title
Alexa Development 101 - Full Amazon Echo tutorial course in one video!
description
*** This video has been UPDATED: https://youtu.be/QkbXjknPoXc ***
If you want to start building skills for Amazon Alexa and you're new to programming - this course was created especially for you! By the end of this course, you'll be able to create custom skills for Amazon Alexa - from scratch - even if you've never written a line of code in your life.
⭐ Course Outline (all in this video) ⭐
⌨ 00:00:02 - Lesson 01: Welcome & Course Introduction
⌨ 00:01:27 - Lesson 02: A Technical Overview of Alexa
⌨ 00:06:11 - Lesson 03: Skills Setup in the Developer Portal
⌨ 00:12:45 - Lesson 04: Understanding Intents and Slots
⌨ 00:16:16 - Lesson 05: Creating Skill Services
⌨ 00:24:09 - Lesson 06: Understanding Skill Code
⌨ 00:32:06 - Lesson 07: Skill Testing
⌨ 00:37:33 - Lesson 08: Planning and Design
⌨ 00:46:55 - Lesson 09: Building a Complete Skill
⌨ 00:59:30 - Lesson 10: Skill Certification
⌨ 01:06:19 - Lesson 11: Next Steps
💻 GitHub repo: https://github.com/dabblelab/alexa-development-101
🔗 For more Alexa development videos, check out the Dabble Lab channel: https://www.youtube.com/dabblelab
🐦 Creator Steve Tingiris on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tingiris
-
Learn to code for free and get a developer job: https://www.freecodecamp.com
Read hundreds of articles on programming: https://medium.freecodecamp.com
detail
{'title': 'Alexa Development 101 - Full Amazon Echo tutorial course in one video!', 'heatmap': [{'end': 2551.173, 'start': 2505.584, 'weight': 1}], 'summary': 'A comprehensive amazon alexa development 101 course introduces the amazon developer portal, alexa skills kit, and the process of creating custom skills. the course covers setting up alexa skills, aws lambda functions, skill modification, javascript development, skill design, interaction, and certification.', 'chapters': [{'end': 76.561, 'segs': [{'end': 56.464, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 2.981, 'weight': 0, 'content': [{'end': 4.182, 'text': 'Hi, this is Steve with DabbleLab.', 'start': 2.981, 'duration': 1.201}, {'end': 5.182, 'text': 'Welcome to the course.', 'start': 4.222, 'duration': 0.96}, {'end': 7.903, 'text': 'This is Amazon Alexa Development 101,', 'start': 5.662, 'duration': 2.241}, {'end': 13.506, 'text': "and I'll be the voice behind the videos and the guy that you can ask questions to as you work your way through the lessons.", 'start': 7.903, 'duration': 5.603}, {'end': 21.47, 'text': 'The goal of this course is to give you an introduction to building skills for Amazon Alexa, and to do that as quickly as possible,', 'start': 14.066, 'duration': 7.404}, {'end': 25.352, 'text': "but without moving so fast that you don't get a solid understanding of what you're doing.", 'start': 21.47, 'duration': 3.882}, {'end': 30.635, 'text': "This is an introductory level course, so if you have experience programming, that's great.", 'start': 26.212, 'duration': 4.423}, {'end': 33.778, 'text': "But if you've never written a line of code in your life, that is okay too.", 'start': 30.695, 'duration': 3.083}, {'end': 36.78, 'text': 'There is absolutely no prior experience necessary.', 'start': 33.818, 'duration': 2.962}, {'end': 41.163, 'text': 'That said, to make the best use of our time, I will make some assumptions.', 'start': 37.28, 'duration': 3.883}, {'end': 49.409, 'text': "For example, I'll assume that you're familiar with what Alexa is from a user perspective and that you have some basic computing skills.", 'start': 41.343, 'duration': 8.066}, {'end': 53.322, 'text': 'The course is broken down into a collection of short videos.', 'start': 50.339, 'duration': 2.983}, {'end': 56.464, 'text': 'All of them are under 10 minutes, but most are around five minutes.', 'start': 53.462, 'duration': 3.002}], 'summary': 'Introductory amazon alexa course with short videos, suitable for beginners and experienced programmers, under 10 minutes each.', 'duration': 53.483, 'max_score': 2.981, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE2981.jpg'}], 'start': 2.981, 'title': 'Amazon alexa development 101', 'summary': 'Provides an introduction to the amazon alexa development 101 course, emphasizing its accessibility to individuals with no prior coding experience and the availability of short instructional videos and online resources for learners.', 'chapters': [{'end': 76.561, 'start': 2.981, 'title': 'Amazon alexa development 101', 'summary': "Provides an introduction to the amazon alexa development 101 course, aiming to equip learners with the skills to build amazon alexa skills, emphasizing the course's accessibility to individuals with no prior coding experience, with short instructional videos and complementary online resources.", 'duration': 73.58, 'highlights': ['The course is designed to give an introduction to building skills for Amazon Alexa, catering to individuals with or without programming experience.', 'The videos are under 10 minutes, with most around five minutes, to facilitate efficient learning.', 'The course is accessible to individuals with no prior coding experience, emphasizing its inclusivity.', 'The instructor will assume basic familiarity with Alexa and computing skills, but will provide links to complement the course content and will demonstrate on a Mac, while ensuring compatibility for Windows and Linux users.']}], 'duration': 73.58, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE2981.jpg', 'highlights': ['The course is designed to give an introduction to building skills for Amazon Alexa, catering to individuals with or without programming experience.', 'The course is accessible to individuals with no prior coding experience, emphasizing its inclusivity.', 'The videos are under 10 minutes, with most around five minutes, to facilitate efficient learning.', 'The instructor will assume basic familiarity with Alexa and computing skills, but will provide links to complement the course content and will demonstrate on a Mac, while ensuring compatibility for Windows and Linux users.']