Alexa Plugin operations¶
Plugin Startup¶
When the plugin starts up, you will see a list of what's published to Alexa in the Event log. It will look something like this:
Started plugin "Alexa 2024.1.0"
Alexa Finding devices to publish to Alexa...
Alexa ... '010 - Smart Fan Control (14287)' published as 'office fan'
Alexa ... '016 - Plug-In Appliance Module (ZL-PA-100)' published as 'office lamp'
Alexa ... '038 - Lamp Module (AD130)' published as 'blinds'
Alexa ... 'automatic door' published
Alexa ... 'FanLinc - Fan' published as 'ceiling fan'
Alexa ... 'FanLinc - Light' published as 'fan light'
Alexa ... 'Fortrezz Strobe' published as 'strobe'
Alexa ... 'Hue Bulb' published as 'office bulb'
Alexa ... 'Insteon Dimmer' published as 'valve'
Alexa ... 'Insteon On/Off' published as 'back door'
Alexa ... 'Insteon Thermostat' published as 'thermostat'
Alexa ... 'Kasa Plug' published as 'garage door'
Alexa ... 'Office Siren' published
Alexa ... 'outlet' published
Alexa ... 'Simple Virtual On/Off' published as 'simple switch'
Alexa A total of 15 devices are currently published to Alexa
Alexa Warning If you can't control a device, rerun discover from your Alexa device.
Showing Publications¶
You can also select the Plugins->Alexa->Show Device Publications menu item to show this list with more details and sorted by the Alexa name:
Alexa Currently published devices (Alexa name first if different than Indigo name):
Alexa 'Office Siren' ('Office Siren') - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Siren
Alexa 'automatic door' ('automatic door') - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Door Controller
Alexa 'back door' ('Insteon On/Off') - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Lock
Alexa 'blinds' ('038 - Lamp Module (AD130)') - Type: DimmerDevice - Subtype: Blind
Alexa 'ceiling fan' ('FanLinc - Fan') - Type: SpeedControlDevice - Subtype: None
Alexa 'fan light' ('FanLinc - Light') - Type: DimmerDevice - Subtype: Dimmer
Alexa 'garage door' ('Kasa Plug') - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Garage Controller
Alexa 'office bulb' ('Hue Bulb') - Type: DimmerDevice - Subtype: Color Bulb
Alexa 'office fan' ('010 - Smart Fan Control (14287)') - Type: DimmerDevice - Subtype: Fan
Alexa 'office lamp' ('016 - Plug-In Appliance Module (ZL-PA-100)') - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Plug-In
Alexa 'outlet' ('outlet') - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Outlet
Alexa 'simple switch' ('Simple Virtual On/Off') - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Switch
Alexa 'strobe' ('Fortrezz Strobe') - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Plug-In
Alexa 'thermostat' ('Insteon Thermostat') - Type: ThermostatDevice - Subtype: None
Alexa 'valve' ('Insteon Dimmer') - Type: DimmerDevice - Subtype: Valve
Discovery Requests from Alexa¶
When the plugin receives a discover request from the Alexa servers, you will see something similar to this in the Event Log:
Alexa Alexa discovery request received, assembling reply...
Alexa ...'ceiling fan' ('FanLinc - Fan') - Type: SpeedControlDevice - Subtype: None
Alexa ...'simple switch' ('Simple Virtual On/Off') - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Switch
Alexa ...'upstairs siren' ('Fortrezz Siren') - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Siren
Alexa ...'outlet' - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Outlet
Alexa ...'fan light' ('FanLinc - Light') - Type: DimmerDevice - Subtype: Dimmer
Alexa ...'office fan' ('010 - Smart Fan Control (14287)') - Type: DimmerDevice - Subtype: Fan
Alexa ...'back door' ('Insteon On/Off') - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Lock
Alexa ...'automatic door' - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Door Controller
Alexa ...'Office Siren' - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Siren
Alexa ...'thermostat' ('Insteon Thermostat') - Type: ThermostatDevice - Subtype: None
Alexa ...'blinds' ('038 - Lamp Module (AD130)') - Type: DimmerDevice - Subtype: Blind
Alexa ...'office lamp' ('016 - Plug-In Appliance Module (ZL-PA-100)') - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Plug-In
Alexa ...'office bulb' ('Hue Bulb') - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Plug-In
Alexa ...'strobe' ('Fortrezz Strobe') - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Plug-In
Alexa ...'garage door' ('Kasa Plug') - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Garage Controller
Alexa ...'outside lights' ('Outdoor Appliance Module (45604)') - Type: RelayDevice - Subtype: Plug-In
Alexa ...'valve' ('Insteon Dimmer') - Type: DimmerDevice - Subtype: Valve
Alexa Found 17 devices to publish, replying
Command Requests from Alexa¶
When an Alexa command is received, you will see something similar to this in the Event Log:
This will allow you to easily see that the change was the result of an Alexa request. This will show for every change that the Alexa plugin makes.
The Published Device Log¶
New in 2026.1 The plugin keeps a running record of every device it has published to Alexa, so that a device which disappears can still be identified after the fact. It lives in your Indigo install folder:
It's a JSON object keyed by Indigo device id, one entry per device the plugin has ever published:
{
"1126987660": {
"device_name": "Alexa - door",
"device_protocol": "Plugin",
"device_plugin": "com.example.indigoplugin.example-device-relay1",
"alexa_published_name": "Door Controller",
"alexa_date_added": "2026-04-16T14:45:43.772665",
"alexa_date_unpublished": "",
"alexa_date_deleted": "2026-06-16T09:42:20.639072"
}
}
Entries are not removed when a device is unpublished or deleted — the relevant timestamp is filled in instead, and an empty string means it hasn't happened.
You don't have to do anything with this file. Its purpose is to answer a question that was previously unanswerable: which device was that? Alexa keeps its own device list, so a device you deleted in Indigo can linger in the Alexa app under a spoken name that no longer matches anything in your system. The log records the Indigo name, the protocol and the owning plugin alongside the Alexa-spoken name, so you can work out what to remove on the Alexa side.
The plugin maintains it in three ways:
- At startup it reconciles the log against your live devices, and logs a warning for any published device that was deleted while the plugin was disabled — a case it would otherwise never see.
- When a device is deleted it records the deletion and logs a warning naming the Alexa-spoken name, the protocol and the owning plugin, even if the device had already been unpublished.
- When a device changes, the recorded name and other fields are kept in step.