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Alexa Playback [Logging] Advice/Support

ginjaninja

By ginjaninja
in Amazon Alexa

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ginjaninja

ginjaninja 606

Posted
Posted

My Alexa music playback went from generally working to never working a month or so ago.

From requesting the song from the skill  to Alexa saying "playing song X by artist Y" the debug log shows 

2026-06-03 14:13:39.482 Info SessionsService-0HNM0S8DL8KOI:00000001: http/1.1 POST https://‌‍‍xxx.xxx.xxx/emby/Sessions/Capabilities/Full?api_key=‌c6ea5baa81464df9a1e5c812c8ca3934‌&Id=ad1c44f22e3d5840c633250ab9e307c0. Source Ip: ‌‍‍18.205.59.136‌, UserAgent: node-fetch/1.0 (+https://github.com/bitinn/node-fetch)
2026-06-03 14:13:39.483 Debug AuthenticationRepository: UpdateCapabilities id: 177
2026-06-03 14:13:39.483 Info SessionsService-0HNM0S8DL8KOI:00000001: http/1.1 Response 204 to ‌‍‍18.205.59.136‌. Time: 1ms. POST https://‌‍‍xxx.xxx.xxx/emby/Sessions/Capabilities/Full?api_key=‌c6ea5baa81464df9a1e5c812c8ca3934‌&Id=ad1c44f22e3d5840c633250ab9e307c0. 
2026-06-03 14:13:50.891 Info SessionsService-0HNM0S8DL8KOJ:00000001: http/1.1 POST https://‌‍‍xxx.xxx.xxx/emby/Sessions/Capabilities/Full?api_key=‌c6ea5baa81464df9a1e5c812c8ca3934‌&Id=ad1c44f22e3d5840c633250ab9e307c0. Source Ip: ‌‍‍18.205.59.136‌, UserAgent: node-fetch/1.0 (+https://github.com/bitinn/node-fetch)
2026-06-03 14:13:50.892 Debug AuthenticationRepository: UpdateCapabilities id: 177
2026-06-03 14:13:50.892 Info SessionsService-0HNM0S8DL8KOJ:00000001: http/1.1 Response 204 to ‌‍‍18.205.59.136‌. Time: 1ms. POST https://‌‍‍xxx.xxx.xxx/emby/Sessions/Capabilities/Full?api_key=‌c6ea5baa81464df9a1e5c812c8ca3934‌&Id=ad1c44f22e3d5840c633250ab9e307c0. 
2026-06-03 14:13:50.972 Debug ItemsService-0HNM0S8DL8KOJ:00000002: http/1.1 GET https://‌‍‍xxx.xxx.xxx/emby/Users/6cc6d0fa039849af8147592f5da46188/Items?api_key=‌c6ea5baa81464df9a1e5c812c8ca3934‌&Fields=Id,Name,AlbumArtist,MediaType&SortBy=Random&IncludeItemTypes=Audio&Recursive=true&GenreIds=&ArtistIds=&ParentId=&Limit=400&EnableTotalRecordCount=false&EnableImages=false&EnableUserData=false. Source Ip: ‌‍‍18.205.59.136‌, UserAgent: node-fetch/1.0 (+https://github.com/bitinn/node-fetch)
2026-06-03 14:13:51.589 Debug ItemsService-0HNM0S8DL8KOJ:00000002: http/1.1 Response 200 to ‌‍‍18.205.59.136‌. Time: 617ms. GET https://‌‍‍xxx.xxx.xxx/emby/Users/6cc6d0fa039849af8147592f5da46188/Items?api_key=‌c6ea5baa81464df9a1e5c812c8ca3934‌&Fields=Id,Name,AlbumArtist,MediaType&SortBy=Random&IncludeItemTypes=Audio&Recursive=true&GenreIds=&ArtistIds=&ParentId=&Limit=400&EnableTotalRecordCount=false&EnableImages=false&EnableUserData=false. 
2026-06-03 14:13:56.493 Info SessionsService-0HNM0S8DL8KOJ:00000003: http/1.1 POST https://‌‍‍xxx.xxx.xxx/emby/Sessions/Capabilities/Full?api_key=‌c6ea5baa81464df9a1e5c812c8ca3934‌&Id=ad1c44f22e3d5840c633250ab9e307c0. Source Ip: ‌‍‍18.205.59.136‌, UserAgent: node-fetch/1.0 (+https://github.com/bitinn/node-fetch)
2026-06-03 14:13:56.493 Debug AuthenticationRepository: UpdateCapabilities id: 177
2026-06-03 14:13:56.493 Info SessionsService-0HNM0S8DL8KOJ:00000003: http/1.1 Response 204 to ‌‍‍18.205.59.136‌. Time: 1ms. POST https://‌‍‍xxx.xxx.xxx/emby/Sessions/Capabilities/Full?api_key=‌c6ea5baa81464df9a1e5c812c8ca3934‌&Id=ad1c44f22e3d5840c633250ab9e307c0. 
2026-06-03 14:13:57.042 Info SessionsService-0HNM0S8DL8KOJ:00000004: http/1.1 POST https://‌‍‍xxx.xxx.xxx/emby/Sessions/Capabilities/Full?api_key=‌c6ea5baa81464df9a1e5c812c8ca3934‌&Id=ad1c44f22e3d5840c633250ab9e307c0. Source Ip: ‌‍‍18.205.59.136‌, UserAgent: node-fetch/1.0 (+https://github.com/bitinn/node-fetch)
2026-06-03 14:13:57.042 Debug AuthenticationRepository: UpdateCapabilities id: 177
2026-06-03 14:13:57.042 Info SessionsService-0HNM0S8DL8KOJ:00000004: http/1.1 Response 204 to ‌‍‍18.205.59.136‌. Time: 0ms. POST https://‌‍‍xxx.xxx.xxx/emby/Sessions/Capabilities/Full?api_key=‌c6ea5baa81464df9a1e5c812c8ca3934‌&Id=ad1c44f22e3d5840c633250ab9e307c0.

