How to trigger an action via Alexa?

SharpTools.io (web)
1

I’m completely new to sharp tools. I was hoping someone with experience could answer a couple of hopefully basic questions. I am trying to trigger an http request from Alexa. I have a front gate that can be triggered to open or close with a local http request within my LAN. I just purchased a smart things hub. I want to be able to call the action from Alexa as well as integrate it as part of an Alexa routine. What is the best way to accomplish this with Sharp tools?

I thought about it a little and I’m guessing that I would need to create a virtual switch in smart things and then use rule engine to run the http get when the switch is triggered?

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Yes, that’s a very popular approach for triggering things from a voice assistant.

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I just realized that the http request comes externally and not from smart things or inside my LAN. I don’t like the idea of exposing a port for this. Is there any way to make the http get from inside?

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The Web Requestor edge driver can be used to make HTTP requests within your LAN.

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5

Whoa, Cool! Thank you for the help! I’ll check that out.

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Thank you for your help! I was able to set things up pretty easily once you pointed me to the Web Requestor Edge driver. I used the same devs virtual switch edge driver as well. You saved me days of searching, reading, and frustration!

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