Official Alexa Smart Home Skill for openHAB 2

I cant seem to find much information on the tagging component of V3, despite it being around for about 1 year.

Hi all, sorry for being MIA on this thread. We were just approved in all countries last night with the v2 version of the skill, This is a huge weight off of me and I can now focus on speeding up our v3 version of the skill. I plan on picking up on the work this weekend. Thanks for everyone’s patience!

7 Likes

Did you review the readme.md in the v3 branch? It’s pretty thorough https://github.com/openhab/openhab-alexa/tree/v3

Sorry no, was using the forum! Thanks ill have a look

Dear all,

could you give me a hint for using thermostates with Alexa? I created a thread here:

Thanks!

Hi All,

Any Australian users using the V3 skill?

Amazon says the V3 skill is only available when you deploy your V3 updated lambda in North Virginia and Ireland. If you’re an Australian user you’ll be using Oregon for it to work correctly. So I guess that counts out Australians? @digitaldan any thoughts?

Found some doco on the V3 API with example commands

https://developer.amazon.com/docs/device-apis/alexa-playbackcontroller.html#next
Thanks!

Wait, am I the only one who was totally confused in here and thought these months-long approval delays were the V3 skill?

What was the difference between the previously accepted skill and the one we’d been waiting on? (ie, what differences, if any, should we see as a result of the skill being finally approved?)

Agreed - what’s V2, whats V3?

No, you’re not the only one!

Scroll down to the “Item Configuration” header on this page: https://github.com/openhab/openhab-alexa/tree/v3 and you’ll see a little bit of info on V3 versus V2:

NEW Alexa Version 3 API syntax (v3)

  • Version 3 of the Alex Skill API introduces a more rich and complex set of features that required a change in how items are configured by using the new metadata feature introduced in openaHAB 2.3 (Currently only available via nightly build).
  • Version 2 tags are still supported and are converted internally to V3 metadata

I’m sure you’ll find much more information with a Google search.

Is the V3 skill actually available yet without self-hosting the skill?

Sorry for the confusion. We were working with Amazon to enable our v2 skill in all countries and languages they support, this took much much longer then expected. They made an exception for us to allow a v2 skill to be submitted so we would not have to wait for v3 to be done before those countries could use our skill. Now that this is done i can merge our v3 codebase into master and that will be our next release once we are ready with it. I will also be looking to enable a “beta” channel so we can get our community members testing the skill early.

4 Likes

Dear all,

it is weekend, so time for fixing my rules :slight_smile:

Could you give me a hint for using thermostates with Alexa? I created a thread here:

Thanks, guys!

Hi Dan,
Could you please have a look at: [SOLVED] Alexa can´t reach devices exposed and added to the Alexa app

I‘m out of ideas and need a hint where to search next.
I was able to solve the issue with the help of Gabriele.
The items are only allowed to be defined as Number and not as Number:Temperature.
Is this a bug in the skill, exposing or the core?

Thanks!

What is the voice command to switch the HeatingCoolingMode?

Is there an easy way to have alexa turn the same lights on and off by slightly diferent prases?
I have defined “Kitchen lighting” and would like to also be able to call it “Kitchen lights” “Kitchen lamp” Light in the kitchen" and so on.
What would be the easiest way to accomplish this?

Create a group in the Alexa app and put the lights and the Echo inside.
Then you‘re able to call the item name, the group name or just turn on the lights to the Echo in this room/group.

Hy,

Seeing this, i think i wrongly started a new thread…
I hope i may post a link to the thread in here? Or can the admins delete the thread i created?

https://community.openhab.org/t/niko-home-control-2-binding-from-local-to-cloud-from-things-to-items/69034

Dear all,

how can I switch off the thermostat? The HeatingCoolingMode could be used to switch the thermostat to heating mode (using the chosen set point value) or switch it off. But my Alexa always responds that the device does not support “off” or “automatic”.

Can somebody help, maybe even with the right German voice command? Thanks!

does the openhab skill available in alexa app does already support v3 commands ?
i’m interested in: alexa=“InputController.input” [supportedInputs=“HDMI1,TV”]

i have the openhab skill installed in my alexa app, are there some more things to do ?

thanks in advance Lars