Alexa.ErrorResponse Interface

If Alexa sends a request to your skill and you can't handle it successfully, respond with an Alexa.ErrorResponse event. Specify the type of error and why it occurred. You can respond synchronously or asynchronously. If you respond asynchronously, include a correlation token and a scope with an authorization token.

Use the Alexa.ErrorResponse event for the generic errors listed in error type values. If appropriate, use one of the following more specific error events instead:

If you can handle a directive successfully, respond with an Alexa.Response event instead

ErrorResponse event

In the payload for the Alexa.ErrorResponse, specify the type of the error and include a message with information about the error. For the list of error types, see error type values.

ErrorResponse example

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{
  "event": {
    "header": {
      "namespace": "Alexa",
      "name": "ErrorResponse",
      "messageId": "Unique identifier, preferably a version 4 UUID",
       "correlationToken": "Opaque correlation token that matches the request",
      "payloadVersion": "3"
    },
    "endpoint":{
      "endpointId": "Endpoint ID"
    },
    "payload": {
      "type": "Error type",
      "message": "Error message"
    }
  }
}

ErrorResponse payload parameters

Send an Alexa.ErrorResponse in an Event object. Include the following information in the event.payload parameter.

Property Description Type Required

type

Type of error. Alexa shares this with the customer.

String

Yes

message

Descriptive message for the error. Alexa doesn't share this with the customer.

String

Yes

Error type values

The following table shows the valid error types. The different error types don't always result in different responses spoken by Alexa.

Field Description
ALREADY_IN_OPERATION The endpoint can't perform the requested operation because the endpoint is already in operation.
BRIDGE_UNREACHABLE The bridge is unreachable or offline. For example, the bridge might be turned off, disconnected from the customer's local area network, or connectivity between the bridge and the device cloud might have been lost. When you respond to a ReportState directive, there might be times when you should return a StateReport instead of this error. For details, see Alexa.EndpointHealth.
CLOUD_CONTROL_DISABLED The user can't control the device over the internet, and should control the device manually instead.
ENDPOINT_BUSY The endpoint can't handle the directive because it's performing another action. The action might be a request to Alexa or a manual interaction.
ENDPOINT_CONTROL_UNAVAILABLE The endpoint control isn't available at this time, for example, due to no connectivity to a vehicle. Use this error type for connected vehicles with connectivity issues.
When you send this error response, include a reason in the payload that indicates the why control is unavailable. For an example, see ENDPOINT_CONTROL_UNAVAILABLE.
ENDPOINT_LOW_POWER The endpoint can't handle the directive because the battery power is too low. See an example here.
ENDPOINT_UNREACHABLE The endpoint is unreachable or offline. For example, the endpoint might be turned off, disconnected from the customer's local area network, or connectivity between the endpoint and bridge or the endpoint and the device cloud might have been lost. When you respond to a ReportState directive, there might be times when you should return a StateReport instead of this error. For more details, see Alexa.EndpointHealth.
EXPIRED_AUTHORIZATION_CREDENTIAL The authorization credential provided by Alexa has expired. For example, the OAuth 2.0 access token for the customer has expired.
FIRMWARE_OUT_OF_DATE The endpoint can't handle the directive because it's firmware is out of date.
HARDWARE_MALFUNCTION The endpoint can't handle the directive because it has experienced a hardware malfunction.
INSUFFICIENT_PERMISSIONS Alexa doesn't have permissions to perform the specified action on the endpoint.
INTERNAL_ERROR An error occurred that isn't described by one of the other error types. For example, a runtime exception occurred. Amazon recommends that you always send a more specific error type, if possible.
INVALID_AUTHORIZATION_CREDENTIAL The authorization credential provided by Alexa is invalid. For example, the OAuth 2.0 access token isn't valid for the customer's device cloud account.
INVALID_DIRECTIVE The directive isn't supported by the skill, or the directive is malformed.
INVALID_VALUE The directive contains a value that's not valid for the target endpoint. For example, an invalid heating mode, channel, or program value.
NO_SUCH_ENDPOINT The endpoint doesn't exist, or no longer exists.
NOT_CALIBRATED The endpoint can't handle the directive because it's in a calibration phase, such as warming up, or a user configuration isn't set up yet on the device.
NOT_SUPPORTED_IN_CURRENT_MODE The endpoint can't set the device to the specified value because of its current mode of operation. When you send this error response, include a field in the payload named currentDeviceMode to indicate why the device can't be set to the new value. Valid values are COLOR, ASLEEP, NOT_PROVISIONED, OTHER. See an example here.
NOT_SUPPORTED_WITH_CURRENT_BATTERY_CHARGE_STATE The endpoint can't fulfill the request due to the current battery state. When you send this error response, include the currentChargeState property in the payload to indicate the battery state. You can optionally include the CurrentChargeLevelInPercentage property to indicate the battery level in percentage. See an example here.
NOT_IN_OPERATION The endpoint isn't in operation. For example, a smart home skill can return a NOT_IN_OPERATION error when it receives a RESUME directive but the endpoint is the OFF mode.
PARTNER_APPLICATION_REDIRECTION The endpoint can't handle the request. On receipt of this error, Alexa prompts the customer to check the partner app.
POWER_LEVEL_NOT_SUPPORTED The endpoint can't handle the directive because it doesn't support the requested power level.
RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED The requests exceed the maximum rate at which an endpoint or bridge can process directives.
TEMPERATURE_VALUE_OUT_OF_RANGE The endpoint can't be set to the specified value because it's outside the acceptable temperature range. When you send this error response, optionally include a validRange object in the payload that indicates the acceptable temperature range. See an example here.
TOO_MANY_FAILED_ATTEMPTS The number of allowed failed attempts, such as when entering a password, has been exceeded.
VALUE_OUT_OF_RANGE The endpoint can't be set to the specified value because it's outside the acceptable range. For example, you can use this error when a customer requests a percentage value over 100. For temperature values, use TEMPERATURE_VALUE_OUT_OF_RANGE instead. When you send this error response, optionally include a validRange object in the payload that indicates the acceptable range. See an example here.

