The remote doesn't have IR only the hub. You will need to use an IR emitter to get outside of your cabinet.

I figured out an alternative for controlling Home Assistant from the remote. You can use Emulated Roku to send commands to Home Assistant but so far I have only been able to get 1 instance as there is no way to select different ports and I'm not sure it fully sees them. If I find a way to get more than one I will share it. I also still need to figure out how the servers are communicating with the hub so I can create my own hijacked way. Will share once I figure it out.

You wont be able to pair the X1 remote with your existing harmony hub, they are not the same and work separately. If you are controlling the TV by IP no. If it is by Bluetooth possibly. If you are coming from harmony, I will admit you will need to lower your expectations a little as there are many features missing that we were used to on the harmony. Its close but not the same, at least not yet.

It works with bluetooth but i haven't tested that part yet. It can control Roku devices by IP so that might be something to look into if you go with the X1. Unfortunately the IP integration other than Roku and 1 or 2 other devices is pretty lacking. I hope they improve it in the future but development seems pretty slow. I must admit as much as I like this devices its still feels like its in beta and rushed. I wish they just bought the Harmony line instead to be honest.

I don't work for SofaBaton and have only purchased the X1 myself, I'm honestly just trying to help. So those links work correctly? I would also test them a few times through the day to see if it gives a similar result to the intermittent issue you have. If it works well wife the link that means at least the server api is working properly. I would then try redoing the Alexa integration, I have had things break anytime either Amazon does an update or the manufacture does an update. Alexa doesn't always know how to fix itself. I'm not sure about the remote not being fully functional as I have not experienced that so you will need to wait for @SofaBaton to reply.

Have you tried to create any activities or are you trying it by each device?

Do you have the remote? You should be able to add it yourself using the remote to teach it. If its not a big brand they might not be able to add it otherwise.

I don't mean control. What I mean is, if I access my home network by VPN connection. The app cannot find my X1. If there was a way to then tell it what the ip address of the X1 is, it could then detect it and I could work on my device remotely. Like on my lunch break or if a family member was having troubles while I was out I could help them for example. I do understand the ip control (api) is not possible at the moment but I do hope it comes soon.

Has anyone played with the api yet to see if we can trigger these locally. It would be easy enough to then block access from the external server if we knew what it was sending to the X1 hub. The way the api seems to work, I can't see why you couldn't simulate the same effect from a local device unless it needs to see it coming from the server address or its somehow linked directly to their server.

In the settings there is a tab that says API. I think the links they are asking for our there, it should have an IP address (to the server) and a random ID number. If you use those links it should trigger your remote if functioning properly.