Telldus Live in Amazon Alexa

Moderator: Telldus

kimlood
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:45 am

Re: Telldus Live in Amazon Alexa

Post by kimlood »

r1kkie wrote:Hi kimlood!

I was wondering if it is possible to get motorized blinds to work with Alexa, the command would have to be different like "roll up/ roll down xxx" or something like that?
I have attached a printscreen of the telldus API for one of my devices to show how its recognized in telldus. The commands in telldus is up/down/stop.

Image
Hi, yes and no.
The Alexa Smart home skill does not yet support those phrases, but if and when it does, it's a small thing to add.
You could create a own custom skill, but then you need a different application word to use it. Like: "Alexa, ask telldus to roll up bedroom window", where "telldus" is your application name of the skill.
Last edited by kimlood on Tue Dec 27, 2016 12:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
kimlood
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:45 am

Re: Telldus Live in Amazon Alexa

Post by kimlood »

Dingboy wrote:
r1kkie wrote:
Dingboy wrote: Hi R1kkie.

Thank you so much for a very helpful reply. I had not done the security profile as you suggested. I have however fixed that now (I think). It still looks like there is one or two small details that are not correct since I'm not getting the "green" checks on the "Configuration" tabs on the top left.

Is there any more help you can give me? I really appreciate your quick and detailed reply :-)
Dont worry about the green check. I dont have it but it works anyway. Check if your alexa can discover your devices.
And you dont have to do the last two either. :)
Thanks again for the positive and superfast reply, R1kkie :-)

I'm at the office now, but I'll check my Alexa as soon as I get home.

One very good sign tough is that I can find the skill in my "Amazon Alexa" app on my iPhone. It says however that "Account linking required". It has a yellow "Enable Skill" button when I go into the skill in my app, but it fails when i try to do this. It comes back with a page saying "Unable to link your Skill. Please try again later".

Do you think it's a step I have missed?
Does it not have to be "enabled" from the app?
Will this get resolved by "discovering" the devices?

Thanks again :-)
Hi, please see the updates on the github page, the most common error is that the redirect urls for the security profile is not added. From github:
"Create an Alexa skill and Lambda Function by following these instructions (with the modifications noted below). Note1: don't forget about the steps to create a secuirty profile, and also make sure to add the "Redirect URLs" from the Alexa skill configuration to the "Web Settings->Allowed Return URLs" for the security profile. Also, enter the values from the secuirty profile to the configuration of the Alexa skill (some of the more common problems users have..) Note2: Since Alexa now is released in more countries, make sure where your lambda is hosted. From Amazon: "Make sure you’ve selected the N.Virginia for English (US) skills or the EU (Ireland) region for English (UK) and German skills. The region is displayed in the upper right corner. Providing your Lambda function in the correct region prevents latency issues" (This can change in the future, so please verify it with the amazon documentation.)"
Also, since we are all doing our "own" telldus skill, there is no need to publish it, since it's unique for each of us.
r1kkie
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:45 am

Re: Telldus Live in Amazon Alexa

Post by r1kkie »

kimlood wrote:
Hi, yes and no.
The Alexa Smart home skill does not yet support those phrases, but if and when it does, it's a small thing to add.
You could create a own custom skill, but then you need a different application word to use it. Like: "Alexa, ask telldus to roll up bedroom window", where "telldus" is your application name of the skill.
Aha okey I see, to bad. Until then I´ll use the alexa -> eventghost.
kimlood
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:45 am

Re: Telldus Live in Amazon Alexa

Post by kimlood »

r1kkie wrote:
kimlood wrote:
Hi, yes and no.
The Alexa Smart home skill does not yet support those phrases, but if and when it does, it's a small thing to add.
You could create a own custom skill, but then you need a different application word to use it. Like: "Alexa, ask telldus to roll up bedroom window", where "telldus" is your application name of the skill.
Aha okey I see, to bad. Until then I´ll use the alexa -> eventghost.
Yes, or if you can single out which devices that are motorized from the telldus api, we could implement "up/down" as "on/off".
But from what I know, there is no easy way in the telldus api to see the device capabilities.
Dingboy
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:45 am

Re: Telldus Live in Amazon Alexa

Post by Dingboy »

Dont worry about the green check. I dont have it but it works anyway. Check if your alexa can discover your devices.
And you dont have to do the last two either. :)
Thanks again for the positive and superfast reply, R1kkie :-)

I'm at the office now, but I'll check my Alexa as soon as I get home.