For people that its working for.. do you see more in the logs like a playbackstream url? I am trying to ascertain what URL is being provided to the alexa to initiate playback. But all i see in the logs is the skill successfully querying the Emby Webservice for the content.

@hatharrydo you have access to more [skill] logging please to help me ascertain where things are failing over?

 

Windows 11, Amazon Echo, Emby 4.10.0.13.

Chat GPT Musings

 

Spoiler

What your log proves

1. Alexa successfully reaches Emby

You have:

  • Sessions/Capabilities/Full ✔
  • Items?IncludeItemTypes=Audio ✔

So:

  • DNS works
  • TLS works
  • Authentication works
  • The Alexa skill can talk to Emby normally

No issue so far.

2. Alexa successfully retrieves a music list

This line is key: 

 
  
GET /emby/Users/.../Items?...IncludeItemTypes=Audio
Response 200
 

So Alexa:

  • authenticated
  • queried your music library
  • received results

Again: fully healthy.

3. Then… nothing

After that, the log ends.

There is:

❌ no /Audio/.../stream
❌ no /Items/{id}/PlaybackInfo
❌ no /stream
❌ no /hls
❌ no /master.m3u8
❌ no transcoding session
❌ no playback session creation

That is the smoking gun.

What this actually means

Alexa is stopping before playback is even requested from Emby.

So your system is in this state: 

 
  
Alexa Skill
  ✔ talks to Emby
  ✔ gets music list
  ✔ selects a song
  ❌ NEVER requests playback stream
 

This is why:

  • Emby never logs a stream URL
  • Emby never logs playback attempts
  • You still hear “Playing Songname” (Alexa says this locally after skill response)

That phrase is misleading—it does NOT mean audio started.

So the problem is NOT:

❌ Not certificate

Because Alexa already authenticated and queried data

❌ Not DNS

Same reason

❌ Not stream URL rejection

Because the stream URL is never even requested

The real failure point

This is now almost certainly one of these:

1. Alexa skill returns “success” but without valid playback directive

Meaning:

  • Emby responds to Alexa skill
  • but does NOT return a valid audioItem.stream.url

So Alexa thinks:

“OK I will say 'Playing Songname'”

…but has nothing to play.

2. Emby is not generating a playback URL for Alexa at all

This is common when:

  • client profile mismatch occurs
  • Alexa is detected as a “browse-only” device
  • media type is returned but not playable format

3. Alexa skill integration bug / change

This is VERY plausible because:

  • everything up to library browsing works
  • only playback initiation is missing
  • no network errors occur

This pattern strongly matches:

Amazon-side Alexa music skill regression or compatibility change

The key insight

If this were:

  • TLS problem → you'd see nothing at all
  • DNS problem → you'd see nothing at all
  • stream blocking → you'd see playback request attempts

But you see:

browsing works perfectly, playback stage never starts

That narrows it dramatically.

