Setup help.

• A Tesla with Fleet Telemetry and current software, on a European Tesla account, with Sentry Mode. Install the latest software update before you begin.
• The virtual key, or the streaming setting. Most cars pair Sentry Home’s virtual key in the Tesla app. Older Model S and Model X without virtual key support instead turn on Allow Third-Party App Data Streaming on the car’s Safety screen.
• An Echo and the Alexa app. You link your Amazon account once with Connect with Alexa, then create two routines in the Alexa app, one per sensor (Aware and Panic), so your Echo speaks the alerts. You do not need a Voice Monkey account for this connection.
• An Echo with the Alexa app, and a Voice Monkey account. Enable the Voice Monkey skill with the Amazon account you use in the Alexa app. The Voice Monkey Free plan includes 200 requests per month.
• A phone for notifications. An iPhone on iOS 16.4 or later, with Sentry Home added to the Home Screen from Safari, or another phone with a browser that supports web notifications.
• An email address to sign in. No new password.

One car per account. A second car needs a second Sentry Home account with another email address and its own subscription. A browser’s phone notifications can belong to one account at a time: Sentry Home says the browser is linked to another account. Signing out of the first account there turns off its phone alerts on that browser, so receive the second account’s alerts on another phone or computer instead.

Enable the Voice Monkey skill ↗ (opens in a new tab)

1. Connect your Tesla

   Request a code on the sign-in page and enter it there. No new password. Then give consent on Tesla’s website and pair the virtual key in the Tesla app. If your Tesla account has one car, it is selected for you; otherwise choose the car you want to protect. Sentry Home checks the car by itself once the key is paired; press Check my car to run the check again.

2. Connect Alexa

   Press Connect with Alexa and approve once with the Amazon account you use in the Alexa app. That links your account and enables the Sentry Home skill in one consent; if the Alexa app cannot open, you continue in the browser with Login with Amazon. Alexa then offers two sensors, Sentry Aware and Sentry Panic.

   You create the two Alexa routines yourself, one per sensor, Aware first and then Panic; Sentry Home cannot create them for you. A card in your dashboard shows each choice: the trigger is a Smart Home sensor, and the action is Alexa says, on the Echo where you want to hear the alert.

   In Phone, turn on notifications on the phone where you want alerts. In Test, wait until you are next to your Echo with that phone, press Send a test alert and, only after the Echo speaks and the notification arrives, press I heard it. The test reports motion on Sentry Aware, so your Aware routine speaks. It never sends a Panic alert.

   More than one Echo?

   The home test checks one Echo, the one you confirm you heard. Set up any other Echo in your Alexa routines yourself and listen to each one: Sentry Home cannot see your routines or confirm which Echo spoke.

   Prefer Voice Monkey?

   Voice Monkey is still available under Other ways to connect in your dashboard. It needs its own Voice Monkey account, whose limits and plan costs are separate from Sentry Home.

   Home now guides you through Echo → Phone → Test, one part at a time. Use the same Amazon account in Voice Monkey and Alexa; it can be different from your Sentry Home email. For a new Echo setup, create a dedicated Routine Trigger for Aware named “Sentry Home Aware”. Create a different Routine Trigger for Panic named “Sentry Home Panic”, or reuse two distinct triggers you already have. Connect each target to its own Alexa routine with a speech action on your chosen Echo; do not add an action that opens Voice Monkey. Lights and home sirens are not required.

   Already using a Voice Monkey Speaker?

   Your existing connection is kept. You can retain it or create a Speaker for announcements with dynamic text as the alternative method. The Voice Monkey device guide ↗ (opens in a new tab) explains both methods. Changing your method requires saving and a new home test; it never happens automatically.

   More than one Echo?

   The home test in the portal checks one Echo, the one you confirm you heard. With a Voice Monkey Speaker, you can create several Alexa routines on the same Speaker event, each with a different Echo in the From field. Sentry Home sends one request to Voice Monkey and cannot see your routines or confirm that each Echo spoke, so press Test on the Speaker in the Voice Monkey console and listen for every Echo. How such a setup counts against your Voice Monkey monthly quota has not been verified: watch your usage in the Voice Monkey console.

   Paste your token from Voice Monkey’s API Tokens page, choose Load devices, select distinct Aware and Panic targets, then Save home setup. In Phone, enable notifications on the phone where you want alerts. In Test, wait until you are next to your Echo with that phone, press Test announcement and push and, only after both arrive, press I heard the announcement and received the push. The test never runs your Panic routine. Saved settings and a registered device do not replace this receipt.

