Start Amazon Echo Routine from OH

Setup, Configuration and Use Beginners
1

I am using OH 4.3 (windows) with the amazon echo binding. In general the echo and OH is working but I do have one issue when I try to start an echo-routine from OH.

This means I have an OH-rule with the code:

configuration: {}
triggers: []
conditions: []
actions:
  - id: "2"
    configuration:
      itemName: Amazon_Echo_Dot_Started_eine_Routine
      command: Gehen
    type: core.ItemCommandAction

this code shall start the Amazon Echo routine with the name “Gehen”. The routine in the Amazon Echo is working and I can run it. The problem is that I can not start this routine from OH. In the event log I see following:

2025-01-02 18:16:47.508 [INFO ] [openhab.event.ItemCommandEvent      ] - Item 'Amazon_Echo_Dot_Started_eine_Routine' received command Gehen
2025-01-02 18:16:47.508 [INFO ] [penhab.event.ItemStatePredictedEvent] - Item 'Amazon_Echo_Dot_Started_eine_Routine' predicted to become Gehen
2025-01-02 18:16:47.508 [INFO ] [openhab.event.ItemStateUpdatedEvent ] - Item 'Amazon_Echo_Dot_Started_eine_Routine' updated to Gehen
2025-01-02 18:16:47.508 [INFO ] [openhab.event.ItemStateChangedEvent ] - Item 'Amazon_Echo_Dot_Started_eine_Routine' changed from  to Gehen
2025-01-02 18:16:48.757 [INFO ] [openhab.event.ItemStateUpdatedEvent ] - Item 'Amazon_Echo_Dot_Started_eine_Routine' updated to 
2025-01-02 18:16:48.757 [INFO ] [openhab.event.ItemStateChangedEvent ] - Item 'Amazon_Echo_Dot_Started_eine_Routine' changed from Gehen to

What I am doing wrong with the OH-rule?

Thanks

2

Is your item connected to the startRoutine-channel of your echo thing? You will only see this channel if you enable “show advanced” in the channel tab.

3

Yes it is… in the OH-Log I see this entry when I run the rule:

 [mazonechocontrol.internal.Connection] - Routine Gehen not found

“Gehen” is the routine which I would like to start in the amazon echo app. There I have the routine “Gehen” implemented and it is running. What I do not understand why OH writes such a log that the routine has not been found?!

4

what I found out is that some routines are working but some do not. The ones which are not working returns the OH-log with the specific routine name:

[mazonechocontrol.internal.Connection] - Routine Gehen not found

What could be the issue here?

5

Do you use different accounts on your smartphone vs. openhab ?

6

no, it is the same account. On the smartphone I do have about 10 routines whereas 8 are working when calling from OH. The rest is not working while I see the “strange” OH-log (see above).

7

Maybe it’s a problem with reserved words of Alexa?
But one thing you could do as a workaround is to define a triggering sentence in the Alexa app and then from openhab call this sentence with an item linked to the textCommand-channel.

8

I thought about the same but the solution for me was:

On the smartphone I renamed the routine “abc” and also used the same name “abc” for the routine “If”… This means you say “Alexa, abc”.

This approach worked at the end.

9

Could it be that is just was a problem of ‘correct’ spelling Gehen vs. gehen ?
I had as far as I remember at least one case when something stopped to work that worked before. Then in the alexa app I checked the logs of what alexa understood and I had to correct the spelling resp. the case of the spelling to make it working again.

10

Yes, this is also very likely.