One very good sign tough is that I can find the skill in my "Amazon Alexa" app on my iPhone. It says however that "Account linking required". It has a yellow "Enable Skill" button when I go into the skill in my app, but it fails when i try to do this. It comes back with a page saying "Unable to link your Skill. Please try again later".

Do you think it's a step I have missed?
Does it not have to be "enabled" from the app?
Will this get resolved by "discovering" the devices?

Thanks again :-)
Hi, please see the updates on the github page, the most common error is that the redirect urls for the security profile is not added. From github:
"Create an Alexa skill and Lambda Function by following these instructions (with the modifications noted below). Note1: don't forget about the steps to create a secuirty profile, and also make sure to add the "Redirect URLs" from the Alexa skill configuration to the " for the security profile. Also, enter the values from the secuirty profile to the configuration of the Alexa skill (some of the more common problems users have..) Note2: Since Alexa now is released in more countries, make sure where your lambda is hosted. From Amazon: "Make sure you’ve selected the N.Virginia for English (US) skills or the EU (Ireland) region for English (UK) and German skills. The region is displayed in the upper right corner. Providing your Lambda function in the correct region prevents latency issues" (This can change in the future, so please verify it with the amazon documentation.)"
Also, since we are all doing our "own" telldus skill, there is no need to publish it, since it's unique for each of us.
Thanks Kimlood.

One of the problems is that this summary might be correct, but it's too confusing when you have no experience with creating Alexa SKills or Lambda functions. You get lost in the details of everything. I think therfore it would have been very helpful with an isntruction video or more screengrabs to show where all of the informastion needs to be entered/changed. This is not a complaint. I'm extremely grateful for the help I have gotten from both yourself and R1kkie. It's just to explain that it's hard to understand where one should go to fix all this when you haven't done it before... I at least get lost here... Sorry for this.

Looking at your last explanation I'm now stuck trying to find "Web Settings->Allowed Return URLs". I think it says that the "Redirect URL's" from the "Configuration/Global Fields/Account Linking" page should be copied and pasted into the "Apps & Services/Security Profiles" page. I cna't however find a page or place called "Web Settings->Allowed Return URLs". Can you help and point me in the direction where I should find it?

Image
kimlood
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:45 am

Re: Telldus Live in Amazon Alexa

Post by kimlood »

Thanks Kimlood.

One of the problems is that this summary might be correct, but it's too confusing when you have no experience with creating Alexa SKills or Lambda functions. You get lost in the details of everything. I think therfore it would have been very helpful with an isntruction video or more screengrabs to show where all of the informastion needs to be entered/changed. This is not a complaint. I'm extremely grateful for the help I have gotten from both yourself and R1kkie. It's just to explain that it's hard to understand where one should go to fix all this when you haven't done it before... I at least get lost here... Sorry for this.

Looking at your last explanation I'm now stuck trying to find "Web Settings->Allowed Return URLs". I think it says that the "Redirect URL's" from the "Configuration/Global Fields/Account Linking" page should be copied and pasted into the "Apps & Services/Security Profiles" page. I cna't however find a page or place called "Web Settings->Allowed Return URLs". Can you help and point me in the direction where I should find it?