}, {'end': 454.94, 'segs': [{'end': 131.897, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 108.919, 'weight': 0, 'content': [{'end': 118.604, 'text': "Alexa is also a service from Amazon that makes it possible for anybody to extend Alexa's capabilities or incorporate Alexa into smart devices and software.", 'start': 108.919, 'duration': 9.685}, {'end': 126.071, 'text': 'For developers, the Amazon Alexa service provides the Alexa skills kit and the Alexa voice service.', 'start': 119.285, 'duration': 6.786}, {'end': 130.335, 'text': 'The skills kit lets you add new capabilities that make Alexa smarter.', 'start': 126.432, 'duration': 3.903}, {'end': 131.897, 'text': 'These are called skills.', 'start': 130.816, 'duration': 1.081}], 'summary': "Amazon's alexa service enables developers to extend capabilities and incorporate alexa into smart devices and software, via the alexa skills kit and voice service.", 'duration': 22.978, 'max_score': 108.919, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE108919.jpg'}, {'end': 176.542, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 151.248, 'weight': 1, 'content': [{'end': 157.331, 'text': "Our topic in this course is building skills, so we're going to be taking a closer look at the Alexa skills kit.", 'start': 151.248, 'duration': 6.083}, {'end': 164.334, 'text': 'The Alexa Skills Kit is a collection of resources to make it easier for developers to create new skills.', 'start': 158.39, 'duration': 5.944}, {'end': 171.378, 'text': 'And the Skills Kit includes documentation, software development kits, application programming interfaces, and example code.', 'start': 164.514, 'duration': 6.864}, {'end': 176.542, 'text': "And we'll be talking about these in more detail later in the course.", 'start': 171.879, 'duration': 4.663}], 'summary': 'The course focuses on building skills with the alexa skills kit, a resource collection for developers to create new skills.', 'duration': 25.294, 'max_score': 151.248, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE151248.jpg'}, {'end': 234.741, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 209.98, 'weight': 3, 'content': [{'end': 215.441, 'text': "but it does require an understanding of how Alexa works from a technical perspective, and we'll be covering that.", 'start': 209.98, 'duration': 5.461}, {'end': 219.625, 'text': 'Building a skill service is a bit more technical and does require coding.', 'start': 216.061, 'duration': 3.564}, {'end': 227.393, 'text': "However, even if you've never coded anything before in your life, you can build a skill service using Amazon Web Services pretty easily,", 'start': 219.805, 'duration': 7.588}, {'end': 228.755, 'text': "and that's what we'll be doing in this course.", 'start': 227.393, 'duration': 1.362}, {'end': 234.741, 'text': "We'll talk more about skill services in a minute, but first let's take a closer look at the skill setup.", 'start': 229.215, 'duration': 5.526}], 'summary': 'Learn to build a skill service with amazon web services, even without prior coding experience.', 'duration': 24.761, 'max_score': 209.98, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE209980.jpg'}, {'end': 322.569, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 295.814, 'weight': 4, 'content': [{'end': 305.64, 'text': "That said, the easiest and the recommended way to build skills is by using Amazon Web Services or AWS, and that's what we'll be doing.", 'start': 295.814, 'duration': 9.826}, {'end': 311.443, 'text': 'So to wrap up, let me summarize how Alexa works with custom skills.', 'start': 306.5, 'duration': 4.943}, {'end': 322.569, 'text': 'First, a user speaks to an Amazon Echo or an Alexa-enabled device, and the audio is streamed from the device to the Alexa service.', 'start': 311.903, 'duration': 10.666}], 'summary': 'Building skills using amazon web services, alexa works with custom skills by streaming audio from the device to the alexa service.', 'duration': 26.755, 'max_score': 295.814, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE295814.jpg'}, {'end': 403.536, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 372.816, 'weight': 5, 'content': [{'end': 377.859, 'text': 'So in the last lesson, you learned that there are two things that you need to do as a developer to create a new skill.', 'start': 372.816, 'duration': 5.043}, {'end': 385.544, 'text': 'You need to set up your skill in the Amazon Developer Portal, and then you need to build a skill service to provide your skills functionality.', 'start': 377.959, 'duration': 7.585}, {'end': 391.548, 'text': "In this lesson, we're going to set up our skill in the Developer Portal, the bare minimum requirements.", 'start': 386.104, 'duration': 5.444}, {'end': 396.651, 'text': "And to do that, you're going to need to have an Amazon developer account.", 'start': 392.228, 'duration': 4.423}, {'end': 403.536, 'text': "And you can get that by going over to developer.amazon.com if you're not already there and signing up.", 'start': 396.971, 'duration': 6.565}], 'summary': 'Developers need to set up a skill in amazon developer portal and build a skill service with minimum requirements, requiring an amazon developer account.', 'duration': 30.72, 'max_score': 372.816, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE372816.jpg'}, {'end': 458.863, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 434.662, 'weight': 6, 'content': [{'end': 440.488, 'text': 'But point here is that you want to use the email address that you use with your primary Amazon account.', 'start': 434.662, 'duration': 5.826}, {'end': 443.27, 'text': "It'll make testing a whole lot easier when you sign up.", 'start': 440.508, 'duration': 2.762}, {'end': 450.856, 'text': "If you don't have an Amazon account, of course, you can create one as you go through the signup process.", 'start': 444.051, 'duration': 6.805}, {'end': 454.079, 'text': "And there's no charge to create a developer account.", 'start': 450.936, 'duration': 3.143}, {'end': 454.94, 'text': "That's free.", 'start': 454.239, 'duration': 0.701}, {'end': 458.863, 'text': "And once you've created your account, you can go ahead and log in.", 'start': 455.62, 'duration': 3.243}], 'summary': 'Use