Understand State and Change Reporting

When you create an Alexa skill that interacts with a smart home device, you can include support for state and change reporting. Alexa notifies users about the state of their devices by voice response or in the Alexa app. For example, in the Alexa app users can see a list of their smart plugs and whether each plug is on or off.

You report state to Alexa in three ways:

Alexa requests the state with an Alexa.ReportState directive. For example, a customer opens the Alexa app to see if the kitchen light is on. You reply with an Alexa.StateReport that includes a snapshot of all property values.
You proactively send an Alexa.ChangeReport event to indicate one or more of the properties that changed. In the event, you also include a snapshot of all other property values. For example, the customer manually turns on the light. In the event, you report the power is on and you also report the brightness of the light.
You proactively send the state of all properties in a directive Alexa.Response. For example, when you respond to a TurnOn directive, you include a snapshot of all property values.

Identify support for state and change reporting

During device discovery, you indicate which Alexa interfaces that you support in your skill. For each interface, you also indicate your support for state and change reporting by using the following properties in your discovery response:

Retrievable – The retrievable property controls state reporting. When you set retrievable = true for an interface, Alexa can query your skill for the current state of the properties of that interface. Alexa sends an Alexa.ReportState directive to your skill, and you respond with an Alexa.StateReport. The default value is false.
Proactively Reported – The proactively reported property controls change reporting. When you set proactivelyReported = true for an interface, your skill sends an Alexa.ChangeReport event to Alexa when any property of that interface changes. The default value is false.
Noncontrollable – You can model properties of an endpoint that users can't change by setting nonControllable = true for an interface. For example, when a washing machine automatically goes from wash, to rinse, to spin, you can report the current wash cycle to the user without allowing them to change it. When set to true, Alexa doesn't attempt to change the state. The default value is false.

Important: To provide the best experience for the user, Amazon recommends that you send both state and change reports from your skill for most devices and interfaces. Exceptions include low-energy devices that are normally in a dormant state, infrared transmitters, and others.

Discover response example

The following example shows a Discover.Response message for an oven that supports the Alexa.Cooking, Alexa.Cooking.TemperatureSensor, Alexa.Cooking.TemperatureController, and Alexa.EndpointHealth interfaces. For more discovery response examples, see the documentation for each interface that you support in your Alexa skill.

{
  "event": {
    "header": {
      "namespace": "Alexa.Discovery",
      "name": "Discover.Response",
      "payloadVersion": "3",
      "messageId": "<message id>"
    },
    "payload": {
      "endpoints": [
        {
          "endpointId": "<unique ID of the endpoint>",
          "manufacturerName": "Smart Cooking Device Company",
          "description": "Brand XYZ oven",
          "friendlyName": "Oven",
          "displayCategories": ["OVEN"],
          "additionalAttributes":  {
            "manufacturer" : "Smart Cooking Device Company",
            "model" : "Sample Model",
            "serialNumber": "U11112233456",
            "firmwareVersion" : "1.24.2546",
            "softwareVersion": "1.036",
            "customIdentifier": "Sample custom ID"
          },
          "cookie": {},
          "capabilities": [
            {
              "type": "AlexaInterface",
              "interface": "Alexa.Cooking",
              "version": "3",
              "properties": {
                "supported": [
                  {
                    "name": "cookingMode"
                  },
                  {
                    "name": "foodItem"
                  },
                  {
                    "name": "cookingTimeInterval"
                  }
                ],
                "proactivelyReported": true,
                "retrievable": true
              },
              "configuration": {
                "supportedCookingModes": ["REHEAT", "DEFROST", "OFF"]
              }
            },
            {
              "type": "AlexaInterface",
              "interface": "Alexa.Cooking.TemperatureSensor",
              "version": "3",
              "properties": {
                "supported": [
                  {
                    "name": "cookingTemperature"
                  }
                ],
                "proactivelyReported": false,
                "retrievable": true
              }
            },
            {
              "type": "AlexaInterface",
              "interface": "Alexa.Cooking.TemperatureController",
              "version": "3",
              "properties": {
                "supported": [
                  {
                    "name": "targetCookingTemperature"
                  },
                  {
                    "name": "preheatTimeInterval"
                  }
                ],
                "proactivelyReported": true,
                "retrievable": true
              },
              "configuration": {
                "supportsRemoteStart": false,
                "supportedCookingModes": ["BAKE", "ROAST"]
              }
            },
            {
                "type": "AlexaInterface",
                "interface": "Alexa.EndpointHealth",
                "version": "3.2",
                "properties": {
                    "supported": [{
                            "name": "connectivity"
                        },
                        {
                            "name": "radioDiagnostics"
                        },
                        {
                            "name": "networkThroughput"
                        }
                    ],
                    "proactivelyReported": true,
                    "retrievable": true
                }
            },
            {
              "type": "AlexaInterface",
              "interface": "Alexa",
              "version": "3"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Report state in a StateReport

When Alexa sends an Alexa.ReportState directive to request the state of an endpoint, you send an Alexa.StateReport response. This response contains the current state of all the properties that are retrievable.

