Alexa CLI

Control Amazon Alexa devices and smart home via the alexacli CLI. Use when a user asks to speak/announce on Echo devices, control lights/thermostats/locks, send voice commands, or query Alexa.

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

Command	Description
alexacli devices	List all Echo devices
alexacli speak <text> -d <device>	Text-to-speech on device
alexacli speak <text> --announce	Announce to all devices
alexacli command <text> -d <device>	Voice command (smart home, music, etc.)
alexacli ask <text> -d <device>	Send command, get response back
alexacli conversations	List Alexa+ conversation IDs
alexacli fragments <id>	View Alexa+ conversation history
alexacli askplus -d <device> <text>	Alexa+ LLM conversation
alexacli play --url <url> -d <device>	Play MP3 via SSML
alexacli auth	Browser login or manual token
alexacli auth status [--verify]	Show auth status
alexacli auth logout	Remove credentials
alexacli history	View 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