primary amazon email for testing. creating developer account is free.', 'duration': 24.201, 'max_score': 434.662, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE434662.jpg'}], 'start': 76.561, 'title': 'Developing alexa skills', 'summary': 'Introduces the amazon developer portal and the alexa skills kit, highlighting its multiple capabilities and services. it also discusses the process of creating custom skills for amazon alexa, emphasizing the technical aspects, required coding, and overall functionality.', 'chapters': [{'end': 192.285, 'start': 76.561, 'title': 'Getting started with alexa development', 'summary': "Introduces the amazon developer portal as the starting point for alexa development, highlighting the multiple capabilities and services of alexa, focusing on the alexa skills kit for developers' ease, and emphasizing that using the skills kit is free.", 'duration': 115.724, 'highlights': ["The Amazon Developer Portal is the starting point for Alexa development, providing access to the Alexa skills kit and the Alexa voice service, allowing anyone to extend Alexa's capabilities or incorporate Alexa into smart devices and software.", 'The Alexa Skills Kit is a collection of resources to facilitate the creation of new skills, including documentation, software development kits, application programming interfaces, and example code, and it is completely free to use.', 'A key focus of the course is building skills, particularly exploring the Alexa Skills Kit and its various resources to aid developers in creating new capabilities for Alexa, highlighting that most actions involved in the process should not incur any cost.']}, {'end': 454.94, 'start': 193.496, 'title': 'Creating custom skills for amazon alexa', 'summary': 'Discusses the process of creating custom skills for amazon alexa, including setting up the skill in the amazon developer portal and building a skill service using amazon web services, with emphasis on the technical aspects and the required coding, as well as the overall functionality of alexa with custom skills.', 'duration': 261.444, 'highlights': ['Creating a skill service using Amazon Web Services is emphasized as the recommended way to build skills. It is emphasized that even those without prior coding experience can build a skill service using Amazon Web Services pretty easily.', 'The process of Alexa working with custom skills is explained, outlining the user interaction, request handling, and response generation. The process is outlined, starting with a user speaking to an Amazon Echo or Alexa-enabled device, the conversion of voice stream to text, determination of the request, handling of the request by the skill service, and the response generation.', "Setting up a skill in the Amazon Developer Portal and building a skill service are highlighted as the two main requirements for creating a new skill. The two main requirements for creating a new skill are setting up the skill in the Amazon Developer Portal and building a skill service to provide the skill's functionality.", 'The importance of using the email address associated with the primary Amazon account for signing up for the developer account is emphasized. It is emphasized that using the email address associated with the primary Amazon account for signing up for the developer account would make testing a whole lot easier.']}], 'duration': 378.379, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE76561.jpg', 'highlights': ["The Amazon Developer Portal provides access to the Alexa skills kit and the Alexa voice service, allowing anyone to extend Alexa's capabilities or incorporate Alexa into smart devices and software.", 'The Alexa Skills Kit is a collection of resources to facilitate the creation of new skills, including documentation, software development kits, application programming interfaces, and example code, and it is completely free to use.', 'A key focus of the course is building skills, particularly exploring the Alexa Skills Kit and its various resources to aid developers in creating new capabilities for Alexa, highlighting that most actions involved in the process should not incur any cost.', 'Creating a skill service using Amazon Web Services is emphasized as the recommended way to build skills. It is emphasized that even those without prior coding experience can build a skill service using Amazon Web Services pretty easily.', 'The process of Alexa working with custom skills is explained, outlining the user interaction, request handling, and response generation. The process is outlined, starting with a user speaking to an Amazon Echo or Alexa-enabled device, the conversion of voice stream to text, determination of the request, handling of the request by the skill service, and the response generation.', "Setting up a skill in the Amazon Developer Portal and building a skill service are highlighted as the two main requirements for creating a new skill. The two main requirements for creating a new skill are setting up the skill in the Amazon Developer Portal and building a skill service to provide the skill's functionality.", 'The importance of using the email address associated with the primary Amazon account for signing up for the developer account is emphasized. It is emphasized that using the email address associated with the primary Amazon account for signing up for the developer account would make testing a whole lot easier.']