Notifications Interface

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Note: On December 31, 2021, we paused support for third-party device makers working with Alexa Gadgets, while we work to create an even better developer and customer experience. Please stay tuned to the Amazon developer portal for updates. In the interim, please visit the landing pages for Alexa Voice Service, Alexa Connect Kit, and Alexa Skills Kit to discover ways you can provide new customer experiences with voice.

This interface enables your gadget to inform users that new content is available from Alexa domains or an enabled Alexa skill. The interface exposes two directives that instruct your gadget to set and clear visual and audio indicators for the user.

This interface does not provide the content for a notification, it only provides the audio and visual indicators that your gadget can use to inform the user that new content is available. For example, the gadget might flash a yellow LED and play an audio file, at which time a user can retrieve any pending notifications by asking, "Alexa, what did I miss?" or "Alexa, what are my notifications?".

Note: Each directive and event is a compilation of three separate .proto files: a header, a payload, and a file that combines the two. You can download the .proto files from the Alexa Gadgets Sample Code GitHub repository. In this topic, the .proto files combine all fields into one file for descriptive purposes.

Supporting this interface
Directives
- SetIndicator directive
- ClearIndicator directive

Supporting this interface

To support this interface, the gadget must respond to the Echo device's Discover directive with a Discover.Response event that includes the following entry in its array of Capabilities:

{
   "type": "AlexaInterface",
   "interface": "Notifications",
   "version": "1.0"
}

Directives

This interface includes two directives: SetIndicator and ClearIndicator, as described next.

SetIndicator directive

This directive instructs your gadget to render visual and audio indicators when a notification is available. The .proto file contents are as follows:

message SetIndicatorDirectiveProto {
   Directive directive = 1;
   message Directive {
      notifications.SetIndicatorDirectivePayloadProto payload = 2;
      header.DirectiveHeaderProto header = 1;
   }
}

message DirectiveHeaderProto {
   string namespace = 1;
   string name = 2;
   string messageId = 3;
   string dialogRequestId = 4;      
}

message SetIndicatorDirectivePayloadProto {
   bool persistVisualIndicator = 1;
   bool playAudioIndicator = 2;
   Asset asset = 3;
   message Asset {
      string assetId = 1;
      string url = 2;
   }
}

SetIndicatorDirectiveProto

The fields in this message are as follows:

Field	Description	Type
`directive`	Contains a complete `SetIndicator` directive.	`Directive`

Directive

The fields of the message are as follows:

Field	Description	Type
`header`	Contains the header for this directive.	`DirectiveHeaderProto`
`payload`	Contains the payload for this directive.	`SetIndicatorDirectivePayloadProto`

DirectiveHeaderProto

The fields of the message are as follows:

Field	Description	Type
`namespace`	The namespace of this directive, which is `Notifications`.	`string`
`name`	The name of this directive, which is `SetIndicator`.	`string`
`messageId`	An ID that uniquely defines an instance of this directive. This string can be empty.	`string`
`dialogRequestId`	A unique ID that correlates this directive with a specific voice interaction from a user. You can ignore this field.	`string`

SetIndicatorDirectivePayloadProto

The fields of the message are as follows:

Field	Description	Type
`persistVisualIndicator`	Instructs the gadget to keep the visual indicator lit.	`bool`
`playAudioIndicator`	Instructs the gadget to play the audio indicator.	`bool`
`asset`	Contains information about the audio asset that the gadget can play if `playAudioIndicator` is true.	`Asset`

Asset

The fields of the message are as follows:

Field	Description	Type
`assetId`	The audio asset to be downloaded. Currently, this is an empty string.	`string`
`url`	The URL of the downloadable asset. Currently, this is an empty string.	`string`

ClearIndicator directive

This directive instructs your gadget to clear all active visual and audio indicators. The .proto file contents are as follows:

message ClearIndicatorDirectiveProto {
   Directive directive = 1;
   message Directive {
      notifications.ClearIndicatorDirectivePayloadProto payload = 2;
      header.DirectiveHeaderProto header = 1;
   }
}

message DirectiveHeaderProto {
   string namespace = 1;
   string name = 2;
   string messageId = 3;
   string dialogRequestId = 4;      
}

message ClearindicatorDirectivePayloadProto {
}

ClearindicatorDirectiveProto

The fields in this message are as follows:

Field	Description	Type
`directive`	Contains a complete `ClearIndicator` directive.	`Directive`

Directive

The fields of the message are as follows:

Field	Description	Type
`header`	Contains the header for this directive.	`DirectiveHeaderProto`
`payload`	Contains the payload for this directive.	`ClearindicatorDirectivePayloadProto`

DirectiveHeaderProto

The fields of the message are as follows:

Field	Description	Type
`namespace`	The namespace of this directive, which is `Notifications`.	`string`
`name`	The name of this directive, which is `ClearIndicator`.	`string`
`messageId`	An ID that uniquely defines an instance of this directive. This string can be empty.	`string`
`dialogRequestId`	A unique ID that correlates this directive with a specific voice interaction from a user. You can ignore this field.	`string`

ClearindicatorDirectivePayloadProto

This message contains no fields.

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Last updated: Mar 31, 2022