3. Start protection

   The subscription opens only after your home test succeeds. Your dashboard shows whether you can subscribe and, once you have, offers Manage subscription.

   When the payment is confirmed, your dashboard activates the connection by itself and shows Protected. Your car receives the Sentry Mode setting; this can take a while. If Protected does not appear, Check synchronization shows when the car has confirmed it.

Aware is a received Sentry Mode state, not an alarm or proof that a person is still nearby. Sentry Home receives the state only: no camera footage or explanation of what caused it. When you open Tesla’s live camera, you see the current scene, not the earlier signal.

Real Aware phone alerts say they are not an alarm and show when Sentry Home received the signal, in your saved time zone. This is not a camera capture time or a guaranteed event time. The old default “someone is near the Tesla” sentence is not used for real phone alerts; a custom sentence is kept as an additional note. Explicit home tests remain labelled as tests.

In Recent activity, “Attention ended — Tesla returned to Armed” means the next received state after Aware was Armed. It does not prove that the area is clear. No extra return notification is sent. Missing or truncated history is not filled in with an invented event; the dashboard times use this device’s time zone.

Recent activity names the channel and the signal of each delivery, such as “Echo (Voice Monkey): accepted · Aware” or “Phone: delivery failed · Panic”; “accepted” means the service took the message, not that anyone heard it. When an Aware arrives during the 10-minute cooldown that starts when an earlier Aware is handled, whether or not its delivery succeeded, nothing goes to the Echo or the phone: Recent activity says “Aware received, nothing sent: 10-minute cooldown” once for that period, and Panic is not held back by it. If Voice Monkey reports that your monthly quota is used up, Home shows that the Echo is paused and when the next alert will try it again, while phone notifications keep working.

Panic remains the urgent alarm-state alert. Its routine, cooldown, repeat push and exemption from quiet hours have not changed. See Tesla’s Sentry Mode guide ↗ (opens in a new tab).

The spoken sentence in a native Alexa routine is separate. In the Alexa app, edit the Aware routine’s Alexa says → Custom action to a neutral sentence in your Echo’s language, such as “Sentry attention. This is not an alarm.” Do not change its trigger or your Panic routine. Sentry Home cannot edit this action or verify that you heard it.

The spoken sentence belongs to your Alexa routine, not to Sentry Home. In the Alexa app, edit the Alexa says → Custom action of a routine that reacts to Sentry Aware to a neutral sentence in your Echo’s language, such as “Sentry attention. This is not an alarm.” Do not change its trigger, and do not soften a routine that reacts to Sentry Panic. Sentry Home cannot edit this action or verify that you heard it.

Pause Aware announcements for a while. When your Echo should stay silent for a few hours, for example with guests at home, use Pause Aware announcements on your dashboard: 1 hour, 3 hours or until 08:00 in your saved time zone. While it lasts, Aware behaves like quiet hours: the phone notification still arrives and the Echo does not speak. The dashboard shows when the pause ends, and Resume now ends it earlier. It ends by itself, needs no new home test, and never pauses Panic.

Quiet hours apply only to Aware speech: phone notifications still arrive. Panic is never silenced by this schedule. Equal start and end times turn quiet hours off. Saving only the hours or time zone keeps an already confirmed Echo and phone connection; changing a delivery target still requires a new home test.

In your Panic routinethe Alexa routine that reacts to Sentry Panic, add Device Settings → Volume before the speech action, then choose a high level you can safely hear and your target Echo. Keep the routine enabled and without a time restriction. The phone’s silent mode does not set the Echo’s volume. Sentry Home cannot read or change your routine’s actions, volume or Do Not Disturb setting, and cannot guarantee that an alert will wake you.

The home test is an explicit Aware test, even during quiet hours. It never runs Panic. Test your Panic routinethe routine that reacts to Sentry Panic, with its play button in the Alexa app, only at a safe time agreed with everyone at home; it does not sound the vehicle alarm. See Amazon’s volume guidance ↗ (opens in a new tab).

Sentry Home runs this check by itself once your virtual key is paired, and you can press Check my car in the Car step of your dashboard at any time. It asks Tesla for the car’s status and reads the software version, the Fleet Telemetry version and whether Sentry Home’s virtual key is paired or, for cars without a virtual key, whether data streaming is turned on. It reads no location and sends no command to the car.

When the check passes, your dashboard shows that the car is compatible. Choosing another vehicle or disconnecting Tesla clears the result. Activation checks the car again.

