Programming Alexa

[Mhnalexa]

I was intrieged by Alexa's ability to talk to and control my nest thermostat.
However,
It seems that the functionality I need is not available.
I want alexa to tell Nest to set the temperature to 70, not now , AT 4:00 AM TOMORROW morning.
My schedule changes constantly, so the time to set the thermostat will change daily and i dont know when I am getting up untill just before going to bed. I would really love to speak to Alexa and tell her what time to turn on the heater.



Is this a  Skill that can be added to Alexa ??
If so, what skills do I need? How do I add this skill?
I have skills in Visual Basic, and other somewhat related code programming languages.
Thanks

[jwlv]

Yes there is a Nest thermostat skill. It's been available for a couple of years now.

[Mhnalexa]

Yes I know that there is a Nest Skill, actually, there are a number of skills.
However,
There is a skill I need that does not exist.
I ask
"Can I Program, add, Create, insert, NEW skills???"

If so, what is needed to do that???
Thanks

[jwlv]

If you are intending to create your own skills, you need to sign up for a free Amazon Developer account and build your skill using the Alexa Skills Kit. Creating Alexa skills isn't easy, even for seasoned programmers. It's new technology and it's much different than traditional coding.

See this page to find out how to get started: https://developer.amazon.com/alexa-skills-kit

[Mhnalexa]

Thanks JW,
You got me down the right path.

[asianrocker]

You can do what you want right now but not via voice or Alexa app. You can do all that in the nest app.

[kenf]

You might look into IFTTT or see what a smart hub like SmartThings can do (it has a scripting language and can be told what to do by Alexa and trigger its own events).

Sounds like the effect you want is when you say "good night", Alexa sets the Nest temp to 70 at eight hours later (when you need to wake up).

routines can't directly do that, but they can set a Scene and if that Scene is on SmartThings, then ST handles the rest.  You'd just need to see if ST can talk to Nest that way (probably can with webCore and the Nest device handler).