notify.alexa_media_last_called service no longer recognised by Home Assistant

[BenTerry1983]

The service notify.alexa_media_last_called is no longer recognised by Home Assistant. Error "The automation "XYZ Example" (automation.alexa_whatever) has an action that calls an unknown service: notify.alexa_media_last_called. Previously this has worked just fine, though I can't remember when I last used it successfully.

To Reproduce

1. Go to 'Developer Tools'
2. Click on 'Services'
3. Attempt to locate the 'notify.alexa_media_last_called' service
4. Observe it is missing

Expected behavior

According to the documentation, the notify.alexa_media_last_called service should still be present.

Screenshots

N/A

System details

• Home-assistant (version): 2023.10.5
• alexa_media (version from const.py or HA startup): 4.7.7
• alexapy (version from pip show alexapy or HA startup): 1.27.6
• Amazon 2FA is enabled

Logs

2023-10-25 07:58:15.982 ERROR (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.automation.alexa_open_blind_context_aware] Alexa - Context Aware - Blind Open: Choose at step 2: default: Error executing script. Service not found for call_service at pos 1: Unable to find service notify.alexa_media_last_called

Additional context

[Cpd5899]

I'm having the same issues. Seems to stop sometime last night.

[midnightbomber]

The last alexa component of the Alexa Media Player integration seems to have stopped working. Last_called and Last_called_timestamp fields are not being updated and remain null. Any scripts or automation referencing the last_alexa feature is generating errors or failing. This happened for my system at 12:00AM EST

[carvalr]

I noticed that last_called_summary still has the information. We would need to update every single script using last_called boolean by this string field.
Hope to have it fixed to have last_called working again.

Really not working. One of my media_player entities has the last_called_summary stuck in the same value regardless of which device I use. So, last_called_summary is not an option.

[dlgoodr]

I noticed that last_called_summary still has the information.

not here.

[Tloram]

Same issue here.

I think Amazon have just retired (possibly, for good) the Alexa web UI and its associated api routes, which could have something to do with it?

EDIT - not sure if this is possible, but if this functionality could somehow be adapted to read from the following URL from your amazon account 'Review Voice History' page (instead of the old 'activities' page from the Alexa web UI that seems to have been retired):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/alexa-privacy/apd/rvh (you need to be signed in to your amazon account to view it)

Then potentially it could work again...

[rabb1981]

Is due to this site being down https://alexa.amazon.co.uk/api/activities. As the code uses this api to get the information. Its been down since yesterday from about 19:00 UTC. See this post #2088

[midnightbomber]

I noticed that last_called_summary still has the information. We would need to update ever single script using last_called boolean by this string field. Hope to have it fixed to have last_called working again.

The last_called_summary atrribute is null on my system.

[vinimeca]

Same here. Last alexa / last called stopped.
What we can do?

[npa-homeassistant]

FWIW, it's dead here too and many of my most-used automations are dead in the water.

[danielbrunt57]

This would appear to be an amazon.uk issue. Everything is fine here in Canada via my amazon.ca account.

[dlgoodr]

This would appear to be an amazon.uk issue. Everything is fine here in Canada via my amazon.ca account.

US problem for me.

[danielbrunt57]

US problem for me.

Really! I hope it's Amazon issues and not changes!

[Bellavista]

Same issue also for amazon.it

[kenwiens]

Same here in Calgary Canada. Not working

[drwyrm]

same here for amazon.com.br

[oneseventhree]

Same for Amazon.com.au

[Rolenz93]

Same for Amazon.it

[Cpd5899]

FWIW, it's dead here too and many of my most-used automations are dead in the water.

Same with me. A LOT of my automations were dependent on which Echo was last triggered

[Cpd5899]

Is due to this site being down https://alexa.amazon.co.uk/api/activities. As the code uses this api to get the information. Its been down since yesterday from about 19:00 UTC. See this post #2088

This is odd because here is says they haven't had any issues.

[danielbrunt57]

Mine is now not working as well...

[danielbrunt57]

I'm fearing the worst may have happened..

