Design Guide: Glossary
- Add-on
- An integration that connects a product or service into Alexa+, enabling customers to access it through voice and touch within the Alexa+ interface on supported devices.
- Account linking
- The process of connecting a customer's third-party service account to their Alexa account, enabling authenticated and personalized experiences.
- Base design canvas
- The 768×480px reference resolution for authoring Alexa+ UI. UI authored at this size is scaled up to each device class using a root scale factor.
- Block viewport
- A viewport type that scales and scrolls horizontally. Recommended for native Alexa+ designs built for screen-based Echo devices.
- Card viewport
- A viewport type that scales and scrolls vertically. Primarily intended for web-based UI.
- Category integration
- A path that connects an add-on to an existing Alexa+ category.
- CSP (Content Security Policy)
- Declared in
_meta.ui.csp. Specifies which network destinations a widget can reach —connectDomainsfor fetch/XHR/WebSocket,resourceDomainsfor images and media. Anything not declared is blocked. - Data-only response
- An MCP tool response that contains data but no UI payload. Alexa renders data-only responses through its native hydration layer.
- Design token
- A named variable in the Alexa design system representing a specific visual value such as a typography size, spacing measurement, or corner radius. Tokens ensure consistency across components and surfaces.
- Fullscreen mode
- An expanded display mode that provides more screen real estate for complex interactions such as games, maps, and information-dense content.
- Inline mode
- The default display mode for MCP add-ons. Content renders directly within the conversation flow. Used for confirmations, summaries, and most add-on responses.
- Invocation name
- The word or phrase customers say to activate a specific add-on. For example, "Alexa, open [invocation name]." Also the name that appears in the store listing.
- MCP add-on
- An add-on built using the Model Context Protocol that deploys custom UI directly into the Alexa+ interface. The developer builds and ships the experience; Alexa renders it.
- Root scale
- A single scale factor applied at the root element of a widget to adapt it to a specific device class. For Echo Show 8/15 (1280×800), the root scale is 1.667.
- UI payload
- The visual component returned by an MCP add-on in its tool response. When a UI payload is provided, Alexa renders it directly in the interface.
- Voice-only mode
- The display mode used automatically on Alexa devices without a screen. All content must be intelligible without any visual support.
- VoiceView
- Amazon's screen reader for Alexa devices. When VoiceView is enabled, on-screen content is navigated by touch and read aloud. Add-ons must function correctly with VoiceView enabled.
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Last updated: Jul 21, 2026
