Alexa CLI#

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

Authentication#

bash

# Browser login (recommended)
alexacli auth

# Non-US accounts
alexacli auth --domain amazon.de
alexacli auth --domain amazon.co.uk

# Check auth status
alexacli auth status
alexacli auth status --verify    # validate token against API

# Remove credentials
alexacli auth logout

Token is valid ~14 days. Configuration stored in ~/.alexa-cli/config.json.

Devices#

bash

alexacli devices
alexacli devices --json

Text-to-Speech#

bash

# 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:

bash

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

# Thermostats
alexacli command "set thermostat to 72 degrees" -d Bedroom
alexacli command "what's the temperature inside" -d Kitchen

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

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

# Questions
alexacli command "what's the weather" -d Kitchen

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

Ask (Get Response Back)#

Send a command and capture Alexa's text response:

bash

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

Alexa+ (LLM Conversations)#

Interact with Amazon's LLM-powered assistant:

bash

# Quick start - auto-selects conversation
alexacli askplus -d "Echo Show" "What's the capital of France?"

# Multi-turn retains context
alexacli askplus -d "Echo Show" "What about Germany?"

# List conversations
alexacli conversations

# View conversation history
alexacli fragments "amzn1.conversation.xxx"

Audio Playback#

Play MP3 audio through Echo devices:

bash

alexacli play --url "https://example.com/audio.mp3" -d "Echo Show"

Requirements: MP3 at 48kbps, 22050Hz sample rate, HTTPS URL.

History#

bash

alexacli history
alexacli history --limit 5
alexacli history --json

Command Reference#

CommandDescriptionalexacli devicesList all Echo devicesalexacli speak <text> -d <device>Text-to-speech on devicealexacli speak <text> --announceAnnounce to all devicesalexacli command <text> -d <device>Voice command (smart home, music, etc.)alexacli ask <text> -d <device>Send command, get response backalexacli conversationsList Alexa+ conversation IDsalexacli fragments <id>View Alexa+ conversation historyalexacli askplus -d <device> <text>Alexa+ LLM conversationalexacli play --url <url> -d <device>Play MP3 via SSMLalexacli authBrowser login or manual tokenalexacli auth status [--verify]Show auth statusalexacli auth logoutRemove credentialsalexacli historyView recent voice activity

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
• Add --verbose or -v to any command for debug output