}, {'end': 1086.037, 'segs': [{'end': 526.706, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 498.954, 'weight': 0, 'content': [{'end': 504.001, 'text': "And we're going to add a new skill by clicking the Add New Skill button here.", 'start': 498.954, 'duration': 5.047}, {'end': 507.519, 'text': "And we're just setting up the bare basics for our skill.", 'start': 504.778, 'duration': 2.741}, {'end': 512.64, 'text': "And so there's a number of pieces of information that we're gonna provide.", 'start': 507.899, 'duration': 4.741}, {'end': 514.061, 'text': "There's no coding in here.", 'start': 512.66, 'duration': 1.401}, {'end': 519.663, 'text': "So everything that we're gonna do in the developer portal is really gonna be configuration information.", 'start': 514.322, 'duration': 5.341}, {'end': 521.024, 'text': 'So no coding here.', 'start': 519.744, 'duration': 1.28}, {'end': 522.885, 'text': "We're gonna do that in a little bit.", 'start': 521.063, 'duration': 1.822}, {'end': 526.706, 'text': 'But there is quite a few pieces of information that we need to provide.', 'start': 523.565, 'duration': 3.141}], 'summary': 'Setting up a new skill with configuration information, no coding involved.', 'duration': 27.752, 'max_score': 498.954, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE498954.jpg'}, {'end': 695.246, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 669.208, 'weight': 1, 'content': [{'end': 674.432, 'text': "We can use just about anything while we're developing for the skill name and the invocation name.", 'start': 669.208, 'duration': 5.224}, {'end': 676.793, 'text': 'But when you get ready to publish your skill,', 'start': 674.492, 'duration': 2.301}, {'end': 689.642, 'text': "there are guidelines for the invocation name that you need to follow so that your invocation name doesn't collide with or conflict with existing skill functionality or Alexa native functionality.", 'start': 676.793, 'duration': 12.849}, {'end': 693.624, 'text': 'And so you want to review those guidelines when you get ready to publish your skill.', 'start': 689.682, 'duration': 3.942}, {'end': 695.246, 'text': "We're going to cover that later.", 'start': 694.005, 'duration': 1.241}], 'summary': 'Follow guidelines for skill invocation name to avoid conflicts with existing functionality.', 'duration': 26.038, 'max_score': 669.208, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE669208.jpg'}, {'end': 861.165, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 834.318, 'weight': 3, 'content': [{'end': 839.699, 'text': 'But the two most important things that you need to know about are intents and slots.', 'start': 834.318, 'duration': 5.381}, {'end': 846.141, 'text': 'And intents represent the actions your skill can perform based on what users say.', 'start': 840.059, 'duration': 6.082}, {'end': 852.022, 'text': "And by defining intents and what users might say that's associated with those intents.", 'start': 846.841, 'duration': 5.181}, {'end': 861.165, 'text': 'that lets the Alexa service know how to process what the user is saying and what users want,', 'start': 852.022, 'duration': 9.143}], 'summary': 'Intents and slots are key for skill actions and user input processing.', 'duration': 26.847, 'max_score': 834.318, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE834318.jpg'}, {'end': 950.775, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 913.186, 'weight': 4, 'content': [{'end': 914.528, 'text': 'And there are two types of intents.', 'start': 913.186, 'duration': 1.342}, {'end': 916.731, 'text': "There's custom intents and built-in intents.", 'start': 914.568, 'duration': 2.163}, {'end': 922.279, 'text': "For right now, we're just going to set up a custom intent.", 'start': 918.394, 'duration': 3.885}, {'end': 926.966, 'text': 'And again, the name of that intent is going to be general greeting.', 'start': 922.62, 'duration': 4.346}, {'end': 929.229, 'text': 'Spell that right.', 'start': 928.708, 'duration': 0.521}, {'end': 938.145, 'text': "that and we'll create that intent and the.", 'start': 932.941, 'duration': 5.204}, {'end': 940.847, 'text': 'our skill is going to respond when a user says hello.', 'start': 938.145, 'duration': 2.702}, {'end': 950.775, 'text': "so that is going to when a user says hello, that's going to tell our skill to act on the general greeting.", 'start': 940.847, 'duration': 9.928}], 'summary': "Setting up a custom intent named 'general greeting' to respond when a user says hello.", 'duration': 37.589, 'max_score': 913.186, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE913186.jpg'}, {'end': 1039.333, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 1015.959, 'weight': 5, 'content': [{'end': 1023.784, 'text': "I mentioned earlier that Amazon doesn't really care where your skill exists or how it was created in terms of like,", 'start': 1015.959, 'duration': 7.825}, {'end': 1028.366, 'text': 'the programming language or the technology stack, just so long as it can communicate with the Alexa service.', 'start': 1023.784, 'duration': 4.582}, {'end': 1037.531, 'text': 'But the easiest and recommended way to create and host a skill service is by using Lambda functions through Amazon Web Services or AWS.', 'start': 1028.906, 'duration': 8.625}, {'end': 1039.333, 'text': "And that's what we're going to do.", 'start': 1038.112, 'duration': 1.221}], 'summary': 'Amazon prefers skills to communicate with alexa service via lambda functions through aws.', 'duration': 23.374, 'max_score': 1015.959, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE1015959.jpg'}, {'end': 1095.214, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 1068.691, 'weight': 2, 'content': [{'end': 1075.393, 'text': 'Make sure that you use the same email address that you used when you created your account on the Amazon Developer Portal.', 'start': 1068.691, 'duration': 6.702}, {'end': 1079.455, 'text': "The signup process is straightforward, so I'm not going to walk through that.", 'start': 1075.833, 'duration': 3.622}, {'end': 1086.037, 'text': 'The one point I will make, however, is that in the AWS signup process, you will get prompted for a credit card.', 'start': 1079.815, 'duration': 6.222}, {'end': 1095.214, 'text': "I mentioned earlier that nothing that we're doing in this course is going to cost anything because AWS provides a free tier.", 'start': 1086.641, 'duration': 8.573}], 'summary': 'Use the same email for amazon account. aws signup prompts for credit card, but course activities are free.', 'duration': 26.523, 'max_score': 1068.691, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE1068691.jpg'}], 'start': 455.62, 'title': 'Setting up and building alexa skills', 'summary': "Covers setting up a new alexa skill, including creating an account, navigating the developer portal, adding a new skill, and setting up the bare minimum for the skill's configuration. it