Why does sending a command to "remote device works", but not to "this device"

[MarkC1210]

Hi so I'm trying to execute a custom command like this to a skill enabled in Alexa
action: media_player.play_media
data:
media_content_type: custom
media_content_id: 'Ask BMW to flash lights'
target:
entity_id: media_player.arealechodevice

and this works fine, and provides a voice response to the command even though I don't need it. (also tried typing the same command into the alexa app on phone and it works, responds in text and performs action) but when I try to issue the same command via "this device" it doesn't work and no errors are produced i.e.

action: media_player.play_media
data:
media_content_type: custom
media_content_id: 'Ask BMW to flash lights'
target:
entity_id: media_player.this_device

Any ideas of how to get this working?

[danielbrunt57]

entity_id: media_player.a-real-echo-device is, well, a physical echo device, which is what media_content_type: custom media_content_id: 'Ask BMW to flash lights' requires as you have to target a real echo as if you were asking that echo the question.

I'm pretty sure entity_id: media_player.this_device is the AMP emulation of the Alexa app. In the Alexa App, there is provision in its UI to "Ask Alexa" something the same way you can ask an echo device via "Alexa," (the wake-up) "Ask BMW to flash lights" but the AMP integration (entity_id: media_player.this_device) doesn't support that. It simply exists in AMP because Amazon created it and AMP discovered it as emulated Echo device.

I was attempting to answer your question but asked AI before posting and its answer is far clearer than what I came up with:

The media_player.this_device entity in the Alexa Media Player custom integration in Home Assistant refers to the device running the Home Assistant instance itself or the specific device where the Alexa app is installed (e.g., your mobile phone). It is a virtual entity created by the integration to represent the local host from the perspective of your Amazon account.

Key Details

• Representation of the Host: Amazon lists "This device" on its pages as a summary of Alexa apps tied to your account. The alexa_media integration pulls this information, making your Home Assistant host machine (or the device with the Alexa app installed) appear as an available media player entity.
• Potential for Multiple Entities: If you have the Alexa app installed and logged in on multiple mobile devices within the same account, the integration might create multiple entities, such as media_player.this_device, media_player.this_device_2, etc..
• Limited Functionality: While it appears in your entity list, it generally has limited or no functional use as a media player for the Home Assistant environment itself. Attempting to send Text-to-Speech (TTS) messages or other media commands to this specific entity often results in no action or errors because the Home Assistant server itself is not designed to function as an Alexa playback device in this manner.
• Troubleshooting Context: The entity often appears in issue reports or discussions where users are trying to use the "Last Alexa" sensor, which gets "stuck" on media_player.this_device when no other physical Echo device has been recently active.

Summary

• media_player.this_device is typically a placeholder entity representing the local system from which the Alexa API is being accessed, and it is usually not the correct target for automations or media playback commands in Home Assistant.**

[MarkC1210]

Thanks!

[MarkC1210]

I wonder if this is possible though to implement, the only reason I ask is. If I one the Alexa App on my phone, again which is not a real device, and target that as "this.device" the action works.

[danielbrunt57]

I'm failing to see the point of this as you stated you don't really need the response so what does it matter where the response occurs? Also, if it could target the app on your phone, the app would have to be open and active as I'm sure it's impossible for Amazon to trigger the phone open the app and make it active on your phone.
Just for clarity, what exactly is the response from the BMW skill?

[MarkC1210]

Hi Daniel, sorry your right the response is not needed at all.... its the fact the request does not work for some reason when issued to this implementation of "this.device", whereas the alexa phone app another implementation of "this.device"(when open on the phone) does perform the action.
What I am trying to achieve is to issue a command to an alexa skill without the need for a physical device. i.e. in the case of the BMW Skill 'Ask BMW to flash lights' that then goes off and does the action, no concern on any response back.

[danielbrunt57]

Might it be possible to create a routine in Alexa that asks the skill to flash the lights? If so, HA would then only need to run that routine. That could be done by creating a boolean in HA that's exposed to Alexa which would then be the "when this happens" trigger for the routine and HA only needs to toggle the boolean to initiate the routine.

[MarkC1210]

I give that a try