Skill Simulation API

The Skill Simulation API enables skill developers to simulate skill execution. You can test your skill and see the intent that a simulated device returns from your interaction model. In the API, the Intent Debugging returns the consideredIntents returned in the JSON response and shows the intents that were considered and discarded. You can use this information to determine how to use additional samples to train your model to resolve utterances to their intended intents and slots. You can also use the Utterance Profiler API to test specific utterances and use the responses to improve your interaction model.

A successful response will contain a header with the location of the simulation resource. In cases where requests to this API results in an error, the response will contain a description of the problem.

The API's endpoint is https://api.amazonalexa.com. Each API request must have an Authorization header whose value should be the access token retrieved from Login with Amazon.

All SMAPI v2 APIs will throw the following error responses if appropriate: HTTP/1.1 429 TooManyRequestsException if a request is throttled, and HTTP/1.1 503 if a service is unavailable.

You can use this API to simulate those skills for which you are the developer. The skill being simulated must be enabled on your account and must be in the development or live stage. This API does not support concurrent requests per user.

The Skill Simulation API must be used only for skill testing purposes.

See also: Alexa Skills Kit Command Line Interface and Alexa Skill Management API Overview and Skill Invocation API

Skill Simulation API Request

HTTP method and path

POST /v2/skills/amzn1.ask.skill.12345678-12d1-5b2b-a012-1d1f33311123/stages/live/simulations

Parameters

Field Description Parameter Type Required?
skillId Unique identifier of skill. Path Yes
stage Stage of the skill. Accepted values are development and live (case sensitive). Path Yes

Request

Request Headers

Authorization: string (Login with Amazon access token)
Content-Type: application/json
Accept: application/json

Request Body

{
  "session": {
    "mode": string enum ["DEFAULT", "FORCE_NEW_SESSION"]
  },
  "input": {
    "content": string
  },
  "device": {
    "locale": string
  }
}

Request Attributes Definition

Attribute Description
session.mode Optional. A value used to influence the session behavior of the simulated dialog. Session mode can be either FORCE_NEW_SESSION, which ensures that a new dialog session is started before running the simulation, or DEFAULT, which keeps the default session behavior of the simulated dialog.
input.content String corresponding to the utterance text of what a customer would say to Alexa
device.locale Locale for the virtual device used in the simulation. Valid locales include: en-US, en-GB, en-CA, en-AU, de-DE, fr-FR, en-IN, ja-JP

Skill Simulation API Response

Response Headers

Content-Type: application/json
Location: /skills/{skillId}/simulations/{simulationId}
X-Amzn-RequestId: string

Response Body

200 OK

{
  "id": string,
  "status": "IN_PROGRESS",
  "result": null
}

Errors

Error Response Body

{
  "message": string
}
Attribute Description
messageA human-readable description of the error

Error Codes in Response

Response Description
400 Bad Request Invalid or missing data.
401 Not Authorized The auth token is invalid/expired or doesn't have access to the resource.
403 Forbidden API user does not have permission to call this API or is currently in a state that does not allow simulation of this skill.
404 Not Found The specified skill does not exist.
409 Conflict A request is currently being processed for this developer. Developer attempted to make concurrent Simulate Skill requests.
429 Throttling API user has exceeded the permitted request rate.
503 Service Unavailable Service Unavailable.

Sample Skill Simulation Request (POST)

HTTP Method and Path

POST /v2/skills/34b178945-6ec3-1749-a123-3cbd123456ab/stages/live/simulations

Request Headers

Authorization: string (Login with Amazon access token)
Content-Type: application/json
Accept: application/json

Request Body

{
 "session": {
    "mode": "FORCE_NEW_SESSION"
  },
  "input": {
    "content": "ask greeter to say hello"
  },
  "device": {
    "locale": "en-US"
  }
}

Sample Skill Simulation Response (200 OK) - Successful

This response represents a successful response to an intent request.

Response Headers

HTTP 200 OK

Location: /skills/amzn1.ask.skill.12345678-12d1-5b2b-a012-1d1f33311123/simulations/34b178945-6ec3-1749-a123-3cbd123456ab
X-Amzn-RequestId: c03faf54-684d-11e7-6249-6bbd1825c634

Response Body

{
  "id": "34b178945-6ec3-1749-a123-3cbd123456ab",
  "status": "IN_PROGRESS",
  "result": null
}

Skill Simulation Request (GET)

HTTP Method and Path

GET /v2/skills/amzn1.ask.skill.12345678-12d1-5b2b-a012-1d1f33311123/stages/live/simulations/34b178945-6ec3-1749-a123-3cbd123456ab

Field Description Parameter Type Required?
skillId Unique identifier of skill. Path Yes
stage Stage of the skill. Accepted values are development and live (case sensitive). Path Yes
simulationId Identifer for the simulation Yes  

Request Headers

Authorization: string (Login with Amazon access token)
Content-Type: application/json
Accept: application/json

Request Body

No request body for GET requests.

