Possible to create a device hierarchy?

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johnEllinwood asked · Oct 24, 2019 at 11:15 PM

Possible to create a device hierarchy?

Is it possible to create a device that wraps up multiple other devices but only exposes the top-level one? I have a custom smart home v3 skill device, lets call it 'cluster'. Cluster is a facade for other devices, like a light (BrightnessController, PowerController), an outlet (PowerController), a motor (PowerController, PowerLevelController), and more.

I don't want all of the nested devices to show up and have to be managed separately in my app's device list. I just want to add 'cluster' to the device list, and somehow have it expose all of the nested capabilities. Like, 'alexa, turn on the cluster light'. or 'alexa, set the cluster motor level to 50%'. Now, it sounds like maybe I need to create a custom intent to handle these cases, but they are all standard API capabilities... so i'd like to know if there is just a way to wrap them in a parent device?

Additionally, there are top-level 'cluster' commands i'd like to give it... like 'alexa, set the cluster to high'... and that would internally set the main power to on, the light to 100%, the motor to 100%, etc... I know i'd have to write the logic for what exactly that top-level device actually does, which is ok.

I was thinking maybe a scene controller for the 'cluster', but not sure.

devices smart home groups scenes

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Answer 1 · 2019-10-30T07:21:45Z

philchillbill answered · Oct 30, 2019 at 07:21 AM

Yes, what you want is achievable. The question is whether the 'wrapping' should occur in the skill code or in your device cloud and how the wrapped group would be discovered. A scene controller basically addresses a group in your device cloud - to Alexa it's a single thing to control. The main difference between scene activation and e.g. turning on a device is that activating a scene is expected to be a process that's kicked off and takes time to complete, whereas an on/off is assumed to be pretty instantaneous. If you want to create the wrapping in your skill itself and not expose the component devices, merely not assigning a DISPLAY CATEGORY to them will prevent them showing up in the Alexa app. I create all kinds of both scenes and device groups behind the scenes during my device discovery and expose whatever I want in this way, so I know it can be made to work well. It's down to the insights you have during discovery. If it's a public skill and users can have any range of devices, how does a user define wrapping? If it's just a personal skill for your own use, you already know what you want to wrap and can do it in your code logic.

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Possible to create a device hierarchy?

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