What would I use the Alexa skill for?

I'll bet I'm missing something obvious! All of my devices are already voice controllable via Alexa. What more does the Hubitat Alexa Skill provide?

Even if you don't need the Alexa skill to control your physical devices, you could use the Alexa skill for voice control of virtual switches; including them in automations is often useful for temporarily overriding their normal behavior (among other things).

For example, opening my mailbox door during delivery hours will start a repeating (every 5 minutes) announcement indicating that mail has arrived. It will automatically get canceled when I go and open the mailbox door to pick up the mail, but I can say "Echo, turn off mailbox announcement" if I'm sick of hearing it; the virtual switch named 'mailbox announcement' will act as as a required condition in the logic of my app.

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You must have an unusual (for Hubitat) set of smart devices if they are all already Alexa-capable. A lot of us use Hubitat primarily as a Z-Wave and Zigbee hub (with the occasional LAN or cloud integration). These devices are not capable of speaking directly to Alexa (OK, so actually Zigbee ones could speak to some, but they can only be paired to one hub at a time and would be far less useful on Alexa only). To that end, the Alexa skill can help you get these types of devices voice-controllable.

I do have some devices that natively support both Hubitat and Alexa at the same time. My Hue Bridge lights are one example (in this case, I opt to exclude them from Hubitat's Alexa integration--which Hubitat also does by default in deference to this fact). I imagine you'll find a few other LAN or cloud devices that work the same. In my case, they just don't comprise the majority of my network.

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One point missing in the Alexa skill is the sensor support. For instance it is not possible to trigger Alexa routines by a HE motion sensor. This yeld the impossibility to command Alexa devices from HE. There are workaround with ST in the middle.

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During the last Hubitat Live session they mentioned that they are working on some changes to the Alexa Skill... :crossed_fingers:

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:crossed_fingers::crossed_fingers:

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Stay tuned! :star_struck::face_with_monocle::face_with_raised_eyebrow::nerd_face::crazy_face::rofl::stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye::no_mouth:

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Thanks to all for the replies! The thing that popped out for me was the sensor support. That will give me something to play with for a while. (Don't be surprised if I reach out for help.)

I do have several Z-Wave and Zigbee devices (switches, lock, GE bulbs) and they were all discoverable by Alexa. Lucky indeed.

Now I'm confused: these aren't natively discoverable by Alexa, so if you're doing this you're either already using the Hubitat Alexa skill or happen to have set up the old "Echo app" integration (much less powerful--emulates a Hue Bridge to trick Alexa into controlling certain types of Hubitat devices, but available in all markets unlike the Skill).

Or perhaps you're saying you just set it up? But then I wouldn't call that luck: it's how it's supposed to work with any supported device type (based more or less on capability, not protocol). :slight_smile:

How quickly we forget. Yes - of course you're right! I set them up through the Hubitat Alexa skill. And then I asked, "What would I use the Alexa skill for?", What a dimwit! But I did get good info on other uses I wasn't aware of...

Alexa skill support for motion sensors has just been added - and for contact sensors too! :partying_face:

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Three cheers for virtual contact sensors in the Alexa skill !!! Now I can retire my Rube Goldberg HE-> IFTTT-> SmartThings-> Alexa stuff!

Keep one so you can show your friends what bad (cloud) HomeAutomation feels like :smiley: :smiley:

Not even close. I still have my X10 stuff to show, including a heater that wrapped around your thermostat to crank up the A/C.