Deprecated Features
Amazon deprecated the following features from the Alexa Skills Kit and Alexa-enabled Smart Home.
Alexa interfaces
The following Alexa interfaces are deprecated. For a list of interfaces available to skills that use the pre-built voice interaction model, see List of Alexa Interfaces and Supported Languages.
Alexa.CustomIntent interface
The Alexa.CustomIntent interface is no longer available. If you want to create an Alexa smart home skill that extends the built-in utterances with your own custom voice interaction model, see About Multi-Capability Skills (MCS).
Alexa.EventDetectionSensor interface
As of February 2023, you can no longer use the Alexa.EventDetectionSensor smart home interface. You can't create new skills or submit updates to existing skills that include this interface. If you want to support event detection in your smart home skill, use Alexa.SmartVision.ObjectDetectionSensor instead. For details about security interfaces, see Understand Smart Home Security Skills.
Alexa.MediaMetadata interface
As of March 15, 2023, you can no longer use the Alexa.MediaMetadata smart home interface. You can't create new skills or submit updates to existing skills that include this interface.
For details about security interfaces, see Understand Smart Home Security Skills.
Alexa.Networking interfaces
On December 31, 2023, Amazon will deprecate the Alexa.Networking APIs. You can't create new skills or submit updates to existing skills that include this interface. If you want to model networking devices, use the generic controllers instead. For more details, see Get Started with Device Templates.
Amazon Pay for Alexa skills
The Amazon Pay Alexa payments functionality is no longer available to your Alexa skill.
Any skill with Amazon Pay payments functionality will be removed from the Alexa Skills Store. Developers are welcome to re-submit their skill without Amazon Pay for certification to be published on the Alexa Skills Store.
If you want to continue to sell physical goods or services through your skill, you will need to enable customers to link their Alexa account with an account they have with your service and pay using a payment method they provide directly to you. For details, see Add Account Linking to Your Alexa Skill. You can also continue operating the skill for other purposes, such as customer assistance without payment functionality. For further information, see the Alexa Skills Kit. Alternatively, you can choose to disable your skill.
You will continue to find all completed Amazon Pay transactions under Manage Transactions and Payments Reports in your Amazon Pay Seller Central account. You will no longer be able to accept any new Amazon Pay Alexa payment transactions. You can still process refunds or handle claims through your Amazon Pay Seller Central account. Your Amazon Pay Seller Central account isn't impacted and you can continue to offer Amazon Pay in your online shop with your current integration using the Amazon Pay button.
If you want to learn more about earning money with your Alexa skill, see Add Amazon Associates to Alexa Shopping Actions, Understand In-Skill Purchasing, and Understand Paid Skills.
Automatic Speech Recognition Evaluation tool
As of February 2023, the Automatic Speech Recognition Evaluation tool and REST API are deprecated. The tool is no longer available on the Alexa developer portal. For more details about tools to test your custom voice interaction model, see Test Your Interaction Model.
Automated Test Sets tool
As of February 2023, the Automated Test Sets tool is deprecated. The tool is no longer available on the Alexa developer portal.
Baby activity skills and the Alexa.Health interfaces
As of May 2020, the Baby Activity Skill API is no longer available. You can no longer use the following interfaces:
Alexa.Health.DiaperChangeAlexa.Health.InfantFeedingAlexa.Health.SleepAlexa.Health.Weight
Use the custom skill APIs to implement baby activity logging in your Alexa skill. For details, see Understand Custom Skills.
Business skills
As of March 2023, the Alexa Business Skill API is no longer available. You can no longer use the following interfaces:
Alexa.CalendarAlexa.MeetingClientController
Use Alexa Smart Property APIs to build skills to manage business features. For details, see About Alexa Smart Properties.
Echo Button skills
As of June 15, 2020, the Echo Buttons Skill API interfaces (GameEngine and GadgetController) are no longer available. For other ways to build voice experiences, see Alexa Voice Service, Alexa Smart Home, and Alexa Skills Kit.
Education skills and the Alexa.Education interfaces
As of June 11, 2021 the Alexa Education Skill API is no longer available. You can no longer use the following interfaces:
Alexa.Education.CourseAlexa.Education.CourseworkAlexa.Education.ErrorResponseAlexa.Education.Grade.CourseAlexa.Education.Grade.CourseworkAlexa.Education.Profile.StudentAlexa.Education.School.Communication
Use the custom skill APIs to build an Alexa skill that can access student assignments, grades, and school information. For details, see Understand Custom Skills.
Display interface
The Display interface is deprecated and isn't supported on all Alexa devices. To add multimodal experiences to your skill, use Alexa Presentation Language (APL) instead.
To learn about APL, see Add Visuals and Audio to Your Skill.
The Alexa Design System for APL includes a set of templates that are similar to the display templates, so you can transition your skill. For details about which templates to use, see Replace display templates with responsive templates.
Helper functions to retrieve viewport profiles
The Alexa Skills Kit SDKs includes functions that use data in the skill request context to calculate a viewport profile for the device. These functions are deprecated and aren't recommended. Instead, use the @viewportProfile resource in the viewport profiles package to create APL documents that adapt to different devices.
For details about the @viewportProfile resource and responsive documents, see the following:
The following functions are deprecated and not recommended:
- Node –
getViewportProfile - Python –
get_viewport_profile - Java –
ViewportUtils.getViewportProfile
Knowledge skills
As of October 2022, knowledge skills and the knowledge skill API are no longer supported. You can't create new knowledge skills or edit existing knowledge skills. For previous knowledge skill use cases, such as Q&A models, you can use custom skills. For details, see Understand Custom Skills.
SetState command
In Alexa Presentation Language (APL), the SetState command is deprecated, and isn't the correct way to change the state of a component.
To change the disabled or checked state, use the SetValue command. To change the focused state, use the SetFocus, and ClearFocus commands.
For details, see Component state.
Skill Flow Builder
The Skill Flow Builder development suite for narrative-driven skills is deprecated. Instead, you can use custom skills features to build story skills. For details, see Understand Custom Skills.
Skill Management APIs
The following Skill Management APIs (SMAPI) are deprecated. For a list of supported REST interfaces, see Alexa Skills REST API Reference.
Slot Type API
As of January 2023 you can no longer use the Slot Type REST API. You can create and edit custom slot types in the Alexa Developer console. To get slot type values from an external data source, see Interaction Model Catalog Management REST API Reference.
Interaction Model Management APIs
As of May 3, 2023, you can no longer perform the get interaction model version and list interaction model versions operations with the Interaction Model Management REST API.
Job Management API
As of August 31, 2023, the Job Management REST API is deprecated. To update reference-based catalogs and interaction models, see Automatically update your catalogs and skill on GitHub.
Utterance Conflict Detection API
As of May 17, 2023, the Utterance Conflict Detection REST API is no longer available. Instead, you can use the Natural Language Understanding Evaluation REST API.
Private Skill Distribution REST API
The Private Skill Distribution REST API is no longer available.
Alexa Smart Properties for Residential
The Alexa Smart Properties for Residential subscription is no longer available. Instead, you can use the Core subscription.
Related topics
Last updated: Nov 23, 2023