HTTP status codes

When you send an asynchronous Alexa.ErrorResponse to the gateway, Alexa sends an HTTP status code to indicate success or failure. For an example, see Asynchronous response example.

HTTP status codes

The following table shows the HTTP status code values that your skill might receive from the Alexa event gateway. If you receive an error, the payload object contains a code and description field. Use these fields for logging only.

Status Payload code Description

202 Accepted

—

Request is authorized and the message is a syntactically valid event. The event was accepted for further logical validation and processing.

400 Bad Request

INVALID_REQUEST_EXCEPTION

Message is invalid due to missing fields, incorrect values, or malformed JSON. Check your messages against the documentation to verify that your message contains all the required fields.

401 Unauthorized

INVALID_ACCESS_TOKEN_EXCEPTION

Message didn't include the authorization token or the token is invalid, expired, or malformed. Refresh your token and retry the request. If a user disables your skill, that also invalidates the access token. Here, the user revoked authorization, and you can stop sending change reports for them.

403 Forbidden

SKILL_NEVER_ENABLED_EXCEPTION

You're not allowed access to the event gateway. Make sure that you're sending the events to the correct regional endpoint. For example, send events in North America to the North American endpoint.

403 Forbidden

INSUFFICIENT_PERMISSION_EXCEPTION

Token doesn't have the required permissions. Make sure that the skill has permission to send Alexa events. For details, see Request Access to the Alexa Event Gateway.

404 Not Found

ACCOUNT_NOT_FOUND_EXCEPTION

Account record associated with this directed identifier doesn't exist or has expired. This error can occur if the event was sent too late or with an invalid directed identifier. Verify that the directed identifier and authorization code are correct.

404 Not Found

SKILL_NOT_FOUND_EXCEPTION

Skill ID associated with this token wasn't found. This error occurs when user's access token was generated when the skill was in different stage, such as certification. Try disabling and re-enabling the skill for this user.

413 Payload Too Large

REQUEST_ENTITY_TOO_LARGE_EXCEPTION

Size of the event payload is too large. The maximum number of endpoints allowed in a request is 300. Send your message with smaller payloads.

429 Too Many Requests

THROTTLING_EXCEPTION

Number of requests is too high. Resend the message up to three times, with at least a one-second interval between each send attempt.

500 Internal Server Error

INTERNAL_SERVICE_EXCEPTION

Error occurred with Alexa, and the message wasn't processed. Resend the message up to three times, with at least a one-second interval between each send attempt. If problems persist, contact Amazon Support.

503 Service Unavailable

SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE_EXCEPTION

Alexa couldn't accept the message. Resend the message up to three times, with at least a one-second interval between each attempt. If the problem persists, contact Amazon Support.

Example 401 Unauthorized response body

The following example shows an error response.

HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request
Date: Wed, 07 Mar 2018 20:25:31 GMT
Connection: close

{
  "header": {
    "namespace": "System",
    "name": "Exception",
    "messageId": "90c3fc62-4b2d-460c-9c8b-77251f1698a0"
  },
  "payload": {
      "code": "INVALID_ACCESS_TOKEN_EXCEPTION",
      "description": "The access token is invalid, expired, or malformed."
  }
}

Examples

Synchronous response example

The following is an example error response that you send synchronously to Alexa. For the list of error types, see error type values.

