Alexa.RemoteVideoPlayer Interface
The Alexa.RemoteVideoPlayer interface describes messages that are used to search and play video content.
For the list of locales that are supported for the RemoteVideoPlayer interface, see List of Capability Interfaces and Supported Locales.
Directives
SearchAndPlay
Requests to play a specific piece of content. This message contains the desired media object and URI obtained described as an entity. This message contains an array of entities that specifies what to search and play.
User: Alexa, watch title
User: Alexa, titel anschauen
User: Alexa, play title
User: Alexa, titel abspielen
User: Alexa, stream title
User: Alexa, titel streamen
User: Alexa, start title
User: Alexa, titel starten
Example Request
This example shows a request for a specific piece of content, "Manchester by the Sea"
{
"directive": {
"endpoint": {
"scope": {
"type": "BearerToken",
"token": "access-token-from-skill"
},
"endpointId": "videoDevice-001",
"cookie": {
}
},
"header": {
"messageId": "abc-123-def-456",
"correlationToken": "dFMb0z+PgpgdDmluhJ1LddFvSqZ/jCc8ptlAKulUj90jSqg==",
"name": "SearchAndPlay",
"namespace": "Alexa.RemoteVideoPlayer",
"payloadVersion": "3"
},
"payload": {
"entities": [{
"externalIds": {
"gracenote": "MV000000099001"
},
"value": "Manchester by the Sea",
"type": "Video"
}],
"timeWindow": {
"end": "2016-09-07T23:59:00+00:00",
"start": "2016-09-01T00:00:00+00:00"
}
}
}
}
Payload description
| Property | Description | Type | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
entities |
An array of entity objects to play | array of Entity objects such as a Title, Franchise, Actor, Team or Media Type. For more information, see the entity type descriptions. | Yes |
timeWindow |
Provides the time window for the content the customer wants to play | list of end and start times | Yes |
timeWindow.end |
The end time for the content search. | A string in ISO 8601 format, YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ. | Yes |
timeWindow.start |
The start time for the content search. | A string in ISO 8601 format, YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ. | Yes |
SearchAndDisplayResults
Requests to search and then display the results of a search in a way that is appropriate for your application. This means that you could provide the user with a side-loaded search screen, send the results to a companion mobile app, or display them on a device. This message contains an array of entities that specifies what to search for.
User: Alexa, show me the movie Manchester by the Sea
User: Alexa, zeige mir den film Manchester by the Sea
Example Request:
{
"directive": {
"endpoint": {
"scope": {
"type": "BearerToken",
"token": "access-token-from-skill"
},
"endpointId": "appliance-001",
"cookie": {}
},
"header": {
"messageId": "abc-123-def-456",
"correlationToken": "dFMb0z+PgpgdDmluhJ1LddFvSqZ/jCc8ptlAKulUj90jSqg==",
"name": "SearchAndDisplayResults",
"namespace": "Alexa.RemoteVideoPlayer",
"payloadVersion": "3"
},
"payload": {
"entities": [
{
"externaIds": {
"gracenote": "ST0000000666661"
},
"name": "Manchester by the Sea",
"type": "Video"
}
],
"timeWindow": {
"end": "2016-09-07T23:59:00+00:00",
"start": "2016-09-01T00:00:00+00:00"
}
}
}
}
Payload description
| Property | Description | Type | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
entities |
An array of entity objects to play | array of Entity objects such as a Title, Franchise, Actor, Team or Media Type. For more information, see the entity type descriptions. | Yes |
timeWindow |
Provides the time window for the content the customer wants to play. For example if a customer wants to play an episode from last week, time window would indicate the preceding week. | list of end time and a start times | No |
timeWindow.end |
The end time for the content search. | A string in ISO 8601 format, YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ. | No |
timeWindow.start |
The start time for the content search. | A string in ISO 8601 format, YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ. | No |
Handling Ambiguous Play Requests
Similar to SearchAndDisplayResults, SearchAndPlay supports multiple entity types, including a content title, franchise name, actor, director, sports team, media type and more. This means one of these directives may contain an ambiguous entity request.
For example, a customer could request:
User: Alexa, play a popular comedy
User: Alexa, spiele eine beliebte Komödie ab
-or-
User: Alexa, play a Billy Bob Thornton movie
User: Alexa, spiele einen film mit Billy Bob Thornton
The Video Skill API is flexible in that, despite ambiguity, you can decide how to act on a request. For example, you can:
- Begin playing a popular comedy or Bob Thornton movie
- Generate a list of the top 10 comedies or Bob Thornton movies and randomly select one for the customer to avoid repetition
- Go straight to search results for that ambiguous entity
You can choose how to respond, however, it's recommended that you accommodate a customer's play request if at all possible.
Alexa.Response Event
When a SearchAndPlay or SearchAndDisplayResults directive successfully completes, you should respond with an Alexa.Response message.
Successful Response Example
{
"context": {
"properties": []
},
"event": {
"endpoint": {
"scope": {
"type": "DirectedUserId",
"directedUserId": "access-token-from-Amazon"
},
"endpointId": "videoDevice-001"
},
"header": {
"messageId": "abc-123-def-456",
"correlationToken": "dFMb0z+PgpgdDmluhJ1LddFvSqZ/jCc8ptlAKulUj90jSqg==",
"name": "Response",
"namespace": "Alexa",
"payloadVersion": "3"
},
"payload": {}
}
}
Payload description
No payload content required
Response Performance Requirements
The table describes the latency limits for search and play request responses by call percentage.
| Call Percentage | Latency Limit (in milliseconds) |
|---|---|
| 50% | 50 ms |
| 90% | 100 ms |
| 99% | 200 ms |
See the Testing Guide for more details.
Related Interfaces
| Interface | Description |
|---|---|
| Alexa.PlaybackController | Provides directives for playing and moving around in a set of content; rewinding, fast forwarding and more. |