 

 

 

 

hatharry

hatharry 114

Posted
Posted

Alexa logs show 

"error": {
            "message": "Device playback error",
            "type": "MEDIA_ERROR_INVALID_REQUEST"
        },

You should see something like this in the log 

Info UniversalAudioService-0HNM0PCRJ4DBQ:00000001: http/1.1 Response 200 to host1. Time: 3967ms. GET http://emby_remote_ip/emby/Audio/814045/universal?api_key=x_secret6_x&DeviceId=1640bc1d001abd85c16096b01783036e&StartTimeTicks=0&MaxStreamingBitrate=384000&Container=mp3|mp3,m4a|aac,mp4|aac&TranscodingContainer=aac&TranscodingProtocol=http&AudioCodec=aac&MaxAudioSampleRate=48000&MaxAudioBitDepth=16. Headers: Content-Type=audio/mp4

Your ddns might not be supported. Does the same happen when using your phone?

ginjaninja

ginjaninja 606

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, hatharry said:

Alexa logs show 

"error": {
            "message": "Device playback error",
            "type": "MEDIA_ERROR_INVALID_REQUEST"
        },

You should see something like this in the log 

Info UniversalAudioService-0HNM0PCRJ4DBQ:00000001: http/1.1 Response 200 to host1. Time: 3967ms. GET http://emby_remote_ip/emby/Audio/814045/universal?api_key=x_secret6_x&DeviceId=1640bc1d001abd85c16096b01783036e&StartTimeTicks=0&MaxStreamingBitrate=384000&Container=mp3|mp3,m4a|aac,mp4|aac&TranscodingContainer=aac&TranscodingProtocol=http&AudioCodec=aac&MaxAudioSampleRate=48000&MaxAudioBitDepth=16. Headers: Content-Type=audio/mp4

Your ddns might not be supported. Does the same happen when using your phone?

Thanks @hatharryi dont see anything like that in the log.  