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{
  "event": {
    "header": {
      "namespace": "Alexa",
      "name": "ErrorResponse",
      "messageId": "Unique identifier, preferably a version 4 UUID",
      "correlationToken": "Opaque correlation token that matches the request",
      "payloadVersion": "3"
    },
    "endpoint":{
      "endpointId": "Endpoint ID"
    },
    "payload": {
      "type": "ENDPOINT_UNREACHABLE",
      "message": "Unable to reach endpoint 12345 because it appears to be offline"
    }
  }
}

Asynchronous response example

The following is an example error response that you send asynchronously to the Alexa event gateway. If you respond asynchronously, include a correlation token and a scope with an authorization token. For details, see Send Events to the Event Gateway.

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{
  "event": {
    "header": {
      "namespace": "Alexa",
      "name": "ErrorResponse",
      "messageId": "Unique identifier, preferably a version 4 UUID",
      "correlationToken": "Opaque correlation token that matches the request",
      "payloadVersion": "3"
    },
    "endpoint":{
      "scope":{
        "type":"BearerToken",
        "token":"access-token-from-Amazon"
      },
      "endpointId": "Endpoint ID"
    },
    "payload": {
      "type": "ENDPOINT_UNREACHABLE",
      "message": "Unable to reach endpoint 12345 because it appears to be offline."
    }
  }
}

ENDPOINT_CONTROL_UNAVAILABLE

The following is an example error response for the ENDPOINT_CONTROL_UNAVAILABLE error type. Include a reason string in the payload to specify why control isn't available. For the list of error types, see error type values.

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{
  "event": {
    "header": {
      "namespace": "Alexa",
      "name": "ErrorResponse",
      "messageId": "Unique identifier, preferably a version 4 UUID",
       "correlationToken": "Opaque correlation token that matches the request",
      "payloadVersion": "3"
    },
    "endpoint":{
      "endpointId": "Endpoint ID"
    },
    "payload": {
      "type": "ENDPOINT_CONTROL_UNAVAILABLE",
      "message": "Vehicle has no connectivity package enabled.",
      "reason": "NO_CONNECTIVITY_PACKAGE_ENABLED"
    }
  }
}

ENDPOINT_LOW_POWER

The following is an example error response for the ENDPOINT_LOW_POWER error type. For the list of error types, see error type values.

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{
  "event": {
    "header": {
      "namespace": "Alexa",
      "name": "ErrorResponse",
      "messageId": "Unique identifier, preferably a version 4 UUID",
      "correlationToken": "Opaque correlation token that matches the request",
      "payloadVersion": "3"
    },
    "endpoint": {
      "endpointId": "Endpoint ID"
    },
    "payload": {
      "type": "ENDPOINT_LOW_POWER",
      "message": "The lock battery is low",
      "percentageState": 5
    }
  }
}

NOT_SUPPORTED_IN_CURRENT_MODE

The following is an example error response for the NOT_SUPPORTED_IN_CURRENT_MODE error type. For the list of error types, see error type values.

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{
  "event": {
    "header": {
      "namespace": "Alexa.ColorTemperatureController",
      "name": "ErrorResponse",
      "messageId": "Unique identifier, preferably a version 4 UUID",
      "correlationToken": "Opaque correlation token that matches the request",
      "payloadVersion": "3"
    },
    "endpoint": {
      "endpointId": "Endpoint ID"
    },
    "payload": {
      "type": "NOT_SUPPORTED_IN_CURRENT_MODE",
      "message": "The light is currently set to a color.",
      "currentDeviceMode": "COLOR"
    }
  }
}

NOT_SUPPORTED_WITH_CURRENT_BATTERY_CHARGE_STATE

The following is an example error response for the NOT_SUPPORTED_WITH_CURRENT_BATTERY_CHARGE_STATE error type. For the list of error types, see error type values.

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{
  "event": {
    "header": {
      "namespace": "Alexa",
      "name": "ErrorResponse",
      "messageId": "Unique identifier, preferably a version 4 UUID",
      "correlationToken": "Opaque correlation token that matches the request",
      "payloadVersion": "3"
    },
    "endpoint": {
      "endpointId": "Endpoint ID"
    },
    "payload": {
      "type": "NOT_SUPPORTED_WITH_CURRENT_BATTERY_CHARGE_STATE ",
      "message":"The vehicle has been charging",
      "currentChargeState": "ALREADY_CHARGED_TO_REQUIRED_LEVEL",
      "currentChargeLevelInPercentage": 75
    }
  }
}

TEMPERATURE_VALUE_OUT_OF_RANGE

The following is an example error response for the TEMPERATURE_VALUE_OUT_OF_RANGE error type. Include a validRange object in the payload to specify the minimum and maximum acceptable temperatures. For the list of error types, see error type values.