Skill Simulation Response (200 OK) for GET request

Response Headers

Content-Type: application/json
X-Amzn-RequestId: string

Response Body

{
    "id": string,
    "status": string enum["IN_PROGRESS", "SUCCESSFUL", "FAILED"],
    "result": {
        "skillExecutionInfo": {
            "invocations": [{
                "invocationRequest": {
                    "endpoint": string,
                    "body": object
                },
                "invocationResponse": {
                    "body": object
                },
                "metrics": {
                    "skillExecutionTimeInMilliseconds": integer
                }
            }]
        },
        "alexaExecutionInfo": {
            "alexaResponses": [{
                "type": "Speech",
                "content": {
                    "caption": string
                }
            }],
            "consideredIntents": [{
                "name": string,
                "confirmationStatus": string enum["NONE", "CONFIRMED", "DENIED"],
                "slots": {
                    "SlotName": {
                        "name": string,
                        "value": string,
                        "confirmationStatus": string,
                        "resolutions": {
                            "resolutionsPerAuthority": [{
                                "authority": string,
                                "status": {
                                    "code": string enum["ER_SUCCESS_MATCH", "ER_SUCCESS_NO_MATCH", "ER_ERROR_TIMEOUT", "ER_ERROR_EXCEPTION"]
                                },
                                "values": [{
                                    "value": {
                                        "name": string,
                                        "id": string
                                    }
                                }]
                            }]
                        }
                    }
                }
            }]
        },
        "error": {
            "message": string
        }
    }
}
Attribute Description
idId of simulation.
statusCurrent status of the simulation. One of: IN_PROGRESS, SUCCESSFUL, or FAILED.
result Object that contains information about the simulation result.
result.skillExecutionInfo Object that contains the skill execution information.
result.skillExecutionInfo.invocations.invocationRequest Object that contains the invocation request information.
result.skillExecutionInfo.invocations.invocationRequest.endpointSkill's AWS Lambda or HTTPS endpoint
result.skillExecutionInfo.invocations.invocationRequest.bodyJSON payload that was sent to the skill's AWS Lambda or HTTPS endpoint
result.skillExecutionInfo.invocations.invocationResponse Object that contains the invocation response information.
result.skillExecutionInfo.invocations.invocationResponse.bodyPayload that was returned by the skill's AWS Lambda or HTTPS endpoint.
result.skillExecutionInfo.invocations.metricsObject that contains information about the skill execution time.
result.skillExecutionInfo.invocations.metrics.skillExecutionTimeInMillisecondsHow long, in milliseconds, it took the skill's AWS Lambda or HTTPS endpoint to process the request.
result.alexaExecutionInfo Object that contains the Alexa execution information.
result.alexaExecutionInfo.alexaResponses.type Type of response from Alexa. Only Speech response type is currently supported.
result.alexaExecutionInfo.alexaResponses.content Object that contains the content of the Alexa response.
result.alexaExecutionInfo.alexaResponses.content.caption Textual representation of Alexa's speech response.
result.alexaExecutionInfo.consideredIntents An array contains at most 5 considered intents returned by natural language understanding (NLU).

Sample Skill Simulation Request (POST)

HTTP Method and Path

POST /v2/skills/amzn1.ask.skill.1234../stages/live/simulations

Request Headers

Authorization: string (Login with Amazon access token)
Content-Type: application/json
Accept: application/json

Request Body

{
  "session": {
    "mode": "DEFAULT"
  },
  "input": {
    "content": "ask greeter to say hello"
  },
  "device": {
    "locale": "en-US"
  }
}

Sample Skill Simulation Response (200 OK) - Successful

This response represents a successful response to an intent request.

Response Headers

HTTP 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json
X-Amzn-RequestId: string

Response Body

Sample Skill Simulation Response (200 OK) - In Progress

Response Headers

HTTP 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json
X-Amzn-RequestId: string

Response Body

{
  "id": 34b178945-6ec3-1749-a123-3cbd123456ab,
  "status": "IN_PROGRESS",
  "result": null
}

Sample Skill Simulation Response (200 OK) - Failed

This response occurs when no skill simulation is allowed.

Response Headers

HTTP 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json
X-Amzn-RequestId: string

Response Body

{
  "id": "34b178945-6ec3-1749-a123-3cbd123456ab",
  "status": "FAILED",
  "result": {
    "alexaExecutionInfo": null,
    "skillExecutionInfo": null,
    "error": {
      "message": "Skill is currently disabled in development stage. Please enable skill in order to call this API."
    }
  }
}
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