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Google Assistant Webserver in a Docker container

March 25th 2020 - Update

I had issues with my project and starting fresh seemed to fix it.

• Pull the new container image version
• Recreate the Google Actions Project following googles new documentation https://developers.google.com/assistant/sdk/guides/service/python
• Once setup, authenticated and showing up in Google Assistant settings on my phone I had to join the new device to my home in the Google Home app. Then it picked up on my Device Address for broadcasts.

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What is this?

This is a emulated Google Assistant with a webserver attached to take commands over HTTP packaged in a Docker container. The container consists of the Google Assistant SDK, python scripts that provide the Flask REST API / OAuth authentication and modifications that base it from the Google Assistant library.

I did not write this code, I simply pulled pieces and modified them to work together. AndBobsYourUncle wrote Google Assistant webserver Hassio add-on which this is largely based on. Chocomega provided the modifications that based it off the Google Assistant libraries.

How does this differ from AndBobsYourUncle's Google Assistant Webserver? This project is modified, running based on the Google Assistant libraries not the Google Assistant Service which allows for additional functionality such as remote media casting (Casting Spotify) See the table here. However this method requires a mic and speaker audio device or an emulated dummy on the host machine.

• AndBobsYourUncle Home Assistant forum post and Hassio Add-on Github repository
• Chocomega modifications
• Google Assistant Library docs

Interested in Docker but never used it before? Checkout my blog post: Docker In Your HomeLab - Getting Started.

Setup

• Prerequisite - Mic and speaker audio device configured on the host machine. Michal_Ciemiega pointed out that a real soundcard is not necessary with: sudo modprobe snd-dummy. If you're not sure or need help you can follow Googles Configure and Test the Audio documentation.

1. Go the Configure a Developer Project and Account Settings page of the Embed the Google Assistant procedure in the Library docs.
2. Follow the steps through to Register the Device Model and take note of the project id and the device model id.
3. Download OAuth 2.0 Credentials file, rename it to client_secret.json, create a configuration directory /home/$USER/docker/config/gawebserver/config and move the file there.
4. Create an additional folder /home/$USER/docker/config/gawebserver/assistant the Google Assistant SDK will cache files here that need to persist through container recreation.
5. In a Docker configuration below, fill out the DEVICE_MODEL_ID and PROJECT_ID environment variables with the values from previous steps. Lastly change the volume to mount your config and assistant directories to /config and /root/.config/google-assistant-library/assistant

First Run

• Start the container using Docker Run or Docker Compose. It will start listening on ports 9324 and 5000. Browse to the container on port 9324 (http://containerip:9324) where you will see Get token from google: Authentication.
• Follow the URL, authenticate with Google, return the string from Google to the container web page and click connect. The page will error out and that is normal, the container is now up and running.
• To get broadcast messages working an address needs to be set, the same as your other broadcast devices. In the Google Home app go to Account > Settings > Assistant. At the bottom select your ga-webserver and set the applicable address. There you can also set the default audio and video casting devices.

Docker Run

$ docker run -d --name=gawebserver \
    --restart on-failure \
    -v /home/$USER/docker/config/gawebserver/config:/config \
    -v /home/$USER/docker/config/gawebserver/assistant:/root/.config/google-assistant-library/assistant \
    -p 9324:9324 \
    -p 5000:5000 \
    -e CLIENT_SECRET=client_secret.json \
    -e DEVICE_MODEL_ID=device_model_id \
    -e PROJECT_ID=project_id \
    -e PYTHONIOENCODING=utf-8 \
    --device /dev/snd:/dev/snd:rwm \
    robwolff3/ga-webserver

Docker Compose

version: "3.7"
services:
  gawebserver:
    container_name: gawebserver
    image: robwolff3/ga-webserver
    restart: on-failure
    volumes:
      - /home/$USER/docker/config/gawebserver/config:/config
      - /home/$USER/docker/config/gawebserver/assistant:/root/.config/google-assistant-library/assistant
    ports:
      - 9324:9324
      - 5000:5000
    environment:
      - CLIENT_SECRET=client_secret.json
      - DEVICE_MODEL_ID=device_model_id
      - PROJECT_ID=project_id
      - PYTHONIOENCODING=utf-8
    devices:
      - "/dev/snd:/dev/snd:rwm"

Test it

• Test out your newly created ga-webserver by sending it a command through your web browser.
• Send a command http://containerip:5000/command?message=Play Careless Whisper by George Michael on Kitchen Stereo
• Broadcast a message http://containerip:5000/broadcast_message?message=Alexa order 500 pool noodles

Not sure why a command isn't working? See what happened in your Google Account Activity or under My Activity in the Google Home App.

Home Assistant

Here is an example how I use the ga-webserver in Home Assistant to broadcast over my Google Assistants when my dishwasher has finished.

configuration.yaml

notify:
  - name: ga_broadcast
    platform: rest
    resource: http://containerip:5000/broadcast_message
  - name: ga_command
    platform: rest
    resource: http://containerip:5000/command

automations.yaml

  - alias: Broadcast the dishwasher has finished
    initial_state: True
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: input_select.dishwasher_status
        to: 'Off'
    action:
      - service: notify.ga_broadcast
        data:
          message: "The Dishwasher has finished."

My Home Assistant Configuration repository.

Known Issues and Troubleshooting

• There are duplicate devices in the Google Home app - This happens every time the container is recreated, it looses its device_id stored in the container. This is fixed with my add step 4 under Setup. Once the container stores its new device_id there it will persist through container recreation.
• Error: UnicodeEncodeError: 'ascii' codec can't encode character - zewelor discovered this issue of a Wrong UTF8 encoding setting in the locale env. He solved this by adding the environment variable PYTHONIOENCODING=utf-8 to the Docker configuration.
• If it was working and then all the sudden stopped then you may need to re-authenticate. Stop the container, delete the access_token.json file from the configuration directory, repeat the First Run procedure above.
• Having other problems? Check the container logs: docker logs -f gawebserver