Alexa CLI

Alexa CLI

Use alexacli to control Amazon Echo devices and smart home via the unofficial Alexa API.

Devices

alexacli devices
alexacli devices --json

Text-to-Speech

# Speak on a specific device
alexacli speak "Hello world" -d "Kitchen Echo"

# Announce to ALL devices
alexacli speak "Dinner is ready!" --announce

# Device name matching is flexible
alexacli speak "Build complete" -d Kitchen

Voice Commands (Smart Home Control)

Send any command as if you spoke it to Alexa:

# Lights
alexacli command "turn off the living room lights" -d Kitchen
alexacli command "dim the bedroom lights to 50 percent" -d Bedroom

# Thermostat
alexacli command "set thermostat to 72 degrees" -d Bedroom

# Locks
alexacli command "lock the front door" -d Kitchen

# Music
alexacli command "play jazz music" -d "Living Room"

# Timers
alexacli command "set a timer for 10 minutes" -d Kitchen

The -d flag specifies which Echo processes the command.

Ask (Get Response Back)

Send a command and capture Alexa's text response:

alexacli ask "what's the thermostat set to" -d Kitchen
# Output: The thermostat is set to 68 degrees.

alexacli ask "what's on my calendar today" -d Kitchen --json

Useful for querying device state or getting Alexa-specific info.

History

alexacli history
alexacli history --limit 5 --json

Command Reference

Notes

• Uses Amazon's unofficial API (same as Alexa app)
• Refresh token valid ~14 days, re-run alexacli auth if expired
• Device names support partial, case-insensitive matching
• For AI/agentic use, alexacli command with natural language is preferred