Quick Links for Alexa (Beta) Now Available in All Skill Locales

Prashant Pisipati Dec 04, 2020
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We are excited to announce that Quick Links for Alexa (beta) is now available globally. At Alexa Live in July, we introduced Quick Links for Alexa (beta), a new capability that lets you add a link from your mobile app, website, or online ads that customers can click to launch your skill on their Echo devices. Developers have driven discovery for thousands of skills in the U.S by surfacing Quick Links that launch these skills or deep-link into custom tasks within the skills. Starting today, Quick Links for Alexa (beta) is available to skill developers and customers in all locales and marketplaces. Learn more in our technical documentation.

How to Generate a Quick Link for your Skill

  • Check that your skill satisfies the Quick Links for Alexa (beta) eligibility criteria described in our technical documentation
  • To create a launch link, you can create the link by following this URL pattern: https://alexa-skills.amazon.<domain>/apis/custom/skills/<skill-id>/launch
    • domain: For each marketplace in which you want to surface a Quick Link for your skill, select the corresponding URL domain. For example, for links that will be surfaced to UK customers, the domain would be .co.uk, while for IN customers the domain would be .in. If you are sharing a link internationally, you can simply use the .com domain. Read more.
    • skill-id: This is the skill id for your live custom skill. You can find the id in the developer console. In the Skills tab, click the View Skill ID link under the skill name.
  • To create a custom task link, you will first need to build a custom task in your skill following the instructions here.
    • Once you create a custom task, you will need to provide a name for the task, a short description, and a name for each parameter used in the task. These will be shown to customers on the Amazon page they visit by clicking your Quick Link.
    • Generate your custom task link by following this URL pattern: https://alexa-skills.amazon.<domain>/apis/custom/skills/<skill-id>/tasks/<custom-task-name>/versions/<task-version>?<task-input-key1>=<task-input-value1>&<task-input-key2>=<task-input-value2>

Launch Skills on the Alexa Mobile App

Now, Quick Links (beta) also support launching skills directly on the Alexa mobile app. Previously customers using Quick Links were only able to launch skills on Echo devices and FireTV. Now, customers trying Quick Links on mobile will be routed to the Alexa mobile app, where they will see an option to launch your skill on their mobile device, in addition to their Echo devices and FireTV. 

How Developers are Using Quick Links (Beta)

Developers have been using Quick Links (beta) to help customers in the U.S discover and immediately try their skills from anywhere on the web, or accomplish specific tasks with their skills through Custom Tasks.

  • Domino’s Pizza offers their customers a ‘Track with Alexa’ button on their order completion and order tracking pages using a Quick Link (beta) with a Custom Task that accepts an order id as input.
  • Developers of skills such as Comedy Central, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Common Knowledge and Zynga have been surfacing Quick Links (beta) that launch their skills in online channels such as their websites, social media, marketing emails, and more. 
  • CNBC surfaces a Quick Link (beta) on their website, using which customers can get live CNBC content on their Alexa devices.  
  • La Musica offers an Alexa button on their radio station pages to let customers play a specific radio station on their Alexa devices, effectively functioning as a casting button.

Get Started Today

Get started with Quick Links for Alexa (beta) today and check out our sample code here. As always, you can ask questions via our ASK developer forums here. 

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