Setting up the Alexa Skill

This section of the guide is sequential in nature. While each step is self-contained, they should be completed in order to avoid unnecessary complications.

Installing the Repository

# Clone the Git repository
git clone https://github.com/elasticpath/alexa-skill.git

# Go into the cloned directory
cd alexa-skill/lambda/main

# Install all the dependencies for the project
npm install  --production

Deploying the Skill to AVS (Alexa Voice Services)

1. In the Alexa Developer Console, create a Custom, Self-Hosted skill
2. Select the Start From Scratch template
3. In the Interaction Model, select the JSON Editor
4. Drag the models/en-US.json file into the JSON Editor
5. Build the Model

Setting up the Lambda

1. Zip the contents of the alexa-skill/lambda/main directory, including the node_modules folder

2. In AWS (Amazon Web Services), create a Lambda function with an Alexa Skills Kit trigger.

   Note: Currently, only the following AWS regions support Alexa Skills Kit triggers:

   • EU (Ireland)
   • US East (N. Virginia)
   • US West (Oregon)

3. Enter the Skill ID from the Alexa Skill configured in Deploying the the Skill to AVS in the Configure Triggers input (This can be retrieved through the Alexa Developer Console)

4. Upload the zip file you created to your Lambda

5. Create an environment variable called CORTEX_URL that points to a publicly available Cortex endpoint

6. Save the function

Deploying the Skill to AVS (Alexa Voice Services) - Part 2

1. Return to the Alexa Developer Console, and navigate to the skill you created in Deploying the the Skill to AVS
2. Select the Endpoint link
3. Enter the ARN (Amazon Resource Names) for the Lambda you created in the Setting up the Lambda section, or an HTTPS endpoint where you host your skill
4. Save the Endpoints
5. In the header menu, select Test
6. In the Skill testing is enabled in field, select Development
7. You can now begin testing

Setting up a Development Environment

If you want to customize the skill, enable local development by using the alexa-skill-local module.

Before You Begin

Complete the Deploying the Skill to AVS section before you develop locally

Procedure

1. Modify the asl-config.json file, replacing the placeholder skillId value with your Alexa Skill ID
2. Run the npm install command to install depenedencies
3. Create an environment variable called CORTEX_URL that points to a publicly available Cortex endpoint, or a valid Elastic Path development environment
4. For more information, see The Starting Construction Guide
5. Run the npm start command to start the alexa-skill-local server
6. In a browser, go to localhost:3001 to link your local development environment to your Amazon Skill Note: Note the ngrok URL from the command line output
7. Go to the Endpoint link under your Alexa skill
8. Select HTTPS enpoint
9. Enter the URL from step 7
10. Save Endpoints
11. New sessions are directed to your local skill. Changes are hotswapped, and local Node debuggers can be attached

Setting up Account Linking

You may now proceed to setup the login server as described here.