Use Alexa to Kick Off Automations with Octoblu

By combining Alexa and Octoblu, you can easily tell your Alexa to turn on your lights, get your Twitter followers, or even send a text!

Alexa is Amazon's hands-free, voice-controlled hub. You can ask it various questions like, 'what is the weather like?'. Octoblu is an Internet of Things platform that allows you to connect any of your devices and send messages from one device to another.

In this example, we will be connecting our Twitter account and Amazon Alexa to our Octoblu account. We will then need to create a custom skill for Alexa to talk to our Octoblu flow.

Alexa Setup

We are currently trying to get an Octoblu Alexa Skill approved to make this process a lot easier, but for now, please follow this guide. It will have all the information you need to get up and running fast.

Note: You only need to complete the Creating Custom Skill section.

Note: You will not need to run your own instance of the Alexa service. You can just use the instance that we are already hosting (alexa.octoblu.com), however, if you want, you may run your own instance.

Once you are done setting up your skill, go to the Test tab and try it out.

Note: If you are getting unauthorized from your Alexa, disable and re-enable your skill from alexa.amazon.com. Make sure you have pop-ups enabled. This should open up another tab, authenticating you with Octoblu.

Octoblu Flow Setup

First, you will need to create a free Octoblu account. Then you should import my Alexa to Twitter flow:

• Echo In ('get my followers') - This thing is waiting for an Alexa command to be called with it's name. For example, I would say 'Alexa, ask Octoblu to get my followers'.

• Twitter - This will retrieve a list of your followers.

• Function - This tool will get the length of the array of your followers.

• Template - This tool will construct a message for Alexa to read.

• Compose ('handle success/error') - This tool will wait for the specified message properties before passing them on.

• Echo Out ('respond with followers/error') - This tool will tell Alexa to either respond with an error or with the requested information.

Final Note on Alexa

Make sure to go back to your Custom Alexa Skill and add the name of the Echo In thing in the Custom Slot Type. For this example, you need to enter 'get my followers'. Now you should be able to say 'Alexa, ask Octoblu to get my followers'!

Try connecting different things instead of Twitter and enjoy controlling them from your Alexa, powered by Octoblu!