called “Verschattung” and used Other.Mode and Capability Names is just @Setting.Mode, plus I have this list of mode mappings: 0=Aus,1=Auto,1=Automatik,2=An,2=Niedrig,3=Hoch

It now actually works to issue “Alexa, setze Verschattung An” (or “Aus”), but it does not work to use any of the other modes such as “Niedrig”.
I’m guessing that “An” and “Aus” work as they’re generic keywords in German (On and Off) that Alexa recognizes while it’s completely ignoring the rest.
Any idea ?

Is there any OH debug setting to help make Alexa’s or the skill’s or OH’s part in parsing more transparent to help with debugging ?

Have you tried to include the capability name in your utterance?

Alexa, set the <device name> <capability name> to <mode name>

Unfortunately, there is no way to debug the skill on the Alexa or OH side at the moment.

I just had the same problem. Setting the language to German helped in my case and the modes are working as expected now.

which setting, where ?

Sorry, should have been more specific here. I did set the language in the Alexa metadata. Another difference for me is, that I did not use a Switch but just a String for my Item in OpenHAB.

value: Other.Mode
config:
name: Home Mode
actionMappings:
- “”
language: de
stateMappings:
- “”

This is not necessary if you set your regional server settings accordingly.