For example, a customer might check the Alexa app for the status of a light on a different floor of their house. Alexa sends an Alexa.ReportState directive for the light. You send a response that includes the state of all the retrievable properties for the light, and the app reports the state to the customer.

Specify the following information in the Alexa.StateReport:

Report the state of all the retrievable properties in the context object.
Make sure to identify the endpoint for the report in the endpoint object.
Make sure to include the correlationToken set to the value from the Alexa.ReportState request.

You send the Alexa.StateReport response synchronously from your skill's Lambda function.

If you poll your endpoints periodically, you can send cached values for the properties in your response. If the endpoint is unreachable, but you cached all property values, return the Alexa.StateReport and include all the property values. However, specify the value of the connectivity property of Alexa.EndpointHealth as UNREACHABLE. If you can't report the state of all the properties because the endpoint is unreachable and you haven't cached the values, send an Alexa.ErrorResponse of type BRIDGE_UNREACHABLE or ENDPOINT_UNREACHABLE.

ReportState directive example

The following example shows an Alexa.ReportState directive that Alexa sends to your skill.

{
  "directive": {
    "header": {
      "namespace": "Alexa",
      "name": "ReportState",
      "messageId": "<message id>",
      "correlationToken": "<an opaque correlation token>",
      "payloadVersion": "3"
    },
    "endpoint": {
      "scope": {
        "type": "BearerToken",
        "token": "<an OAuth2 bearer token>"
      },
      "endpointId": "<endpoint id>",
      "cookie": {}
    },
    "payload": {}
  }
}

StateReport response example

The following example shows an Alexa.StateReport response that your skill sends to Alexa. For more Alexa.StateReport examples, see the documentation for each interface that you support in your Alexa skill.

Copied to clipboard.

{
  "event": {
    "header": {
      "namespace": "Alexa",
      "name": "StateReport",
      "messageId": "<message id>",
      "correlationToken": "<an opaque correlation token that matches the request>",
      "payloadVersion": "3"
    },
    "endpoint": {
      "scope": {
        "type": "BearerToken",
        "token": "<an OAuth2 bearer token>"
      },
      "endpointId": "<endpoint id>",
      "cookie": {}
    },
    "payload": {}
  },
  "context": {
    "properties": [
      {
        "namespace": "Alexa.ThermostatController",
        "name": "targetSetpoint",
        "value": {
          "value": 25.0,
          "scale": "CELSIUS"
        },
        "timeOfSample": "2017-02-03T16:20:50Z",
        "uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 6000
      },
      {
        "namespace": "Alexa.ThermostatController",
        "name": "thermostatMode",
        "value": "HEAT",
        "timeOfSample": "2017-02-03T16:20:50Z",
        "uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 6000
      },
      {
        "namespace": "Alexa.EndpointHealth",
        "name": "connectivity",
        "value": {
          "value": "OK"
        },
        "timeOfSample": "2017-02-03T16:20:50Z",
        "uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 0
      }
    ]
  }
}

StateReport response properties

Property	Description	Type
`event`	Defines header and endpoint information.	`Event` object
`context`	Includes the state of all the retrievable properties.	`Context` object

Report state in a ChangeReport

When the state of an endpoint changes for any reason, you report that change to Alexa in an Alexa.ChangeReport event. Alexa can then provide the status change to the customer. In the change report, specify the state of any changed properties in the payload object. For example, if a customer manually turns on a light, send a change report event that indicates the powerState property of the Alexa.PowerController interface has changed its value to ON.

If you specify a property as proactivelyReported during discovery, you must send Alexa an Alexa.ChangeReport event whenever that property value changes.

If a state change happens because of a directive from Alexa, you send both a directive response and a change report event. For details, see Report state in response to a directive.

You send Alexa.ChangeReport events asynchronously to the Alexa event gateway.

Important: To send Alexa.ChangeReport events, request permission to send events to the Alexa event gateway and obtain authentication tokens for each customer. You include the token in the scope of the event message. For details, see Authenticate a Customer to Alexa with Permissions and Alexa.Authorization.

Specify the following information in the Alexa.ChangeReport event:

Include the cause object to describe why the property value changed.
Use the payload of the Alexa.ChangeReport to provide the new property value and the reason for the change. You must include at least one property in the properties array.
Use the context of an Alexa.ChangeReport to report the state of all the other properties of the endpoint that didn't change. List these properties and their values in the properties array.
If multiple properties have changed, you can send multiple change report events containing a payload with a single property. Conversely, you can send a single change report event that contains a payload with multiple property values.
Make sure that you identify the customer and the endpoint for the change report in the endpoint object.
Don't include a correlationToken.