Image
I doesn't look like you followed the instructions, you should use "Login in with Amazon".
From the Amazon guide:

Code: Select all

Finish Registering Your Skill in the Developer Portal
To finish registering your skill, you must configure OAuth 2.0 for your skill, which is used for account linking. You can use Login with Amazon (http://login.amazon.com/) or another provider for this section.
Go back, and use login.amazon.com as your security profile provider.
Then you will have the tab:
Screen Shot 12-27-16 at 02.53 PM.PNG
Screen Shot 12-27-16 at 02.53 PM.PNG (8.74 KiB) Viewed 25238 times
Dingboy
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:45 am

Re: Telldus Live in Amazon Alexa

Post by Dingboy »

kimlood wrote:
Thanks Kimlood.

One of the problems is that this summary might be correct, but it's too confusing when you have no experience with creating Alexa SKills or Lambda functions. You get lost in the details of everything. I think therfore it would have been very helpful with an isntruction video or more screengrabs to show where all of the informastion needs to be entered/changed. This is not a complaint. I'm extremely grateful for the help I have gotten from both yourself and R1kkie. It's just to explain that it's hard to understand where one should go to fix all this when you haven't done it before... I at least get lost here... Sorry for this.

Looking at your last explanation I'm now stuck trying to find "Web Settings->Allowed Return URLs". I think it says that the "Redirect URL's" from the "Configuration/Global Fields/Account Linking" page should be copied and pasted into the "Apps & Services/Security Profiles" page. I cna't however find a page or place called "Web Settings->Allowed Return URLs". Can you help and point me in the direction where I should find it?

Image
I doesn't look like you followed the instructions, you should use "Login in with Amazon".
From the Amazon guide:

Code: Select all

Finish Registering Your Skill in the Developer Portal
To finish registering your skill, you must configure OAuth 2.0 for your skill, which is used for account linking. You can use Login with Amazon (http://login.amazon.com/) or another provider for this section.
Go back, and use login.amazon.com as your security profile provider.
Then you will have the tab:
Screen Shot 12-27-16 at 02.53 PM.PNG
Awesome! You are correct. I have now been able to enter "Allowed return url's". Should there be anything in the "Allowed origins" field as well?

Image

And does my other settings look correct now?

Image

Thanks again :-)
r1kkie
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:45 am

Re: Telldus Live in Amazon Alexa

Post by r1kkie »

Dingboy wrote: Thanks Kimlood.

One of the problems is that this summary might be correct, but it's too confusing when you have no experience with creating Alexa SKills or Lambda functions. You get lost in the details of everything. I think therfore it would have been very helpful with an isntruction video or more screengrabs to show where all of the informastion needs to be entered/changed. This is not a complaint. I'm extremely grateful for the help I have gotten from both yourself and R1kkie. It's just to explain that it's hard to understand where one should go to fix all this when you haven't done it before... I at least get lost here... Sorry for this.

Looking at your last explanation I'm now stuck trying to find "Web Settings->Allowed Return URLs". I think it says that the "Redirect URL's" from the "Configuration/Global Fields/Account Linking" page should be copied and pasted into the "Apps & Services/Security Profiles" page. I cna't however find a page or place called "Web Settings->Allowed Return URLs". Can you help and point me in the direction where I should find it?

Image
I see I made a misstake in my desciption leading you to security profile, my bad.
Head to apps & service -> login with amazon
You can select the securityporfile you already created.

Edit: I see someone got there first. :)
kimlood
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:45 am

Re: Telldus Live in Amazon Alexa

Post by kimlood »


Awesome! You are correct. I have now been able to enter "Allowed return url's". Should there be anything in the "Allowed origins" field as well?

Thanks again :-)
Looks good, I think you are ready to test it..
Dingboy
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:45 am

Re: Telldus Live in Amazon Alexa

Post by Dingboy »

kimlood wrote:

Awesome! You are correct. I have now been able to enter "Allowed return url's". Should there be anything in the "Allowed origins" field as well?