[anthonyjestin]

I'm fearing the worst may have happened..

Definitely hoping this isn’t the case. This is a critical part of my automation structure in my house - all of which don’t work now :(

[alandtse]

Dupe of #2089; follow that one please.

[jvnrambo]

I noticed that last_called_summary still has the information. We would need to update every single script using last_called boolean by this string field.
Hope to have it fixed to have last_called working again.

Really not working. One of my media_player entities has the last_called_summary stuck in the same value regardless of which device I use. So, last_called_summary is not an option.

Hello, the same for me. All amazon devices no longer update the last_called or last_called_summary attributes in my home. I lost the functionality of many automations and routines, which used this feature to improve and optimize the usability of voice commands. Any suggestions to build another alternative or solve this problem??

[jsdray]

I thought I was being slick... I changed my Alexa routines to do a "volume minus one" followed by a "volume plus one" prior to firing my HA scripts. Then I created an HA automation to trigger on echo device volume changes and write the device name to text variable. Using the variable I could respond from the appropriate echo device. It slowed things down a bit but it worked. Now that too is gone... no more volume attributes... Why do they do this?!!! Do they not realize this will just drive us away from their products to one that is more flexible? I know, I'm preaching to the choir.....

[msolomos]

I totally agree. They drive us away. And don't be fool is done on purpose. The real question here is replace it with what? Once, few time ago, had to answer the same question when I had to replace my doorbell. The answer was easy, as Reolink fullfilled all my requirements. But now, I don't know any product that can replace my echos. Do you? Στάλθηκε από το Galaxy μου Στις Τρί 31 Οκτ 2023, 20:29 ο χρήστης JRay ***@***.***> έγραψε:

…

I thought I was being slick... I changed my Alexa routines to do a "volume minus one" followed by a "volume plus one" prior to firing my HA scripts. Then I created an HA automation to trigger on echo device volume changes and write the device name to text variable. Using the variable I could respond from the appropriate echo device. It slowed things down a bit but it worked. Now that too is gone... no more volume attributes... Why do they do this?!!! Do they not realize this will just drive us away from their products to one that is more flexible? I know, I'm preaching to the choir..... — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#2090 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ARIBTBQG4T4QEKG47QQLXS3YCE7QZAVCNFSM6AAAAAA6PBX2M6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMYTOOBXG43DAOJXGY> . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.*** com>

[andregoncalvespires]

Hello everybody.

This is really a break that makes us take many steps back.

In our Brazilian HA forum, a participant published a video he produced, with a good tip.I commented on the forum itself that the idea is good, but it makes automation bureaucratic.

I suggested an option to him, perhaps more laborious, but based on his idea, it would serve as a solution.

It would then be:
Create a skill for each command, regardless of where it is executed. Each Skill would publish a specific MQTT topic, and with the device ID, trigger the appropriate HA script and device.

Does anyone take a risk?

[jsdray]

I totally agree. They drive us away. And don't be fool is done on purpose. The real question here is replace it with what? Once, few time ago, had to answer the same question when I had to replace my doorbell. The answer was easy, as Reolink fullfilled all my requirements. But now, I don't know any product that can replace my echos. Do you? Στάλθηκε από το Galaxy μου Στις Τρί 31 Οκτ 2023, 20:29 ο χρήστης JRay @.> έγραψε:
…
I thought I was being slick... I changed my Alexa routines to do a "volume minus one" followed by a "volume plus one" prior to firing my HA scripts. Then I created an HA automation to trigger on echo device volume changes and write the device name to text variable. Using the variable I could respond from the appropriate echo device. It slowed things down a bit but it worked. Now that too is gone... no more volume attributes... Why do they do this?!!! Do they not realize this will just drive us away from their products to one that is more flexible? I know, I'm preaching to the choir..... — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#2090 (comment)>, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ARIBTBQG4T4QEKG47QQLXS3YCE7QZAVCNFSM6AAAAAA6PBX2M6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMYTOOBXG43DAOJXGY . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: @. com>

We may have to go the full HASS solution with the M5Stack ATOM Echo Smart Speaker and wake word https://www.home-assistant.io/voice_control/thirteen-usd-voice-remote/

[nicoema]

This sucks...
Maybe it's time to put my money in an lokal device.
Probably order stuff from Amazon and build my own.....