ChangeReport event example

The following example shows an Alexa.ChangeReport event for an endpoint that implements the Alexa.PowerController, Alexa.BrightnessController, and Alexa.EndpointHealth interfaces. The event reports that the endpoint changed its brightness value to 85% due to a physical interaction with the device. The event specifies the new brightness value in the payload, and it specifies the Alexa.PowerController and Alexa.EndpointHealth properties in the context object because these values didn't change. For more Alexa.ChangeReport examples, see the documentation for each interface that you support in your Alexa skill.

Copied to clipboard.

{
  "event": {
    "header": {
      "namespace": "Alexa",
      "name": "ChangeReport",
      "messageId": "<message id>",
      "payloadVersion": "3"
    },
    "endpoint": {
      "scope": {
        "type": "BearerToken",
        "token": "<an OAuth2 bearer token>"
      },
      "endpointId": "<endpoint id>",
      "cookie": {
        "path": "path/for/this/endpoint"
      }
    },
    "payload": {
      "change": {
        "cause": {
          "type": "PHYSICAL_INTERACTION"
        },
        "properties": [
          {
            "namespace": "Alexa.BrightnessController",
            "name": "brightness",
            "value": 85,
            "timeOfSample": "2017-02-03T16:20:50Z",
            "uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 0
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  "context": {
    "properties": [
      {
        "namespace": "Alexa.PowerController",
        "name": "powerState",
        "value": "ON",
        "timeOfSample": "2021-11-15T14:20:00Z",
        "uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 60000
      },
      {
        "namespace": "Alexa.EndpointHealth",
        "name": "connectivity",
        "value": {
          "value": "OK"
        },
        "timeOfSample": "2021-11-15T14:20:00Z",
        "uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 0
    },
    {
        "namespace": "Alexa.EndpointHealth",
        "name": "battery",
        "value": {
            "health": {
                "state": "WARNING",
                "reasons": ["LOW_CHARGE"]
            },
            "levelPercentage": 45
        },
        "timeOfSample": "2021-11-15T14:20:00Z",
        "uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 0
    }
    ]
  }
}

ChangeReport event properties

Property	Description	Type
`event`	Defines the header and endpoint information and the reportable properties.	`Event` object
`context`	Includes the state of all the retrievable properties.	`Context` object

Report state in a directive response

If Alexa sends a directive to change the state of a property, and you handle the directive successfully, send an Alexa.Response. In the response, specify the state of any changed properties in the context object. For example, if Alexa sends an Alexa.PowerController.TurnOn directive, you send a response event that includes the powerState property, with its new value ON, in the context object.

Specify the following information in the directive Alexa.Response:

Report the state of all the retrievable properties in the context object, including the changed properties.

Note: Amazon recommends that you specify the state of all the properties of the endpoint, including the properties that didn't change.
Make sure to identify the endpoint for the report in the endpoint object.
Make sure to include the correlationToken set to the value from the directive request.

You can send response events synchronously from your skill's Lambda function or asynchronously to the Alexa event gateway.

Directive example

The following example shows a directive that Alexa sends to your skill.

{
  "directive": {
    "header": {
      "namespace": "Alexa.PercentageController",
      "name": "AdjustPercentage",
      "messageId": "<message id>",
      "correlationToken": "<an opaque correlation token>",
      "payloadVersion": "3"
    },
    "endpoint": {
      "scope": {
        "type": "BearerToken",
        "token": "<an OAuth2 bearer token>"
      },
      "endpointId": "<endpoint id>",
      "cookie": {}
    },
    "payload": {
      "percentageDelta": -20
    }
  }
}

Directive response example with state

The following example shows a response that your skill sends to Alexa. The example includes the state properties in the context object.

Copied to clipboard.

{
  "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.BrightnessController",
        "name": "brightness",
        "value": 75,
        "timeOfSample": "2017-02-03T16:20:50.52Z",
        "uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 1000
      },
      {
        "namespace": "Alexa.EndpointHealth",
        "name": "connectivity",
        "value": {
            "value": "OK"
        },
        "timeOfSample": "2017-02-03T16:20:50.52Z",
        "uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 0
      }
    ]
  }
}

Directive response example for a property that isn't retrievable

After your skill successfully handles a directive for an endpoint with properties that aren't retrievable, the skill must send a response that doesn't include the properties in the context.

The following example shows an Alexa.Response event that indicates to Alexa that you handled the TurnOn directive successfully. The empty properties array in the event context indicates that you can't determine the property state after the change.

