OAuth account linking in conversational actions

Question

I have created a conversational action in Actions Builder that uses account linking via OAuth (not Google sign in). Functionally, everything is working well.

The only issue I noticed is that when I try to link accounts using anything except a phone in the simulator, I get a response telling me to link accounts using the Google Home app. Since my action is a conversational action and not a smart home action, my action will never be found in the Google Home app.

I have confirmed that this kind of account linking is supported with conversational actions (via docs as well as Actions on Google support). What support could not answer for me is what I can do about this, they directed me here for help.

So my question is, how is account linking handled for conversational actions on non-phone devices (e.g. smart speaker)? Does it simply not run at all, or do I have to do something to remove these Google Home prompts?

Thanks

Answer 1

If the Action is running on a device type that does not support a web browser then the authentication step is not going to work. If you have not signed in before, the operation will fail. Though if you have signed in already, any device will be able to retrieve your access token.

The way to do this would be to handle cases for a non-authenticated device that cannot be authenticated. This may mean providing some part of your Action that can run in these conditions. Alternately, you'll need to inform people that they'll first need to use their phone to perform account linking.