Google Home Commands

What are the Google Home commands I can use with my new Rachio 8 zone Gen 2 controller? Yesterday I got it to water my front dlower beds, but today it’s not responsive. Thoughts?

Hey @Maverick9465!

Currently, you can use:

“Ok Google, water the lawn.”

"Ok Google, start watering [zone name].’

“Ok Google, stop watering.”

You can also customize the integration with Routines

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Thanks! Is there a way to add time for it? I tried to do a quick water of my flower beds, but it defaults to 3 minutes only.

@Maverick9465 I don’t believe so at this time, but that’s not to say it won’t exist in the future! I’ll double check once I’m out of this meeting, though :wink:

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No luck on adding a time to the command @Maverick9465 :frowning:

Is there a way to initiate a schedule (versus a zone) that is set up? I have 3 different schedules at the moment.

If you go to the calendar tab and tap on a schedule, there’s a Quick Run button at the top of the schedule settings.

:cheers:

Let me clarify. Is there a way through google home assistant to initiate a schedule run…? I can initiate a zone but have not successfully initiated a schedule.

Unfortunately most of the commands were removed when Google Home was launched. I believe currently it only supports watering a zone.

:cheers:

Thank you sir. I hope your organization restores them. The integration has a huge potential.

-Lock

The command: “Hey Google, water zone 6” does not work.

I have a Google Home speaker and a Rachio D4AB79.
Works partially: When I say, “Hey Google, Start Rachio,” Rachio will start watering an arbitrary zone.
Works: When I say, “Hey Google, stop Rachio” watering will stop as it should.
Does not work: When I say “Hey Google, Start Rachio Zone 6,” google replies: “Rachio is not available.”
Does not work: “Hey Google, water zone 6,” google says: “Sorry, I don’t know how to help with that, yet.”

Any suggestions?

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Can someone please respond to this this is an accurate description of what I’m experiencing. I bought Rachio because it was advertised to work with Google Assistant and now it doesn’t work. If no answer is available can you please recommend a product that does work with Google Assistant/Home??

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Rachio support helped me. My issue was caused by the fact that I had a “-” in the name of my zone which is a problem.

I removed all characters that were not letters or numbers.

Now the command: “Hey, Google, water Zone 6” works properly for me.
“Hey Google, stop watering” also works.

Good luck.

I think what you looking for is related to the smart display responses. I haven’t found a anything to allow you to add visualizations to smart displays through buttons. Or the Google home app.

https://developers.google.com/assistant/surfaces/displays

https://developers.google.com/assistant/conversational/responses#suggestion_chip

Any plans for Rachio to address the limitations when using Google Home? I can have the system water specific zones but it only does it for 3 minutes - which is fairly useless in practical terms. Can I set it to water for longer using voice commands?

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any update on this ability to add time to google home? It defaults to only 3 minutes of watering.

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Question mark?

You can use IFTTT and the Rachio web API to add the functionality that Rachio themselves seems unmotivated to add. I’m trying to using the API webhooks to get notifications about zone start/stop so I can then trigger smart valves to run some regular hose irrigation in a vegetable garden that isn’t covered by in-ground irrigation system.

Rachio really needs to step up their smart home integration game and fill their missing product portfolio with smart hose valves that integrate natively with the controller.

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I agree that Google Home integration really needs to be stepped up. The main thing that I would really like to be able to run a zone for a specified period of time. Sure, I can do this with my phone or whatever, but this would be so much cooler. Other things such as running a schedule, checking status, etc. would be nice, but I usually have access to phone. The integration currently is pretty minimal in my opinion.

As a developer by trade, maybe I need to look into the Rachio web API. I have not heard about it until today, I think. I wonder if there is a place where people using the API can trade ideas, etc. That would be great.

It would be nice to tell it the zone and duration.