We recently launched the Alexa Lighting API extending Alexa’s built-in lighting skill so she can securely control cloud-connected lighting and switch devices. This new API enables you to write code that translates between Alexa’s built-in lighting skill and your lighting device’s proprietary control systems. Once a customer turns on the functionality, they can control these new devices simply by saying phrases like, “Alexa, turn on the living room lights” or "Alexa, turn off the fan." 

The Alexa Lighting API can be used to control any cloud-connected device that can be turned on/off or have its brightness adjusted. Discoverability is easy! Devices that you enable automatically show up in the Alexa companion app in the Connected Home settings screen. Wink and Samsung SmartThings have already built this functionality for their home automation hubs using the Alexa Lighting API, and any new devices you integrate will show up right alongside those!

In order to get things started a customer will need to connect their desired device to your skill adapter in the Alexa companion app. This process is handled via standard OAuth providers, like Login with Amazon, to make the experience as simple as possible.

* Important * - On 5-Apr, we announced the Smart Home Skill API, the public, self-service version of the Alexa Lighting API, which was introduced as a beta in August 2015. As part of the beta program, we worked with companies including Nest, Ecobee, Sensi, Samsung SmartThings, and Wink in order to gather developer feedback, while extending Alexa’s smart home capabilities to work with their devices. If you’d like to build a smart home skill, learn more about the Smart Home Skill API here.

• Understanding the Smart Home Skill API
• Steps to Build a Smart Home Skill
• Smart Home Skill API Reference
   

The Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) is a collection of self-service APIs and tools that make it fast and easy for you to add skills to Alexa. Alexa is the cloud-based voice service that powers Amazon Echo, a new category of device designed around your voice.  

We have been receiving a lot of requests for an easy way to extend Alexa’s built-in lighting skill to control more lighting and switch devices, and today we’re excited to announce the launch of the Alexa Lighting API. This new API allows commercial developers, hobbyists, and connected home enthusiasts who can code in Java or JavaScript to teach Alexa how to control their cloud-controlled devices in just a few hours. No experience with speech recognition or natural language understanding is required—Alexa does all the work to hear, understand, and process the spoken requests.