Smart Home Skill Certification Guide

When you're ready to publish your smart home skill in the Amazon Alexa Skills Store, submit it for certification. You can submit your skill for certification in the Alexa developer console. For details, see Submit Your Skill for Certification

Amazon has special requirements that your smart home skill must meet to pass certification. Follow this guidance to help your skill pass certification and become available to customers in the Alexa Skills Store.

Provide test account credentials

A Smart Home skill requires account linking. Amazon tests account linking during the certification process. Use the Test Instructions to provide test credentials for the device cloud that your skill interacts with. In addition, you must make sure that the device cloud for the test account contains at least one discoverable device for testing purposes. In the testing instructions, include test credentials for each language version of your skill.

Provide a good customer guide

To help a customer get started with your skill, you should provide a guide to using your products with Alexa. Amazon recommends that the guide include an FAQ or troubleshooting section. Make sure that the page loads correctly on IOS, Android, and desktop browsers, and make it available at a short URL.

You must provide links to a privacy policy and terms of use page. These pages must be accessible from a variety of mobile and desktop devices. The content must display in the page and not require a PDF or other document download. Verify all clickable links open and display properly on IOS, Android and desktop devices.

Provide content in each language

A skill offered in multiple languages must provide an excellent experience for users that speak those languages. Test to verify that your skill works in its target languages and that you provide the following Store Preview information for each target language in that language:

  • One sentence description
  • Detailed description
  • Example phrases
  • Small and large icons
  • Keywords
  • Privacy questions
  • Testing instructions

In addition, Amazon recommends that you provide the following in the skill's target language:

  • Any supporting pages, such as Privacy Policy or FAQ

Support for the device APIs varies by region. Make sure that these items don't reference functionality that isn't available for that language version of the skill. For example, if you create a Japanese version of your skill, the Japanese descriptions, phrases and support pages should discuss features that are available in the Japanese skill only. For more details about providing example phrases, see Align example phrases with consumer guidance. For details about providing a full skill description in the Provide a detailed full skill description.

Align example phrases with consumer guidance

To pass skill certification, you must provide example phrases. Use the sample utterances in the documentation for the Alexa interfaces that your skill supports. Example phrases should be grammatically correct and correctly punctuated. Also, make sure:

  • Your first example phrase starts with the wake word "Alexa"
  • Your example phrases don't include symbols, variables, placeholders, instructions, or punctuation other than a comma after the wake word or a question mark or period at the end of the phrase.

You can find the English consumer guidance phrases at Control smart home devices. If you're creating multiple language versions of your skill, see Develop Smart Home Skills for Multiple Languages.

Make sure that your skill works with the Amazon-provided example phrases relevant to your skill and language. In addition, the example phrases you list for the Detailed Description and the Example Phrases sections for your skill should be the same, and come from these pages.

Provide a detailed description

Amazon reads and evaluates the detailed description during the certification process. You must include certain information, such as instructions to get started and the correct example phrases, or your skill might not pass skill certification.

To help you pass certification, pick the skill description template that matches the languages of the skill you want to publish. Customize the details to describe your skill by replacing any italicized placeholder text with the name of your skill or company or the appropriate example phrases.

English (US) Skill Description Template

With the skill name/company name skill and Alexa, you can now interact with your skill name/company name devices by voice. To get started, select the 'Enable Skill' button in the Alexa app to link your skill name/company name account and discover your devices. Find more information about connecting smart home devices at Connect Smart Home Devices to Alexa (https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=G3RKPNRKF33ECTW7).

To use the skill, you need established names for your devices. There are two ways to define these names:

After you know the name or group name for your devices, you can say the following:
(Choose example phrases appropriate for your device type.)

  • Alexa, turn on Bedroom.
  • Alexa, set Downstairs temperature to 72 degrees.

If you have any questions, please visit the skill name/company name FAQ at skill name/company name link to your US FAQ page.

English (UK) Skill Description Template

With the skill name/company name skill and Alexa, you can now interact with your skill name/company name devices by voice. To get started, select the 'Enable Skill' button in the Alexa app to link your skill name/company name account and discover your devices. Find more information about connecting smart home devices at Connect Smart Home Devices to Alexa (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=G3RKPNRKF33ECTW7).

To use the skill, you need established names for your devices. There are two ways to define these names:

After you know the name or group name for your devices, you can say the following:
(Choose example phrases appropriate for your device type.)

  • Alexa, turn on Bedroom.
  • Alexa, set Downstairs temperature to 72 degrees.

If you have any questions, please visit the skill name/company name FAQ at skill name/company name link to your UK FAQ page.

German Skill Description Template

Mit dem skill name/company name skill und Alexa können Sie Ihre skill name/company name Geräte mithilfe Ihrer Stimme bedienen. Zum Starten wählen Sie „Skill aktivieren" in der Alexa app, um Ihr skill name/company name Konto zu verknüpfen und Ihre Geräte zu suchen. Weitere Informationen zum Verbinden von smart home-geräten finden Sie unter Verbinden Sie Smart-Home Geräte mit Alexa (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=G3RKPNRKF33ECTW7).

Wenn Sie den Skill verwenden, müssen Sie den Namen der Gerät angeben, die benutzt werden sollen. Diese Namen können auf zwei Arten festgelegt werden:

  • Verwenden Sie die Namen, die Sie bereits festgelegt haben - sie werden in der skill name/company name app.
  • Erstellen Sie eine Alexa-Gruppe wie „Schlafzimmer" oder „Untergeschoss" und fügen Sie das Gerät zur Gruppe hinzu. Weitere Informationen erhalten Sie unter So erstellen Sie eine Smart Home-Gruppe für Alexa (https://www.amazon.de/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GS8URL9U6PW8SPTA).

Sobald Sie den Namen oder die Gruppe Ihrer Geräte kennen, können Sie Folgendes sagen:
(Wählen Sie für Ihren Gerätetyp geeignete Beispielsätze aus.)

  • Alexa, schalte ‚Schlafzimmer'-Beleuchtung ein.
  • Alexa, stelle die ‚Untergeschoss'-Temperatur auf 22 Grad.

Wenn Sie Fragen haben, besuchen Sie die skill name/company name FAQ at skill name/company name link to your German FAQ page.

Last updated: Nov 15, 2022