If the check finds a problem, your dashboard says what to fix:

Pair the virtual key

Open your dashboard on the phone with the Tesla app, choose Pair the key in the Tesla app and approve the key for this car with the Tesla account that owns it. Then press Check my car again.

Update your Tesla

The car’s software or its Fleet Telemetry client (1.1.0 or later) is too old. Install the latest update in the car under Controls → Software, then check again.

Turn on data streaming

Your car does not use a virtual key. On the car’s Safety screen, turn on Allow Third-Party App Data Streaming, then check again.

Tesla authorization has expired

Reconnect Tesla, as described under When something breaks, then check again.

Select your vehicle first

Choose the car in the Car step, then check again.

Too many requests

Tesla or Sentry Home has limited requests for a while. Wait a few minutes before checking again; the check can run only a few times a day.

Notifications on iPhone need iOS 16.4 or later and Sentry Home on the Home Screen.

1. Open Sentry Home in Safari. Tap ⋯, then Share. If your tabs are at the top or bottom, tap Share directly.

2. Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen. If it is missing, tap Edit Actions and add it.

3. Turn on Open as Web App, then tap Add.

4. Open Sentry Home from its Home Screen icon. If it asks you to sign in, request a new email code from the app and enter it there.

5. Tap Enable notifications, allow them, then tap Send a test notification.

On other phones, open your dashboard in a browser that supports web notifications and use the same two buttons.

Find your symptom: the Echo stays silent, notifications stopped or the car check does not pass.

Reconnect Tesla

When the dashboard says Tesla authorization has expired or is insufficient, start the Car step again and approve access on Tesla’s website with the Tesla account that owns the car. Then press Check my car.

Pair the virtual key

If the key was removed from the car, pair it again with Pair the key in the Tesla app, then press Check my car and Check synchronization.

Update the car

When the dashboard asks for an update, install the latest software in the car under Controls → Software, then press Check my car. Tesla Support ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Voice Monkey quota

Announcements stop when your Voice Monkey monthly quota is used up; the Free plan includes 200 requests per month. Check your usage in the Voice Monkey console ↗ (opens in a new tab). Voice Monkey plans are billed by Voice Monkey and are not part of Sentry Home.

The Echo stays silent

After a test, press I didn’t hear it and follow the Echo checks in your dashboard, one step at a time. The usual causes are in the Alexa app: the routine is switched off, its trigger is not the Sentry Aware sensor, its action speaks on a different Echo, or the Echo’s volume is low or Do Not Disturb is on. Sentry Home cannot see your routine or confirm that the Echo spoke. If your dashboard says your Alexa connection needs attention, press Connect with Alexa again.

After a test, press I didn’t hear it and follow the Echo checks in your dashboard, one step at a time. Voice Monkey troubleshooting ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Alexa does not show Sentry Aware and Sentry Panic

Check that your dashboard shows Alexa as connected, then say “Alexa, discover my devices”. If the sensors still do not appear, open Check your Sentry Home Alexa connection and press Reconnect Alexa.

Notifications stopped

Open Sentry Home on your phone, tap Enable notifications, then Send a test notification. When the test arrives, run Test announcement and push again so your home test covers both.

The car check does not pass

Your dashboard says what to fix. The steps are under Check your car: pair the virtual key, update the Tesla, turn on data streaming or reconnect Tesla, then check again.

“Sentry Home has a service problem”

When your dashboard shows this heading, alerts may be delayed or missing until the service recovers. Keep using the Tesla app in the meantime; you do not need to change your setup.

The test expired

Confirm the home test within 15 minutes, after you hear the Echo and receive the push. If the time runs out, run Test announcement and push again.

Your dashboard shows a Support reference in the form SH-XXXXXXXX, with eight letters and digits after the hyphen. It identifies your account without your email address, your car or its VIN.

When you report a problem, quote this reference, what you pressed and roughly when it happened.

Never send your Tesla or Amazon password, an email sign-in code or link, your Voice Monkey token or your full VIN.

The subscription is monthly, for one vehicle. Payment is taken by Stripe, so we never see or store your card details.

Cancel anytime. Choose Manage subscription in your dashboard to cancel, update your payment method and see your invoices and receipts. A cancelled subscription is not renewed and stays active until the end of the period you already paid for, then alerts stop.

