Alfred

Alfred is a Python application built using the web-framework Flask. Inbound SMS sent to your Twilio phone number are forwarded to Alfred as a HTTP request. Alfred intelligently generates a response (SMS to the sender via a HTTP POST request to Twilio) and an action (e.g.: turning off the lights in your home).

Table of Contents

1. Setup

• Get Twilio Number
• Setup Virtual Environment (Optional)
• Install and Run

2. Connect to services

• Phillips Hue
• OWM
• Nest Learning Thermostat
• WolframAlpha

3. What can you ask Alfred to do?
4. Changelog

Setup

Get a Twilio Number

First you need a Twilio phone number capable of sending and receiving SMS messages. You can get a number with your free trial here.

Setting up a Virtual Environment (OPTIONAL)

It is recommended that you set up a virtual environment. See here for how to activate a conda environment. The environment can be activated by calling source activate <env name>.

Install and Run

1. Navigate to the directory you want to save smsbot to, and git clone there. Or download the source code as a .zip.
2. Activate your environment from the previous step (optional).
3. If you plan on using all features of Alfred, then run pip install -r requirements.txt from within the cloned directory. Otherwise take a look at requirements.txt and pip install the features that you want (flask, twilio and nltk are required).
4. Run the main script: python src/run_alfred.py. Note the port reported by Flask on the command line, ex: 'Running on http://XXX.X.X.X:5000/'
5. Install ngrok (download here) and add it to your PATH.
6. Run ngrok: ngrok http <port>, where port would be 5000 from the example above. Note the forwarding address reported by ngrok on the command line, ex: 'http://XXXXXXXX.ngrok.io'
7. Copy and past one of the forwarding addresses into the "A MESSAGE COMES IN" field on the Twilio dashboard (from the dashboard, click the '#' then your phone number and scroll down to "Messaging"). Make sure the drop down is set to "Webhook".

Setting up each service

Phillips Hue

If you plan on using the script with the Philips Hue Bridge, there are a few extra steps:

1. Make sure that in /src/config.ini you have set bridgeIP to the IP of your Bridge. Instructions on how to find that here.
2. Before running the script for the first time, press the button on the Hue Bridge. Then, within 30 seconds call the script and pass the --connectBridge flag (you only have to do this once).
3. That's it. Try texting your Twilio number 'Turn on all the lights please!' to make sure things are working.

Note, you can also run python src/run_alfred.py --setup and Alfred will walk you through this process and modify the configuration file for you.

Weather

Requests for weather information rely on the OpenWeatherMap.org API. An API key is already provided with Alfred, but if you would prefer to use your own sign up here, then go to API Keys and copy your key to the config file (at /src/config.ini).

Nest Learning Thermostat

Coming soon.

WolframAlpha

Coming soon.

What can you ask Alfred to do?

• Example 1: "Turn on the lights"
• Example 2: "Turn on the bedroom lights" <turns on all lights in the Phillips hue group 'Bedroom', if this group exists>
• Example 3: "Dim the living room lights" <sets all lights in the Phillips hue group 'Living room' to 15% intensity>
• Example 4: "Set the lights to 50%" <sets all lights to 50% intensity>
• Example 5: "Warm the bedroom lights" <sets all lights in the Phillips hue group 'Bedroom' to the warmest end of the spectrum>
• Example 6: "Set the living room lights blue" <sets all lights in the Phillips hue group 'Living room' to blue>
• Example 7: "Wiki Barack Obama"
• Example 8: "What is the weather like in New York City?"

Changelog

Latest commits:

• Added the ability to set light colors. Try "Set bedroom lights green"
• Added two new command "Warm the lights" and "Cool the lights"