[mkanet]

Are there still no solutions or work-around? Did everyone depending on sensor.last_alexa and alexa_media.update_last_called service just give up using all their alexa scripts?

[maddox]

As of the latest version it all works again. I didn’t follow what the work around was, but it seems to work.

[mkanet]

As of the latest version it all works again. I don’t follow what the work around was, but it seems to work.
Do you mind sharing one of you currently working scripts please? I have the latest version Alexa Media Player already; but apparently I'm not doing it right or i forgot how to get it to work.

[andregoncalvespires]

It's not working perfectly for me. The last call is not updated for all triggers.

The issue below reported the return of the problem.
#2117

[danielbrunt57]

The last_called attribute does not automatically update in a timely fashion since HA has to peridically poll Amazon for the information as Amazon has no automatic push when a device has interacted with a user. If there were an offical API maintained by Amazon for such purposes, then maybe we could expect different results. But there's not and we are left struggling to scrape the information any way we can. But if you poll too frequently the server will likely block future attempts for some duration it chooses. This test done just now: "Alexa, what time is it?" and office echo dot right answered "The time is now 3:07 pm". 4 minutes later, HA updated last_alexa and since I have a tracking mechanism in place, I see this:

I have gone to great lengths to modify my scripts & automations to always call the service alexa_media.update_last_called first whenever I/HA needs to know now what the current last_called echo is, and that has resumed working flawlessly as it did before the recent kerfuffle we had.

[mkanet]

I have gone to great lengths to modify my scripts & automations to always call the service alexa_media.update_last_called first whenever I/HA needs to know now what the current last_called echo is, and that has resumed working flawlessly as it did before the recent kerfuffle we had.

I feel stupid now. I was having a completely unrelated issue on the Alexa platform that I didn't catch until now. I had to re-add the home assistant skill. I am now able to use simple scripts like

where_is_mommy:
  alias: Where is Mommy
  sequence:
  - service: alexa_media.update_last_called
    data: {}
  - delay:
      hours: 0
      minutes: 0
      seconds: 0
      milliseconds: 500
  - service: notify.alexa_media_last_called
    data:
      message: Mommy is at {{states('sensor.XXXXXX_location')}}.
      data:
        type: tts
  mode: single
  icon: mdi:map-marker-radius

Sorry for the off-topic, do you know by chance if the Google platform has an equivalent method to check which device it was called on? I searched, but couldn't find anything relevant. It would be nice if I could enhance my existing scripts to also work on Google assistant devices.

[andregoncalvespires]

I already use the alexa_media.update_last_caled service in all scripts, but I can't understand why some echos don't have last_called and the last_called_timestamp and last_called_summary attributes updated. I believe this is the reason why it is not working correctly.

[alfgomes]

It would not be possible to change the amazon.co.uk API calls for this "https://aws.amazon.com/pt/api-gateway/"?

[Jugom]

Is this supposed to be a thing that happens from time to time?
I used it fine about half a day ago and now suddenly the update_last_called service doesn't work anymore.

[86lava]

Located in New Mexico US. After the issue 6 months ago came and went, all has been well until a week ago: "Unable to find service notify.alexa_media_last_called".

[MartinRisbyVR]

Located in New Mexico US. After the issue 6 months ago came and went, all has been well until a week ago: "Unable to find service notify.alexa_media_last_called".

Yep, I didn't notice this until this morning.
Service is completely missing for me. Can't notify last called.

[danielbrunt57]

All is fine here for me...

[MartinRisbyVR]

Yeah, my mistake.
It wasn't working for me.
Had an update.
Updated, thinking it would fix it. It didn't.
Done a system reset. WORKING AGAIN YAY.
Thank you for replying to me. I don't use git hub much and could not find where I had commented to say that it was my mistake. 😅