also explains the importance of intents and slots in creating an alexa skill, demonstrating how to set up a custom intent named general greeting and how to configure the skill service using aws lambda functions.", 'chapters': [{'end': 834.158, 'start': 455.62, 'title': 'Setting up alexa skills', 'summary': "Explains setting up a new alexa skill, including creating an account, navigating the developer portal, adding a new skill, and setting up the bare minimum for the skill's configuration.", 'duration': 378.538, 'highlights': ['Creating an account and navigating the developer portal The chapter emphasizes the process of creating an account, logging in, and navigating the developer portal to access the dashboard and the Alexa menu.', 'Setting up a new skill and providing configuration information It explains the process of adding a new skill in the developer portal, providing the necessary configuration information, and clarifies that it does not involve coding.', "Configuring skill name and invocation name The chapter details the importance of setting the skill name and invocation name, using 'Hello World' as an example, and highlights the significance of following guidelines for the invocation name when publishing the skill."]}, {'end': 1086.037, 'start': 834.318, 'title': 'Building alexa skill: intents and slots', 'summary': 'Explains the importance of intents and slots in creating an alexa skill, demonstrating how to set up a custom intent named general greeting and how to configure the skill service using aws lambda functions.', 'duration': 251.719, 'highlights': ["The chapter emphasizes the significance of intents and slots in building an Alexa skill, crucial for defining the skill's actions and extracting specific user information, such as names (e.g., 'Steve').", "It demonstrates setting up a custom intent named general greeting to respond to a user saying 'hello' and configuring the skill service using AWS Lambda functions, the recommended method for creating and hosting the skill service.", 'It explains that the logic for a skill lives outside of the Amazon Alexa service and needs to be built and hosted separately, with the recommended approach being the use of Lambda functions through Amazon Web Services (AWS).']}], 'duration': 630.417, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE455620.jpg', 'highlights': ['Setting up a new skill and providing configuration information', 'Configuring skill name and invocation name', 'Creating an account and navigating the developer portal', 'The chapter emphasizes the significance of intents and slots in building an Alexa skill', "It demonstrates setting up a custom intent named general greeting to respond to a user saying 'hello'", 'Configuring the skill service using AWS Lambda functions']}, {'end': 1432.203, 'segs': [{'end': 1111.62, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 1086.641, 'weight': 0, 'content': [{'end': 1095.214, 'text': "I mentioned earlier that nothing that we're doing in this course is going to cost anything because AWS provides a free tier.", 'start': 1086.641, 'duration': 8.573}, {'end': 1099.56, 'text': 'And you can see that here, the first million requests per month are free.', 'start': 1095.895, 'duration': 3.665}, {'end': 1101.824, 'text': "So as long as you don't go over that, we are good.", 'start': 1099.641, 'duration': 2.183}, {'end': 1111.62, 'text': 'But if you want to learn more about the pricing, just go to aws.amazon.com slash pricing and you can see how the pricing works.', 'start': 1103.312, 'duration': 8.308}], 'summary': 'Aws provides a free tier with first million requests per month free. additional pricing details at aws.amazon.com/pricing.', 'duration': 24.979, 'max_score': 1086.641, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE1086641.jpg'}, {'end': 1164.804, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 1135.624, 'weight': 1, 'content': [{'end': 1141.147, 'text': 'So Lambda functions are referred to as serverless functions.', 'start': 1135.624, 'duration': 5.523}, {'end': 1152.054, 'text': "So it's a platform that allows you to create services software services without having to worry about setting up and creating the server,", 'start': 1141.287, 'duration': 10.767}, {'end': 1154.436, 'text': 'which is where that serverless name comes from.', 'start': 1152.054, 'duration': 2.382}, {'end': 1158.238, 'text': "Of course, there are servers behind it, but we don't have to think about any of that stuff.", 'start': 1154.476, 'duration': 3.762}, {'end': 1164.804, 'text': "We can just jump right in in write our code, and it's a really nice and easy way to do it,", 'start': 1158.278, 'duration': 6.526}], 'summary': 'Lambda functions allow creating serverless software services without server setup hassle.', 'duration': 29.18, 'max_score': 1135.624, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE1135624.jpg'}, {'end': 1213.285, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 1184.365, 'weight': 2, 'content': [{'end': 1188.089, 'text': 'They call them blueprints that you can use as a starting point.', 'start': 1184.365, 'duration': 3.724}, {'end': 1193.095, 'text': 'And Lambda can be used for lots of different things, not just creating Alexa skills.', 'start': 1188.269, 'duration': 4.826}, {'end': 1195.578, 'text': 'But if you search for Alexa..', 'start': 1193.135, 'duration': 2.443}, {'end': 1199.098, 'text': 'Alex, Alexa, that works.', 'start': 1197.457, 'duration': 1.641}, {'end': 1202.58, 'text': "You'll see some of the blueprints that are provided.", 'start': 1199.558, 'duration': 3.022}, {'end': 1209.343, 'text': "We're gonna use one of these blueprints to get started, but I'm not gonna talk through what the blueprint is doing.", 'start': 1202.68, 'duration': 6.663}, {'end': 1213.285, 'text': "The reason that we're gonna pick one of the Alexa blueprints is because the..", 'start': 1209.403, 'duration': 3.882}], 'summary': 'Lambda offers versatile blueprints for various purposes, including alexa skills.', 'duration': 28.92, 'max_score': 1184.365, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE1184365.jpg'}, {'end': 