Alexa.ColorController Interface
Implement the Alexa.ColorController
interface in your Alexa skill so that users can change the color of devices such as color-changing light bulbs. For more information about Smart Home skills, see Understand the Smart Home Skill API.
For the list of languages that the ColorController
interface supports, see List of Alexa Interfaces and Supported Languages.
Utterances
When you use the Alexa.ColorController
interface, the voice interaction model is already built for you. The following examples show some customer utterances:
Alexa, set the front porch light to blue.
Alexa, set the bedroom light to red.
Alexa, change the kitchen to the color blue.
Alexa, setze Wohnzimmerlicht auf rosa.
After the customer says one of these utterances, Alexa sends a corresponding directive to your skill.
Properties and Objects
The color object
The color object represents the color of an endpoint. Colors are specified by using the hue, saturation, brightness (HSB) color model. For more information, see colorizer.org and The HSB Color System.
Discovery
You describe endpoints that support Alexa.ColorController
using the standard discovery mechanism described in Alexa.Discovery.
Set retrievable
to true for all of the interfaces and properties that you report when Alexa sends your skill a state report request. Set proactivelyReported
to true for interfaces and properties that you proactively report to Alexa in a change report.
For the full list of display categories, see display categories.
Discover response example
The following example shows a Discover.Response
message for a light that supports the Alexa.PowerController
and Alexa.ColorController
interfaces.
{
"event": {
"header": {
"namespace": "Alexa.Discovery",
"name": "Discover.Response",
"payloadVersion": "3",
"messageId": "<message id>"
},
"payload": {
"endpoints": [
{
"endpointId": "<unique ID of the endpoint>",
"manufacturerName": "<the manufacturer name of the endpoint>",
"modelName": "<the model name of the endpoint>",
"description": "<a description that is shown in the Alexa app>",
"friendlyName": "<device name, displayed in the Alexa app>",
"displayCategories": ["LIGHT"],
"cookie": {},
"capabilities": [
{
"type": "AlexaInterface",
"interface": "Alexa.PowerController",
"version": "3",
"properties": {
"supported": [
{
"name": "powerState"
}
],
"proactivelyReported": true,
"retrievable": true
}
},
{
"type": "AlexaInterface",
"interface": "Alexa.ColorController",
"version": "3",
"properties": {
"supported": [
{
"name": "color"
}
],
"proactivelyReported": true,
"retrievable": true
}
},
{
"type": "AlexaInterface",
"interface": "Alexa",
"version": "3"
}
]
}
]
}
}
}
Directives
SetColor directive
Support the SetColor
directive so that customers can change the color of devices.
The following example shows a customer utterance:
Alexa, set the bedroom light to red.
Alexa, setze Wohnzimmerlicht auf rosa.
SetPercentage directive payload details
Field | Description | Type |
---|---|---|
color |
The color to set the device to. | Object |
SetColor directive example
The following example illustrates a SetColor
directive that Alexa sends to your skill.
{
"directive": {
"header": {
"namespace": "Alexa.ColorController",
"name": "SetColor",
"messageId": "<message id>",
"correlationToken": "<an opaque correlation token>",
"payloadVersion": "3"
},
"endpoint": {
"scope": {
"type": "BearerToken",
"token": "<an OAuth2 bearer token>"
},
"endpointId": "<endpoint id>",
"cookie": {}
},
"payload": {
"color": {
"hue": 350.5,
"saturation": 0.7138,
"brightness": 0.6524
}
}
}
}
SetColor
directive specifies hue = 0, saturation = 1, and brightness = 1. In this case, set the hue to 0, the saturation to 1, and ignore the brightness value of 1 in the directive. Instead maintain the current brightness value of 0.5.SetColor response event
If you handle a SetColor
directive successfully, respond with an Alexa.Response event. In the context object, include the values of all properties that changed. You can respond synchronously or asynchronously. If you respond asynchronously, include a correlation token and a scope with an authorization token.
SetColor response event example
{
"event": {
"header": {
"namespace": "Alexa",
"name": "Response",
"messageId": "<message id>",
"correlationToken": "<an opaque correlation token>",
"payloadVersion": "3"
},
"endpoint": {
"scope": {
"type": "BearerToken",
"token": "<an OAuth2 bearer token>"
},
"endpointId": "<endpoint id>"
},
"payload": {}
},
"context": {
"properties": [
{
"namespace": "Alexa.ColorController",
"name": "color",
"value": {
"hue": 350.5,
"saturation": 0.7138,
"brightness": 0.6524
},
"timeOfSample": "2019-07-03T16:20:50Z",
"uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 500
}
]
}
}
SetColor directive error handling
If you can't handle a SetColor
directive successfully, respond with an Alexa.ErrorResponse event.
State reporting
Alexa sends a ReportState
directive to request information about the state of an endpoint. When Alexa sends a ReportState
directive, you send a StateReport
event in response. The response contains the current state of all of the retrievable properties in the context object. You identify your retrievable properties in your discovery response. For details about state reports, see Understand State and Change Reporting.
StateReport response event example
{
"event": {
"header": {
"namespace": "Alexa",
"name": "StateReport",
"messageId": "<message id>",
"correlationToken": "<an opaque correlation token>",
"payloadVersion": "3"
},
"endpoint": {
"scope": {
"type": "BearerToken",
"token": "<an OAuth2 bearer token>"
},
"endpointId": "<endpoint id>"
},
"payload": {}
},
"context": {
"properties": [
{
"namespace": "Alexa.ColorController",
"name": "color",
"value": {
"hue": 350.5,
"saturation": 0.7138,
"brightness": 0.6524
},
"timeOfSample": "2019-07-03T16:20:50Z",
"uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 500
}
]
}
}
Change reporting
You send a ChangeReport
event to proactively report changes in the state of an endpoint. You identify the properties that you proactively report in your discovery response. For details about change reports, see Understand State and Change Reporting.
For lighting endpoints that support both the ColorController
and ColorTemperatureController
interfaces, report the state of color
when an endpoint is set to a color, and report the state of colorTemperatureInKelvin
when an endpoint is set to a shade of white.
ChangeReport event example
{
"event": {
"header": {
"namespace": "Alexa",
"name": "ChangeReport",
"messageId": "<message id>",
"payloadVersion": "3"
},
"endpoint": {
"scope": {
"type": "BearerToken",
"token": "<an OAuth2 bearer token>"
},
"endpointId": "<endpoint id>"
},
"payload": {
"change": {
"cause": {
"type": "PHYSICAL_INTERACTION"
},
"properties": [
{
"namespace": "Alexa.ColorController",
"name": "color",
"value": {
"hue": 280,
"saturation": 0.9,
"brightness": 0.9
},
"timeOfSample": "2019-07-03T16:20:50Z",
"uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 500
}
]
}
}
},
"context": {}
}