Understand the Skill Flow Builder

The Skill Flow Builder development suite helps you create narrative-driven skills more quickly. It includes a Skill Flow Builder Editor application for designers and writers, and a Visual Studio Code extension for developers. Designers and writers can quickly prototype and modify content. In parallel, developers can build differentiated features and minimize time spent on content changes. The tools share a source file format, which helps make handoffs between teams more efficient. To maintain and improve the services and tools we offer, we collect metrics related to Skill Flow Builder Editor usage and performance.

Skill Flow Builder Editor

Using the Skill Flow Builder Editor, designers and writers can visualize the built-in story tree. Skill Flow Builder structures the narrative as a series of connected scenes, which you can navigate with the click of a button. Without involving a development team, you can write or update the narrative, add visuals and sound effects, and implement game logic. Assign Amazon Polly voices to specific characters, add images, and add background audio.

Use the built-in simulator to preview, demo, and test your content. When finished, export and share a Skill Flow Builder format (.abc) file with your development team, or export text for narration or localization.

For more information, see Use the Skill Flow Builder Editor.

Skill Flow Builder Core

For developers, Skill Flow Builder offers a command line interface, content debugger, integration with existing developer tools, and extension support. With Skill Flow Builder, you can use tools like the Alexa Skills Kit SDKs, ASK Command Line Interface (ASK CLI), and the AWS CLI. Skill Flow Builder integrates with extensions for Alexa Presentation Language (APL) templates and in-skill purchasing, which saves you implementation time.

When you receive a new Skill Flow Builder format (.abc) file from designers and writers, you can deploy and validate the content as a skill before touching the code. You can also implement business logic directly in the .abc file by using the built-in scripting ability called scene instructions.

The content debugger helps isolate debugging process from the content. You can view variables used, save state for later testing, and view content execution steps.

For more information, see Set up the Skill Flow Builder as a Developer.