Goal: When I say “Hey Google, talk to my AI assistant” followed by a question, I want Google Home to send that query to my self-hosted n8n workflow. The workflow should then call OpenAI’s API, get the response, and send it back to Google Home so it can speak the answer out loud.
Current Status: Nothing is working. Google Home and n8n are not communicating at all.
What I’ve completed:
- Created n8n workflow with OpenAI API integration
- Have valid OpenAI API key
- Set up Google Cloud Console account
- Configured SSL certificate through certbot
- Opened required ports (80, 443) and exposed n8n publicly
- Partially completed Google’s OAuth2 application form
- Generated OAuth2 credentials in n8n
Where I’m stuck:
Google is asking for OAuth2 scopes but I don’t know which ones to select. I’m also unsure if my overall approach is correct.
Questions:
- Which OAuth2 scopes should I configure?
- What are the exact steps to connect n8n with Google Home for voice queries?
- Is this still possible? I see old tutorials mentioning Dialogflow but that service was discontinued in June 2023.
I expected to find more current guides for this setup but haven’t found any working examples. Any help or links to updated tutorials would be appreciated!
You’re hitting a dead end because Google killed custom voice actions when they shut down Actions on Google. I dealt with this same frustration last year building something similar. Here’s what actually works: use Google Assistant’s broadcast feature with IFTTT as a bridge. Create an IFTTT applet that triggers on your specific phrase, then have it send a webhook to your n8n workflow. Your workflow processes through OpenAI and sends the response back via another IFTTT trigger that broadcasts through your Google Home speakers. It’s not as clean as your original plan, but it’s the only reliable method I’ve found that works with current Google services. Those OAuth2 scopes you mentioned don’t matter here since you’re bypassing Google’s deprecated voice platform entirely.
I encountered the same issue several months ago. Google discontinued the Actions on Google platform, complicating the process significantly. Although you can still set this up, it’s much more involved now. I explored using the ‘Talk to’ feature with Actions SDK v3, but it has severe limitations, requiring you to develop an entire conversational agent. The OAuth2 scope you will need is https://www.googleapis.com/auth/assistant-sdk-prototype, but it’s a cumbersome route to take. Instead, I opted for a local solution using a Raspberry Pi with voice recognition that triggers my n8n workflow – not as seamless as Google Home integration, but it functions effectively. You might also want to consider using the Google Assistant SDK directly on a compatible device rather than attempting to adapt existing Google Home hardware. The direction from Google indicates a clear shift away from supporting custom voice interactions.
Google made this way harder after killing Dialogflow. I got mine working with Home Assistant + OpenAI integration instead of n8n - way less OAuth headaches. You can still use “hey Google” commands but it routes through Home Assistant’s voice pipeline instead of fighting Google’s deprecated APIs. Took me 2 hours vs weeks of frustration with the n8n route.