1408.655, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 1347.358, 'weight': 3, 'content': [{'end': 1358.277, 'text': 'The only thing left to do is to let the, skill in the developer console know the ARN or the Amazon resource name, which is this up here.', 'start': 1347.358, 'duration': 10.919}, {'end': 1368.706, 'text': 'So we just want to copy that and then go back to the Alexa developer or the Amazon developer portal and to our Alexa configuration.', 'start': 1358.337, 'duration': 10.369}, {'end': 1373.19, 'text': 'And then we want to go ahead and paste in that ARN.', 'start': 1369.166, 'duration': 4.024}, {'end': 1387.096, 'text': 'And so when we do that and click save, Now we have our settings connected to our backend skill service and we can test that real quick.', 'start': 1373.39, 'duration': 13.706}, {'end': 1390.958, 'text': "and this is where we're going to end up, or this is where we're going to end this lesson.", 'start': 1387.096, 'duration': 3.862}, {'end': 1393.378, 'text': "but we'll come back and we'll talk about testing in more detail.", 'start': 1390.958, 'duration': 2.42}, {'end': 1400.741, 'text': "We'll test it by just saying open hello world and we should get a response back.", 'start': 1393.639, 'duration': 7.102}, {'end': 1408.655, 'text': 'And we did.', 'start': 1408.135, 'duration': 0.52}], 'summary': "Configured alexa skill with arn, tested by saying 'open hello world' and received response.", 'duration': 61.297, 'max_score': 1347.358, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE1347358.jpg'}], 'start': 1086.641, 'title': 'Aws lambda functions and setting up skill service', 'summary': "Covers aws lambda functions, including the free tier, creating lambda functions for alexa skills using blueprints and the alexa sdk, as well as setting up a skill service with lambda, involving selecting an execution role, creating a custom role, setting the amazon resource name, and testing the skill service's response.", 'chapters': [{'end': 1286.415, 'start': 1086.641, 'title': 'Aws lambda serverless functions', 'summary': 'Discusses the free tier provided by aws, the concept of lambda functions as serverless functions, and the process of creating a lambda function for an alexa skill using blueprints and the alexa sdk.', 'duration': 199.774, 'highlights': ['AWS provides a free tier with the first million requests per month being free. The free tier provided by AWS includes the first million requests per month, ensuring no cost as long as the limit is not exceeded.', 'Lambda functions are serverless, allowing to create services without setting up and creating servers. Lambda functions, referred to as serverless functions, enable the creation of software services without the need to set up and create servers, reducing complexity and infrastructure concerns.', "Using blueprints and Alexa SDK, a Lambda function is created for an Alexa skill. The process involves selecting a blueprint from the provided Alexa SDK, setting it up to be triggered by requests from the Alexa Skills Kit, and naming the function, such as 'Hello World Alexa Skill.'"]}, {'end': 1432.203, 'start': 1286.575, 'title': 'Setting up skill service with lambda', 'summary': "Details the process of setting up a skill service using lambda function, including selecting an execution role, creating a custom role, setting the amazon resource name, and testing the skill service's response.", 'duration': 145.628, 'highlights': ['The process involves selecting an execution role to give the Lambda function permission to run. None', 'Creating a custom role named Lambda_basic execution is part of the setup process. None', 'Setting the Amazon resource name (ARN) in the Alexa developer portal connects the settings to the backend skill service. None', "Testing the skill service's response by saying 'open hello world' results in a successful response about Space Facts, such as 'A year on Mercury is just 88 days long.' Successful response received"]}], 'duration': 345.562, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE1086641.jpg', 'highlights': ['AWS provides a free tier with the first million requests per month being free.', 'Lambda functions are serverless, allowing to create services without setting up and creating servers.', 'Using blueprints and Alexa SDK, a Lambda function is created for an Alexa skill.', 'Setting the Amazon resource name (ARN) in the Alexa developer portal connects the settings to the backend skill service.', "Testing the skill service's response by saying 'open hello world' results in a successful response about Space Facts."]}, {'end': 2246.708, 'segs': [{'end': 1513.057, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 1483.273, 'weight': 4, 'content': [{'end': 1485.293, 'text': 'And you wanna go into that.', 'start': 1483.273, 'duration': 2.02}, {'end': 1492.837, 'text': "And we're gonna talk about the code here that was provided as part of the, blueprint that we selected.", 'start': 1485.413, 'duration': 7.424}, {'end': 1496.821, 'text': 'So the blueprint that we selected was for a skill that provides space facts.', 'start': 1492.917, 'duration': 3.904}, {'end': 1505.65, 'text': 'And if you wanted a space fact skill, we are done at this point, aside from maybe adding some additional facts or changing these ones.', 'start': 1496.981, 'duration': 8.669}, {'end': 1513.057, 'text': "For that matter, if you wanted a fact skill for any topic, you could go in here and just change these facts and you'd be done.", 'start': 1506.611, 'duration': 6.446}], 'summary': 'The selected blueprint is for a space fact skill, which is easily customizable for any topic.', 'duration': 29.784, 'max_score': 1483.273, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE1483273.jpg'}, {'end': 1558.096, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 1528.442, 'weight': 2, 'content': [{'end': 1532.763, 'text': "What I do want to do, however, is I want to talk about what's going on in here at a higher level,", 'start': 1528.442, 'duration': 4.321}, {'end': 1541.605, 'text': 'and then talk about how we can make some changes that will allow functionality, that we are going to define