Google Home Webhooks

Context

I just bought a Google Home Mini, and was wondering what was possible to make with it. The goal was mainly to trigger code behind voice, so I tried to trigger something that I already do through CLI: turning on my computer remotely with a WakeOnLAN.

I also heard about IFTTT that allows you to automate a lot of things, and an interesting feature is the webhooks. They allow me to make HTTP requests with JSON body to a given URL, when an event (Google Home action) occurs.

Idea

Webhooks are not secure, and everybody with the URL can trigger it, so I had to find a way to be authenticated so only IFTTT can make requests. So I created a command that generates a JWT that also attaches data to it. So when the webhook receives the request, I can verify that I am the creator of the token, and can also read what's inside it. In this example, I'm attaching the MAC address of my computer.

Usage

Setup your environment variables either by exporting it in your shell or by creating a .env file. You need to fill in the JWT_SECRET and SERVER_PORT variables.

You can build the command then run it with :

go build -o ifttt-wol

./ifttt-wol generate <your-mac-address-here>
# ey.................

Keep this token and configure your IFTTT action, then pass the token in the POST request JSON payload:

{
  "token": "<your-token-here>"
}

Then run the server with

./ifttt-wol server

Your server is ready to accept hooks !