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{
  "event": {
    "header": {
      "namespace": "Alexa",
      "name": "ErrorResponse",
      "messageId": "Unique identifier, preferably a version 4 UUID",
      "correlationToken": "Opaque correlation token that matches the request",
      "payloadVersion": "3"
    },
    "endpoint": {
      "endpointId": "Endpoint ID"
    },
    "payload": {
      "type": "TEMPERATURE_VALUE_OUT_OF_RANGE",
      "message": "The requested temperature of -15 is out of range.",
      "validRange": {
        "minimumValue": {
          "value": 15.0,
          "scale": "CELSIUS"
        },
        "maximumValue": {
          "value": 30.0,
          "scale": "CELSIUS"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

VALUE_OUT_OF_RANGE

The following is an example error response for the VALUE_OUT_OF_RANGE error type. Include a validRange object in the payload to specify the minimum and maximum acceptable values for a setting. For the list of error types, see error type values.

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{
  "event": {
    "header": {
      "namespace": "Alexa",
      "name": "ErrorResponse",
      "messageId": "Unique identifier, preferably a version 4 UUID",
      "correlationToken": "Opaque correlation token that matches the request",
      "payloadVersion": "3"
    },
    "endpoint":{
      "endpointId": "Endpoint ID"
    },
    "payload": {
      "type": "VALUE_OUT_OF_RANGE",
      "message": "The percent value cannot exceed 100.",
      "validRange": {
        "minimumValue": 0,
        "maximumValue": 100
      }
    }
  }
}

Properties and objects

Some error types include the following objects in the payload. For details, see error type values.

CurrentChargeLevelInPercentage property

When you send a NOT_SUPPORTED_WITH_CURRENT_BATTERY_CHARGE_STATE error response, include the currentChargeLevelInPercentage property in the payload. The currentChargeLevelInPercentage indicates the battery level in percentage. Valid values: 0 — 100. This property is optional.

CurrentChargeLevelInPercentage example

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{
  "currentChargeLevelInPercentage": "100"
}

CurrentChargeState property

When you send a NOT_SUPPORTED_WITH_CURRENT_BATTERY_CHARGE_STATE error response, include the currentChargeState property in the payload. The currentChargeState indicates the current state of the battery.

The following table shows the valid values for the battery state.

Battery state Description

ALREADY_CHARGED_TO_REQUIRED_LEVEL

The vehicle battery level is more than the requested level.

CURRENTLY_CHARGING

The vehicle battery is charging.

FULLY_CHARGED

The vehicle battery level is 100%.

NOT_CONNECTED_TO_POWER

The vehicle battery isn't connected to a charger.

CurrentChargeState example

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{
  "currentChargeState": "NOT_CONNECTED_TO_POWER"
}

Reason values

When you send a ENDPOINT_CONTROL_UNAVAILABLE error response, include a reason string in the payload to indicate why endpoint control isn't available.

Property Description

DEEP_SLEEP_MODE

Deep sleep mode is a user-defined setting in an endpoint, such as a connected vehicle. The customer might solve this issue by turning off this mode.

OUT_OF_NETWORK_CONNECTIVITY

The endpoint is outside the range of the network connectivity service.

NO_CONNECTIVITY_PACKAGE_ENABLED

The endpoint requires the customer to purchase or enable an internet plan.

UNKNOWN

The device cloud can't connect to the endpoint for an unknown reason.

ValidRange object

When you send a VALUE_OUT_OF_RANGE error response, include a validRange object in the payload to indicate the minimum and maximum acceptable values. This property is optional.

ValidRange example

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{
  "validRange": {
    "minimumValue": 0,
    "maximumValue": 100
  }
}

ValidRange object with temperatures

When you send a TEMPERATURE_VALUE_OUT_OF_RANGE error response, include a validRange object in the payload to indicate the minimum and maximum acceptable temperatures. The minimum and maximum values contain temperature objects. This property is optional.

ValidRange with temperature example

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{
  "validRange": {
    "minimumValue": {
      "value": 15.0,
      "scale": "CELSIUS"
    },
    "maximumValue": {
      "value": 30.0,
      "scale": "CELSIUS"
    }
  }
}