ourselves more specifically,', 'start': 1532.763, 'duration': 8.842}, {'end': 1546.628, 'text': 'how to deal with the general greeting intent that we defined as part of our interaction model.', 'start': 1542.145, 'duration': 4.483}, {'end': 1547.489, 'text': "We're going to do that here.", 'start': 1546.648, 'duration': 0.841}, {'end': 1558.096, 'text': 'But first of all, all of this code is written in JavaScript and it is run in the context of Node.js.', 'start': 1548.009, 'duration': 10.087}], 'summary': 'Discussing changes for improving functionality, defining intent, and using javascript in node.js context.', 'duration': 29.654, 'max_score': 1528.442, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE1528442.jpg'}, {'end': 1627.101, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 1600.22, 'weight': 1, 'content': [{'end': 1605.664, 'text': "There might look like there's a lot going on here, but actually it's pretty straightforward and it's pretty simple.", 'start': 1600.22, 'duration': 5.444}, {'end': 1608.065, 'text': 'And that is because of this right here.', 'start': 1606.104, 'duration': 1.961}, {'end': 1624.819, 'text': 'The Alexa skills kit provides an SDK which is a wrapper for the API that makes sending and receiving the messages back and forth between your skill service and the Alexa service really straightforward.', 'start': 1608.165, 'duration': 16.654}, {'end': 1627.101, 'text': 'And so let me show you how that works.', 'start': 1624.879, 'duration': 2.222}], 'summary': 'The alexa skills kit provides a straightforward sdk for sending and receiving messages between skill service and alexa service.', 'duration': 26.881, 'max_score': 1600.22, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE1600220.jpg'}, {'end': 1973.333, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 1944.276, 'weight': 3, 'content': [{'end': 1949.818, 'text': "So you'll either need an Amazon Echo or some other Alexa enabled device or software to do that.", 'start': 1944.276, 'duration': 5.542}, {'end': 1956.3, 'text': "And you don't need to go buy an Echo, but if you have one and it's configured with the same email address as your developer portal account,", 'start': 1950.178, 'duration': 6.122}, {'end': 1960.061, 'text': 'you can start using your Echo for testing without doing anything else.', 'start': 1956.3, 'duration': 3.761}, {'end': 1967.97, 'text': "And that is because When you're developing skills, your skills are automatically enabled for your account.", 'start': 1960.121, 'duration': 7.849}, {'end': 1973.333, 'text': "And you can see that using your Alexa companion app, or I'm logged in here at.", 'start': 1968.11, 'duration': 5.223}], 'summary': 'Developers can utilize amazon echo or alexa enabled devices for skill testing without purchasing an echo, as skills are automatically enabled for the account.', 'duration': 29.057, 'max_score': 1944.276, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE1944276.jpg'}, {'end': 2169.306, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 2136.417, 'weight': 0, 'content': [{'end': 2141.022, 'text': "There's a test tool that's built in to AWS for Lambda.", 'start': 2136.417, 'duration': 4.605}, {'end': 2152.774, 'text': "And what you're gonna need to do to test this tool is configure it with the JSON message that's gonna be sent to the function to get a response back.", 'start': 2141.663, 'duration': 11.111}, {'end': 2158.317, 'text': "And so if you don't have the right request here,", 'start': 2153.433, 'duration': 4.884}, {'end': 2169.306, 'text': "you will just get an error because the Lambda function isn't getting the message format that it's expecting.", 'start': 2158.317, 'duration': 10.989}], 'summary': 'Aws has a test tool for lambda that requires configuring with a json message for function testing.', 'duration': 32.889, 'max_score': 2136.417, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE2136417.jpg'}], 'start': 1434.073, 'title': 'Custom skill modification and javascript development', 'summary': 'Covers modifying a custom skill code, including accessing function list, and developing alexa skills using javascript and node.js. it demonstrates handling user input, testing lambda functions, and interacting with the alexa service.', 'chapters': [{'end': 1547.489, 'start': 1434.073, 'title': 'Custom skill code modification', 'summary': 'Discusses modifying a fully functional custom skill and reviewing the code for the skill service, including guidance on accessing the function list, discussing the provided blueprint, and making changes to define specific functionality for the general greeting intent.', 'duration': 113.416, 'highlights': ['The chapter discusses modifying a fully functional custom skill and reviewing the code for the skill service Provides an overview of the main focus of the chapter', 'Guidance on accessing the function list and discussing the provided blueprint Explains the steps to access the function list and the discussion about the provided blueprint for the skill', 'Making changes to define specific functionality for the general greeting intent Emphasizes the intention to make changes for defining specific functionality for the general greeting intent']}, {'end': 2246.708, 'start': 1548.009, 'title': 'Developing alexa skills with javascript and node.js', 'summary': 'Introduces developing alexa skills using javascript and node.js, demonstrating how to interact with the alexa service, handle user input, and test the lambda functions in the aws management portal.', 'duration': 698.699, 'highlights': ['The Alexa skills kit provides an SDK which is a wrapper for the API, making sending and receiving messages between the skill service and the Alexa service straightforward. The SDK simplifies the interaction with the Alexa service, streamlining message exchange for the skill service.', "The user can test skills using voice interaction with an Amazon Echo or other Alexa-enabled devices or software, automatically enabled for the developer's account during skill development. Testing options include using an Amazon Echo or other Alexa-enabled devices or software, such as the Amazon Shopping app, Reverb, or EchoSim.io.", 'The test tool in AWS for Lambda functions allows configuring and testing with the JSON message sent to the function, providing a detailed response and debugging capabilities. The test tool in AWS enables the configuration and testing of Lambda functions with the required JSON message format, offering detailed responses for debugging.']