Alexa.Authorization Interface
Implement the Alexa.Authorization interface in your Alexa skill so you can send asynchronous responses or proactive messages such as change reports to the Alexa event gateway.
Overview
The purpose of the Alexa.Authorization.AcceptGrant directive is to enable you to obtain credentials that identify and authenticate a user to Alexa.
Alexa sends an AcceptGrant directive after a user enables a Smart Home skill and goes through the account linking process, or when you update an existing skill to support proactive change reporting events.
The AcceptGrant directive contains the following:
-
Alexa sends you an authorization code. Exchange the authorization code for an access token and refresh token by using Login With Amazon (LWA). For details, see the LWA documentation.
-
Alexa sends you the access token for the user that Alexa received during the account linking process. Store the token, and use the token to identify the user in your system.
HTTP 403 Forbidden response from Alexa, or an error from LWA when you try to refresh the token.AcceptGrant directives for each user, make sure you have requested permission to send Alexa events in the developer console. Use the slider on the Send Alexa Events section of the PERMISSIONS page to indicate your skill sends messages to the Alexa event gateway.Directives
AcceptGrant directive
Support the AcceptGrant directive so that you can obtain and store credentials that identify a user to Alexa.
AcceptGrant directive example
The following example illustrates an AcceptGrant directive that Alexa sends to your skill. Because this interface is synchronous only, the message doesn't contain a correlation token.
{
"directive": {
"header": {
"namespace": "Alexa.Authorization",
"name": "AcceptGrant",
"messageId": "<message id>",
"payloadVersion": "3"
},
"payload": {
"grant": {
"type": "OAuth2.AuthorizationCode",
"code": "VGhpcyBpcyBhbiBhdXRob3JpemF0aW9uIGNvZGUuIDotKQ=="
},
"grantee": {
"type": "BearerToken",
"token": "access-token-from-skill"
}
}
}
}
AcceptGrant directive payload details
| Field | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
grant |
Information that identifies a user in Amazon Alexa systems. | Object |
grant.type |
The type of grant. Currently, the only valid value is OAuth2.AuthorizationCode. |
String |
grant.code |
An authorization code for the user. | String |
grantee |
Information that identifies a user in a linked account service or system. | Object |
grantee.type |
The type of grantee. Currently, the only valid value is BearerToken. |
String |
grantee.token |
The user access token received by Alexa during the account linking process. | String |
AcceptGrant response event
If you handle an AcceptGrant directive successfully, respond with an AcceptGrant.Response event. Because this interface is synchronous only, the message doesn't contain a correlation token.
AcceptGrant response event example
{
"event": {
"header": {
"namespace": "Alexa.Authorization",
"name": "AcceptGrant.Response",
"messageId": "<message id>",
"payloadVersion": "3"
},
"payload": {}
}
}
AcceptGrant error handling
If you can't handle an AcceptGrant directive successfully for one of the following reasons, respond with an Alexa.Authorization.ErrorResponse event:
- You are unable to call Login with Amazon to exchange the authorization code for access and refresh tokens.
- You are unable to store the access and refresh tokens for the user.
- Any other error that occurs while you try to retrieve and store the access and refresh tokens.
For more general errors, respond with an Alexa.ErrorResponse event.
AcceptGrant processingAcceptGrant error response event example
{
"event": {
"header": {
"messageId": "abc-123-def-456",
"namespace": "Alexa.Authorization",
"name": "ErrorResponse",
"payloadVersion": "3"
},
"payload": {
"type": "ACCEPT_GRANT_FAILED",
"message": "Failed to handle the AcceptGrant directive because <your reason>"
}
}
}
