Alexa Token Invalid

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1

Has anybody been having problems with the built-in Alexa Skill (not Alexa "app")?

After a long period during which it worked flawlessly and I haven't touched it, it suddenly stopped working a couple weeks ago. Finally got around to working on it today. Noticed a bunch of folks in the community talk about resetting the token. So, I decided to go big, delete all the devices in Alexa, delete the app in HE, and start from scratch. Umm, err, yeah, about that......

Every time I try, the HE skill app installs fine, but then Alexa says that it cannot enable the Hubitat skill after I provide my Hubitat credentials, select a few devices, and click authorize. And HE throws the error copied below. Can't figure out what I'm doing wrong or how to fix it. Any suggestions? TIA.....

app:42532020-10-18 02:40:48.128 pm errorError making Call to Alexa message gateway: {"header":{"namespace":"System","name":"Exception","messageId":"XXXXXX Redacted XXXXX"},"payload":{"code":"INVALID_ACCESS_TOKEN_EXCEPTION","description":"Access token is not valid."}}

app:42532020-10-18 02:40:47.828 pm errorError making Call to refresh Token: [error_description:The request is missing a required parameter : refresh_token, error:invalid_request]

2

Are you manually installing the “Amazon Echo Skill” app on your hub? IIRC, that app will be automatically installed by simply enabling the Hubitat Skill within the Alexa Mobile App on on your phone.

Try removing the app from your hub, and disabling the skill from within the Alexa app. Make sure both are gone and any remaining devices are removed from alexa.Amazon.com.

Then, simply enable the skill from within the Alexa Mobile App on your phone, which should prompt you to log into Hubitat and select your hub (if you have more than one.). That should then automatically install the proper app on the hub where you can select the specific devices you’d like Alexa to have access to.

Hope this helps.

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3

Thanks for the reply. I've noticed that issue in reading others' experiences, but it seemed unclear. So I've done it both ways. In both cases, I start by removing all devices from alexa.amazon.com, then make sure the skill is disabled and the HE Skill app is removed. Then I either:

  1. Install HE Skill app without devices and then enable the skill; or,
  2. Skip HE, and just directly enable the skill.

In both cases, the alexa.amazon.com complains the skill cannot be enabled.

4

If you try option #2, does the “Amazon Echo Skill” app get installed on your hub? The reason I ask this if because if it didn’t, then I would suspect your hub is not properly connected/registered with the Hubitat Cloud Endpoint Server.

Are you able to access cloud dashboards? (Disable WiFi on your phone and use cellular data only.). If yes, then your hub is probably working fine with Hubitat’s cloud endpoint server...:thinking:

If all else fails, your best bet is to open a support ticket with support@hubitat.com.

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5

Yes

Now it's gotten interesting. After I disconnected my phone from my home wifi, I went to the Hubitat ios app, and selected the hub in question (I have several hubs), and sure enough, in the list of hubs, it shows: "HubName (Unavailable)". Which suggests to me that your suspicion about the cloud endpoint is correct. The odd thing is that I've had this hub for a couple years and haven't messed with anything related to the hub settings or it's connectivity outside my network.

Any suggestions on where to look next now that we've narrowed it down to this?

6

Do you have an IP Address reserved in your Router's DHCP server for the Hubitat Hub? This will prevent it from assigning a different IP address on your home LAN which can cause a temporary disconnect between the the Hubitat Cloud and your Hub. Usually rebooting the hub via the SETTINGS menu is all that is needed to reestablish the cloud connection.

The best practice is to add a DHCP Reservation for the Hubitat Hub in your router which should prevent this disconnect from occurring in the future.

7

Yes, I've had an IP reservation ever since I installed it a while ago. Appreciate the suggestion, just the same.

I rebooted the hub -- didn't change anything. Then, at @bobbyD's urging, I did a soft reset (after doing a backup, of course) from the hub diagnostics tool. When things came back up, all my worse fears were confirmed: apps and dashboards were all "gone", responding with 500 errors. After I restored the backup, same thing. To say I was panicking would be an understatement. This is the server hub of a 5-hub hubconnect setup with ~390 devices.

So then I restored yesterday's backup, and everything appears normal. My hub now shows as cloud connected and Alexa appears to love me once again. Working on my heart rate and respiration for the moment.

I write out all the above detail in case anyone who follows has the same experience. @ogiewon, thanks for the troubleshooting help as well as the "therapy" :crazy_face:. I needed both.

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