Welcome to Alexa App Development with alexa-app!

Creating engaging and interactive Alexa Skills has never been easier with the alexa-app library. In this guide, we’ll introduce alexa-app and provide dozens of useful API explanations with code snippets to get you started on your Alexa Skills journey.

Getting Started with alexa-app

The alexa-app library is a framework for building custom Alexa Skills. It provides a simple interface for defining intents, slots, and responses. Let’s dive into some of the core functionalities.

Creating an Alexa Skill

To get started, install the alexa-app library via npm:

  npm install alexa-app --save

Next, create an app instance and define an intent:

  const alexa = require('alexa-app');
  const app = new alexa.app('my_skill');

  app.intent('HelloIntent', {
    'slots': {},
    'utterances': ['say hello', 'tell me hello']
  },
  function (request, response) {
    response.say('Hello, world!');
  });

  module.exports = app;

Adding More Complex Intents

Let’s add a more complex intent that takes a slot value:

  app.intent('WeatherIntent', {
    'slots': { 'City': 'AMAZON.City' },
    'utterances': ['what\'s the weather in {City}', 'tell me the weather in {City}']
  },
  function (request, response) {
    const city = request.slot('City');
    response.say(`The weather in ${city} is sunny.`);
  });

Session Attributes

Use session attributes to maintain state within a session:

  app.intent('FavoriteColorIntent', {
    'slots': { 'Color': 'AMAZON.Color' },
    'utterances': ['my favorite color is {Color}', 'I like {Color}']
  },
  function (request, response) {
    const color = request.slot('Color');
    response.session('favoriteColor', color);
    response.say(`Got it! Your favorite color is ${color}.`);
  });

  app.intent('GetFavoriteColorIntent', {
    'slots': {},
    'utterances': ['what is my favorite color', 'tell me my favorite color']
  },
  function (request, response) {
    const color = request.session('favoriteColor');
    response.say(`Your favorite color is ${color}.`);
  });

Handling Errors

It’s important to handle errors gracefully in your skill:

  app.error = function (exception, request, response) {
    console.log(exception);
    response.say('Sorry, an error occurred.');
  };

Deploying the Skill

Deploying your Alexa Skill can be done via AWS Lambda, configured as an Alexa Skill endpoint, or using a web service. Follow the official Alexa Skill deployment instructions for detailed steps.

Example Alexa Skill

Here is a complete example combining the above functionalities:

  const alexa = require('alexa-app');
  const app = new alexa.app('my_skill');

  app.intent('HelloIntent', {
    'slots': {},
    'utterances': ['say hello', 'tell me hello']
  }, function (request, response) {
    response.say('Hello, world!');
  });

  app.intent('WeatherIntent', {
    'slots': { 'City': 'AMAZON.City' },
    'utterances': ['what\'s the weather in {City}', 'tell me the weather in {City}']
  }, function (request, response) {
    const city = request.slot('City');
    response.say(`The weather in ${city} is sunny.`);
  });

  app.intent('FavoriteColorIntent', {
    'slots': { 'Color': 'AMAZON.Color' },
    'utterances': ['my favorite color is {Color}', 'I like {Color}']
  }, function (request, response) {
    const color = request.slot('Color');
    response.session('favoriteColor', color);
    response.say(`Got it! Your favorite color is ${color}.`);
  });

  app.intent('GetFavoriteColorIntent', {
    'slots': {},
    'utterances': ['what is my favorite color', 'tell me my favorite color']
  }, function (request, response) {
    const color = request.session('favoriteColor');
    response.say(`Your favorite color is ${color}.`);
  });

  app.error = function (exception, request, response) {
    console.log(exception);
    response.say('Sorry, an error occurred.');
  };

  module.exports = app;

By following these examples, you can build a wide variety of custom Alexa Skills using the alexa-app library. Happy coding!

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