If a payment fails. When a renewal is not paid, Stripe may try the card again, and the dashboard shows Payment not confirmed. Until the payment is confirmed, alerts are paused. Update your payment method in Manage subscription: alerts resume once a payment is confirmed. If a payment stays unconfirmed for several days, the connection to your car is removed and you will need to activate it again.

Withdrawal and refunds. The Terms, linked at the foot of this page, set out the right of withdrawal for consumers and how a refund is handled. To withdraw, use Withdraw from contract in your dashboard. We confirm your withdrawal by email. Nothing is cancelled or refunded automatically.

To keep a copy of your data first, choose Download my data under Your data in your dashboard. You get a file with your account, settings, Tesla connection, activity and billing references. Sign-in codes, tokens and other credentials are left out.

Without a running subscription, choose Delete account at the bottom of your dashboard and confirm. Your account is deleted at once and we email you a receipt that lists what was deleted and what other services keep, such as Stripe’s payment records.

While a subscription is still running, Delete account offers to delete your account when the subscription ends. If the subscription still renews, cancel it with Manage subscription so that it ends. Until then everything keeps working, and Keep my account under Your data cancels the deletion.

Disconnect Tesla removes the Sentry Mode setting from your car and stops alerts. The access you granted and the virtual key stay with Tesla until you remove them in your Tesla account and in the car.

Summary. The full privacy policy is published before sales open.

Who is responsible. The operator of Sentry Home is the controller of your personal data. Their name, address and VAT number are shown at the foot of this page once they are published.

What we store. Your email address; your Tesla authorization and the names and VINs of the vehicles on your Tesla account; your Voice Monkey token, alert targets and settingsyour Alexa connection and alert settings; your phone’s notification address; your subscription status and Stripe references; and your last 30 activity entries. Everything is stored encrypted on a server in Germany.

Who receives it. Only what each service needs to do its part: Tesla (your authorization and your car’s Sentry Mode setting), Voice Monkey (your announcements and routines)Amazon (the Sentry Aware and Sentry Panic sensor events that run your Alexa routine), your phone’s push service from Apple, Google, Mozilla or Microsoft (your alerts), Stripe (payment), Resend (sign-in emails, your contract and withdrawal confirmations, service notices and the deletion receipt), Cloudflare (the secure connection to this website) and OVHcloud (the server in Germany).

How long we keep it. A sign-in link lasts 15 minutes and a sign-in code 10 minutes. You stay signed in for 30 days, renewed about once a week while you keep using the app. An account whose sign-in is never completed is deleted after 7 days. A Tesla connection that was never activated, on an account without a subscription, is removed after 30 days without a sign-in. Everything else stays until you delete your account, and only your last 30 activity entries are kept.

Cookies. Two strictly necessary cookies, and nothing else: one keeps you signed in for 30 days (renewed about once a week while you keep using the app), the other links an emailed sign-in code to this browser for 10 minutes. No analytics, advertising or tracking.

Your rights. Your dashboard shows your setup. There you can download a copy of your data, disconnect Tesla and delete your account yourself: at once or, while a subscription is running, when it ends. For a correction or any other request, use Email support in your dashboard. Disconnect Tesla removes Sentry Home’s setting from your car; the access you granted stays with Tesla until you remove it in your Tesla account. You can also lodge a complaint with a data protection authority: in Italy, the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali.

How we protect your data. Account records and tokens are encrypted with AES-256-GCM, and the key is kept outside the database. Your session cookie carries the __Host- prefix, so no other site or subdomain can set it, and it expires after 30 days without use. Every page runs under a strict Content Security Policy with Trusted Types: no third-party scripts, trackers or inline code. Payment event identifiers are deleted after 90 days, and off-site backups are encrypted with age before they leave the server.

What we never collect. Your car’s GPS location, camera footage, video or audio; your card number; your Tesla or Amazon password. Sentry Home sends your car no commands, only its Sentry Mode setting.

Report a vulnerability. Email the security contact listed in this site’s /.well-known/security.txt file, or use Email support in your dashboard, with what you found and how to reproduce it. Never send sign-in codes, links, tokens or a full VIN, yours or anyone else’s. There is no bug bounty, and we do not promise a response time.

We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA on this website and in your dashboard. Sentry Home has not been independently audited, so we do not claim conformance.

Known limitations. A full test with screen readers has not been done yet. Setup also uses the Tesla, Alexa and Voice Monkey apps and websites, whose accessibility we do not control.

Report a barrier. Use Email support in your dashboard or on the sign-in page. Tell us the page, what you tried and the device or assistive technology you use, so we can fix it or find another way to complete the step.