2026-06-04 19:34:14.642 Info SessionManager: Creating new access token for user 1 username
2026-06-04 19:34:14.643 Debug Notifications: Sending notification to Activity Log Activity Log: username has Authenticated on X99
2026-06-04 19:34:14.643 Debug ConnectService-0HNM0S8DL8O6I:00000001: http/1.1 Response 200 to ‌‍‍3.90.164.233‌. Time: 2ms. GET https://‌‍‍xxx.xxx.xxx‌/emby/Connect/Exchange?api_key=‌3a948cdd9b974d448c4e043c51af6d72‌&ConnectUserId=165. 
2026-06-04 19:34:14.736 Info SessionsService-0HNM0S8DL8O6I:00000002: http/1.1 POST https://‌‍‍xxx.xxx.xxx‌/emby/Sessions/Capabilities/Full?api_key=‌68f6efbc75c54761a1f1d60ae5edbbd8‌&Id=22f1fa656fbfeae53f386bd4cc34bf89. Source Ip: ‌‍‍3.90.164.233‌, UserAgent: node-fetch/1.0 (+https://github.com/bitinn/node-fetch)
2026-06-04 19:34:14.737 Debug AuthenticationRepository: UpdateCapabilities id: 181
2026-06-04 19:34:14.737 Info SessionsService-0HNM0S8DL8O6I:00000002: http/1.1 Response 204 to ‌‍‍3.90.164.233‌. Time: 1ms. POST https://‌‍‍xxx.xxx.xxx‌/emby/Sessions/Capabilities/Full?api_key=‌68f6efbc75c54761a1f1d60ae5edbbd8‌&Id=22f1fa656fbfeae53f386bd4cc34bf89. 
2026-06-04 19:34:18.629 Debug ActivityLogService-0HNM0S8DL8O6J:00000001: http/1.1 GET http://‌‍‍192.168.4.162‌:8096/emby/System/ActivityLog/Entries?StartIndex=0&Limit=10&MinDate=2026-05-28T18:34:18.625Z&hasUserId=true&EnableTotalRecordCount=false&X-Emby-Client=Emby Web&X-Emby-Device-Name=Chrome Windows&X-Emby-Device-Id=85c51e9e-c5ca-4e70-93ab-b84e0cfc0ae2&X-Emby-Client-Version=4.10.0.13&X-Emby-Token=‌08ee0c9906974dccaa8b70809aa33763‌&X-Emby-Language=en-gb. Source Ip: ‌‍‍192.168.4.162‌, UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/148.0.0.0 Safari/537.36
2026-06-04 19:34:18.629 Debug ActivityLogService-0HNM0S8DL8O6K:00000001: http/1.1 GET http://‌‍‍192.168.4.162‌:8096/emby/System/ActivityLog/Entries?StartIndex=0&Limit=4&MinDate=2026-05-28T18:34:18.626Z&hasUserId=false&EnableTotalRecordCount=false&X-Emby-Client=Emby Web&X-Emby-Device-Name=Chrome Windows&X-Emby-Device-Id=85c51e9e-c5ca-4e70-93ab-b84e0cfc0ae2&X-Emby-Client-Version=4.10.0.13&X-Emby-Token=‌08ee0c9906974dccaa8b70809aa33763‌&X-Emby-Language=en-gb. Source Ip: ‌‍‍192.168.4.162‌, UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/148.0.0.0 Safari/537.36
2026-06-04 19:34:18.641 Debug ActivityLogService-0HNM0S8DL8O6K:00000001: http/1.1 Response 200 to ‌‍‍192.168.4.162‌. Time: 11ms. GET http://‌‍‍192.168.4.162‌:8096/emby/System/ActivityLog/Entries?StartIndex=0&Limit=4&MinDate=2026-05-28T18:34:18.626Z&hasUserId=false&EnableTotalRecordCount=false&X-Emby-Client=Emby Web&X-Emby-Device-Name=Chrome Windows&X-Emby-Device-Id=85c51e9e-c5ca-4e70-93ab-b84e0cfc0ae2&X-Emby-Client-Version=4.10.0.13&X-Emby-Token=‌08ee0c9906974dccaa8b70809aa33763‌&X-Emby-Language=en-gb. 
2026-06-04 19:34:18.657 Debug ActivityLogService-0HNM0S8DL8O6J:00000001: http/1.1 Response 200 to ‌‍‍192.168.4.162‌. Time: 29ms. GET http://‌‍‍192.168.4.162‌:8096/emby/System/ActivityLog/Entries?StartIndex=0&Limit=10&MinDate=2026-05-28T18:34:18.625Z&hasUserId=true&EnableTotalRecordCount=false&X-Emby-Client=Emby Web&X-Emby-Device-Name=Chrome Windows&X-Emby-Device-Id=85c51e9e-c5ca-4e70-93ab-b84e0cfc0ae2&X-Emby-Client-Version=4.10.0.13&X-Emby-Token=‌08ee0c9906974dccaa8b70809aa33763‌&X-Emby-Language=en-gb. 
2026-06-04 19:34:26.486 Info SessionsService-0HNM0S8DL8O6L:00000001: http/1.1 POST https://‌‍‍xxx.xxx.xxx‌/emby/Sessions/Capabilities/Full?api_key=‌68f6efbc75c54761a1f1d60ae5edbbd8‌&Id=22f1fa656fbfeae53f386bd4cc34bf89. Source Ip: ‌‍‍3.90.164.233‌, UserAgent: node-fetch/1.0 (+https://github.com/bitinn/node-fetch)
2026-06-04 19:34:26.487 Debug AuthenticationRepository: UpdateCapabilities id: 181
2026-06-04 19:34:26.487 Info SessionsService-0HNM0S8DL8O6L:00000001: http/1.1 Response 204 to ‌‍‍3.90.164.233‌. Time: 1ms. POST https://‌‍‍xxx.xxx.xxx‌/emby/Sessions/Capabilities/Full?api_key=‌68f6efbc75c54761a1f1d60ae5edbbd8‌&Id=22f1fa656fbfeae53f386bd4cc34bf89. 
2026-06-04 19:34:26.574 Debug ItemsService-0HNM0S8DL8O6L:00000002: http/1.1 GET https://‌‍‍xxx.xxx.xxx‌/emby/Users/6cc6d0fa039849af8147592f5da46188/Items?api_key=‌68f6efbc75c54761a1f1d60ae5edbbd8‌&Fields=Id,Name,AlbumArtist,MediaType&SortBy=Random&IncludeItemTypes=Audio&Recursive=true&GenreIds=&ArtistIds=&ParentId=&Limit=400&EnableTotalRecordCount=false&EnableImages=false&EnableUserData=false. Source Ip: ‌‍‍3.90.164.233‌, UserAgent: node-fetch/1.0 (+https://github.com/bitinn/node-fetch)
2026-06-04 19:34:27.003 Debug ItemsService-0HNM0S8DL8O6L:00000002: http/1.1 Response 200 to ‌‍‍3.90.164.233‌. Time: 428ms. GET https://‌‍‍xxx.xxx.xxx‌/emby/Users/6cc6d0fa039849af8147592f5da46188/Items?api_key=‌68f6efbc75c54761a1f1d60ae5edbbd8‌&Fields=Id,Name,AlbumArtist,MediaType&SortBy=Random&IncludeItemTypes=Audio&Recursive=true&GenreIds=&ArtistIds=&ParentId=&Limit=400&EnableTotalRecordCount=false&EnableImages=false&EnableUserData=false.

Alexa on phone gives a bit more feedback. "media type audio is unsupported on amazon echo, please change to a supported device"

If i dont see "Info UniversalAudioService" does that say the issue is with the server rather than how alexa is using the info..or  does that bit of the log only show up once the client requests the URL it has been sent?

So are some ddns not liked? i am using mywire.org from dynu systems. is there a known good ddns i should test?

Edit:

I dont think its related but the other change i made a few months ago was to change the Emby username of my main emby account. But i have since disabled and relinked the skill using my email address and password.

Edited by ginjaninja

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