Thanks again :-)
Looks good, I think you are ready to test it..
I feel so close, but it still does not work. I have deleted my previous skill and Lambda function and made them again from "scratch". I find the Skill the Alexa App, I however can't enable it. "It says "Unable to link your skill. Please try again later." I have also asked Alexa to discover my devices. It could however not find anything.

It seems I still have a problem with enabling/linking the skill. Is there any tip any of you can give me? Is it any information I can provide you to lead me in the right direction?

Thanks again for not giving up on me ;-)
kimlood
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:45 am

Re: Telldus Live in Amazon Alexa

Post by kimlood »

Dingboy wrote:
kimlood wrote:

Awesome! You are correct. I have now been able to enter "Allowed return url's". Should there be anything in the "Allowed origins" field as well?

Thanks again :-)
Looks good, I think you are ready to test it..
I feel so close, but it still does not work. I have deleted my previous skill and Lambda function and made them again from "scratch". I find the Skill the Alexa App, I however can't enable it. "It says "Unable to link your skill. Please try again later." I have also asked Alexa to discover my devices. It could however not find anything.

It seems I still have a problem with enabling/linking the skill. Is there any tip any of you can give me? Is it any information I can provide you to lead me in the right direction?

Thanks again for not giving up on me ;-)
Well, did you create a new security profile? Did you update the Alexa skill with all those parameters from the new security profile?
Dingboy
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:45 am

Re: Telldus Live in Amazon Alexa

Post by Dingboy »

kimlood wrote:
Well, did you create a new security profile? Did you update the Alexa skill with all those parameters from the new security profile?
No, I used the old Security Profile. I made a new now, and updated the Skill with these parameters. I found out one thing that I think might have been missing. I noticed it said that it says in the skill maker that it needs a "Privacy Policy URL" and that it is "mandatory" for account linking. I used "http://example.com/privacy.html" and this now turned all of my "Checks" green in the top left.
Image

Image

However it still seems like I'm unable to link my account.
Image
Image

What "step" is the "account linking" and where can I start to search for errors?

Thanks again, guys :-)
martinoc
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:45 am

Re: Telldus Live in Amazon Alexa

Post by martinoc »

Hi Guys,

I'm very new to this but have managed to get this working thanks to all of the brilliant minds on this forum - Thanks to all of you.

Dingboy - I was stuck at this stage earlier and your questions have really helped me so I would like to return the favour.

As few things to check: (apologies if any teaching you to suck eggs but I did all of these and it got me past the point you are stuck at)

Make sure you don't have a space at the end of your Client Secret (must be copied in without a space at the end - I noticed I was doing this sometimes)
Check that your lambda has the correct application ID (I hadn't realised that the these had to match)
Don't try to do the account linking on the App -login to the Alexa web page on your browser.

Good luck!

Cheers,
Martin
Last edited by martinoc on Tue Dec 27, 2016 8:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.
martinoc
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:45 am

Re: Telldus Live in Amazon Alexa

Post by martinoc »

BTW - I think it is most likely that you have the space at the end of the client secret - I then got beyond that screen but couldn't authorise using a smart phone as it would timeout when switching to the phones browser form the app.

Check the Client Secret , then go onto http://alexa.amazon.com/ to do the authorisation
Dingboy
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:45 am

Re: Telldus Live in Amazon Alexa

Post by Dingboy »

martinoc wrote:BTW - I think it is most likely that you have the space at the end of the client secret - I then got beyond that screen but couldn't authorise using a smart phone as it would timeout when switching to the phones browser form the app.

Check the Client Secret , then go onto http://alexa.amazon.com/ to do the authorisation
Hi Martinoc.

Thanks for trying to help as well. I repasted the Client secret and made sure there was no spaces.
I checked that my Lambda Application ID matched the one from the skill.
I also tried to use the web browser for the linking/enabling.

Unfortunately this did not help. I have however noticed that other Skills that have acoount linking required has a seprate button for this. My Telldus skill does not. What does yours? Did you just enable and then it was fixed?

Thanks ;-)
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