Copied to clipboard.

{
    "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": []
    }
}

Directive response properties

Property	Description	Type
`event`	Defines header and endpoint information.	An `Event` object
`context`	Includes the state of all the retrievable properties.	A `Context` object

Properties and objects

The state reporting interfaces use the following properties and objects.

Event object

All responses to Alexa include the Event object.

Property	Description	Type
`header`	Defines the event name, payload version, message ID, and correlation token.	`Header` object
`endpoint`	Identifies the endpoint and provides authorization to authenticate your skill.	`Endpoint` object
`payload`	Identifies the endpoint property that changed and the reason for change. For `Alexa.StateReport` and `Alexa.Response` events, set to an empty object.	`Payload` object

Context object

The Context object contains a list all reportable properties of the endpoint. To include a property, you must define the property as retrievable = true in your discovery response.

Important: Only specify the value for a property in one place in an event, either in the payload or in the context, but not both.

Property	Description	Type
`properties`	Identifies the retrievable properties of the endpoint. Include one `Property` object for each property reported.	Array of `Property` objects

Payload object

The Payload object includes the reason that the skill reports a change and the list of changed property values. To include a property, you must define the property as proactivelyReported = true in your discovery response. You include only property values that changed in the Payload object.

Important: Only specify the value for a property in one place in an event, either the payload or the context, but not both.

Property	Description	Type
`change`	Reason for the change and list of changed properties.	`Change` object

Change object

Include the Change object to report the changed properties and the reason for the change.

Property	Description	Type
`cause`	Reason for the change in one or more properties.	A `Cause` object
`properties`	Identifies the list of reportable properties that changed. Include one `Property` object for each property change reported.	Array of `Property` objects

Property object

The Property object defines a reportable property of the endpoint. Each Alexa interface defines the property name and value. For details, see the documentation for each interface that you support in your Alexa skill.

    "properties": [{
            "namespace": "Alexa.PowerController",
            "name": "powerState",
            "value": "ON",
            "timeOfSample": "2021-11-15T14:20:00Z",
            "uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 0
        },
        {
            "namespace": "Alexa.EndpointHealth",
            "name": "connectivity",
            "value": {
                "value": "OK"
            },
            "timeOfSample": "2021-11-15T14:20:00Z",
            "uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 0
        }
    ]

The following table shows the Property object parameters.

Property	Description	Type
`namespace`	Name of the Alexa capability interface to which the property belongs, such as, `Alexa.PowerController`.	String
`instance`	(Optional) For generic controller interfaces, the instance of the `interface`. For example, `Dryer.Temperature`.	String
`name`	Name of the reported property that belongs to the `namespace`.	String
`value`	Value of the reported property. Each Alexa interface defines the type of the `value` field. For details, see the documentation for each interface that your skill uses.	Various
`timeOfSample`	Time the endpoint detected the state change. Defined in ISO 8601 format, `YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ`.	String
`uncertaintyInMilliseconds`	Uncertainty of the `timeOfSample` field in milliseconds. This field represents the number of milliseconds after the endpoint last confirmed the property value. For example, if the endpoint sampled the property value 60 seconds ago, you set `uncertaintyInMilliseconds` to 60000.	Number

Cause object

When you send an Alexa.ChangeReport event, use the Cause object to describe the cause of the property value change.

    "cause": {
          "type": "APP_INTERACTION"
    }

The following table shows the Cause object properties.

Property	Description	Type
`type`	Identifies the reason for the change.	`Type` String

Type values

The following table describes the type values.

Cause type	Description
`APP_INTERACTION`	Customer interaction with an app. For example, a customer switches on a light or locks a door by using the Alexa app or an app provided by a device vendor.
`PERIODIC_POLL`	Periodic poll of an endpoint. For example, you might poll a temperature sensor every hour and send the updated temperature to Alexa.
`PHYSICAL_INTERACTION`	Physical interaction with an endpoint. For example, the user turned on a light or locked a door lock manually.
`RULE_TRIGGER`	A device rule. For example, a customer configures a rule to switch on a light if a motion sensor detects motion. Here, Alexa receives an event from the motion sensor, and another event from the light to indicate that the rule caused the state change.
`VOICE_INTERACTION`	Voice interaction. For example, a user turns on a light by speaking to their Echo device.

Understand State and Change Reporting

Identify support for state and change reporting

Discover response example

Report state in a StateReport

ReportState directive example

StateReport response example

StateReport response properties

Report state in a ChangeReport

ChangeReport event example

ChangeReport event properties

Report state in a directive response

Directive example

Directive response example with state

Directive response example for a property that isn't retrievable

Directive response properties

Properties and objects

Event object

Context object

Payload object

Change object

Property object

Cause object

Type values

Related Topics