}], 'duration': 812.635, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE1434073.jpg', 'highlights': ['The test tool in AWS for Lambda functions allows configuring and testing with the JSON message sent to the function, providing a detailed response and debugging capabilities.', 'The Alexa skills kit provides an SDK which is a wrapper for the API, making sending and receiving messages between the skill service and the Alexa service straightforward.', 'Making changes to define specific functionality for the general greeting intent.', "The user can test skills using voice interaction with an Amazon Echo or other Alexa-enabled devices or software, automatically enabled for the developer's account during skill development.", 'Guidance on accessing the function list and discussing the provided blueprint.']}, {'end': 2622.066, 'segs': [{'end': 2459.813, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 2403.824, 'weight': 0, 'content': [{'end': 2405.185, 'text': 'So the concept was still the same.', 'start': 2403.824, 'duration': 1.361}, {'end': 2407.266, 'text': "It's a skill for suggesting beers.", 'start': 2405.245, 'duration': 2.021}, {'end': 2416.253, 'text': 'craft beers.', 'start': 2415.592, 'duration': 0.661}, {'end': 2425.083, 'text': "And again, so if you search your concept and you see that there's other skills that are doing something similar, don't get discouraged.", 'start': 2417.014, 'duration': 8.069}, {'end': 2431.19, 'text': 'Just spend some time looking at those skills and figure out how you can make your skill a little bit different and better.', 'start': 2425.103, 'duration': 6.087}, {'end': 2438.705, 'text': 'Okay, so, once you have locked in your general skill concept,', 'start': 2432.378, 'duration': 6.327}, {'end': 2446.173, 'text': "the next thing you'll want to do is start sketching out some sample dialogues and mapping out your skill.", 'start': 2438.705, 'duration': 7.468}, {'end': 2449.637, 'text': 'And I just do that in a Google Doc.', 'start': 2446.333, 'duration': 3.304}, {'end': 2451.039, 'text': 'And there..', 'start': 2449.977, 'duration': 1.062}, {'end': 2459.813, 'text': 'is a lot more work in planning and design than you tend to think there is when you first get into it.', 'start': 2452.083, 'duration': 7.73}], 'summary': 'Developing a beer suggesting skill requires planning and differentiation from existing skills. design and mapping out are crucial.', 'duration': 55.989, 'max_score': 2403.824, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE2403824.jpg'}, {'end': 2562.298, 'src': 'heatmap', 'start': 2484.849, 'weight': 4, 'content': [{'end': 2487.469, 'text': 'So I used suggest a beer as the invocation name.', 'start': 2484.849, 'duration': 2.62}, {'end': 2492.55, 'text': 'And the reason that I did that is because I really wanted this first.', 'start': 2488.249, 'duration': 4.301}, {'end': 2501.159, 'text': 'And so in the Alexa environment, you can say Alexa and then just reference the invocation name.', 'start': 2492.87, 'duration': 8.289}, {'end': 2505.344, 'text': 'And so I made the invocation name sound like an utterance.', 'start': 2501.379, 'duration': 3.965}, {'end': 2511.552, 'text': "So it's Alexa suggest a beer is the first possible invocation request example.", 'start': 2505.584, 'duration': 5.968}, {'end': 2518.1, 'text': "And that's really what I was most interested in and why I used that as the invocation name rather than beer suggestions.", 'start': 2511.572, 'duration': 6.528}, {'end': 2525.268, 'text': 'So if I had used beer suggestions, the invocation would have been something more like Alexa ask beer suggestions to suggest a beer.', 'start': 2518.14, 'duration': 7.128}, {'end': 2528.432, 'text': 'And I was just trying to shorten it to simplify it.', 'start': 2525.789, 'duration': 2.643}, {'end': 2536.522, 'text': "After you've thought through some possible invocation request examples, and as you're thinking through these,", 'start': 2529.415, 'duration': 7.107}, {'end': 2539.985, 'text': "it doesn't necessarily mean that out of the gate you want to support all of these,", 'start': 2536.522, 'duration': 3.463}, {'end': 2546.451, 'text': 'but you do want to spend some time thinking through the different possible ways that a user will begin to interact with the skill.', 'start': 2539.985, 'duration': 6.466}, {'end': 2551.173, 'text': "And after you've done that, you want to sketch out a couple of the simplest dialogues.", 'start': 2547.071, 'duration': 4.102}, {'end': 2562.298, 'text': 'So in the shortest case, what does the dialogue look like? And for the suggest a beer example, a user would say, Alexa, suggest a beer.', 'start': 2551.973, 'duration': 10.325}], 'summary': "The skill's invocation name 'suggest a beer' was chosen for simplicity and user interaction. it's the first possible invocation request example, aiming to simplify the dialogue.", 'duration': 77.449, 'max_score': 2484.849, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE2484849.jpg'}, {'end': 2572.873, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 2529.415, 'weight': 2, 'content': [{'end': 2536.522, 'text': "After you've thought through some possible invocation request examples, and as you're thinking through these,", 'start': 2529.415, 'duration': 7.107}, {'end': 2539.985, 'text': "it doesn't necessarily mean that out of the gate you want to support all of these,", 'start': 2536.522, 'duration': 3.463}, {'end': 2546.451, 'text': 'but you do want to spend some time thinking through the different possible ways that a user will begin to interact with the skill.', 'start': 2539.985, 'duration': 6.466}, {'end': 2551.173, 'text': "And after you've done that, you want to sketch out a couple of the simplest dialogues.", 'start': 2547.071, 'duration': 4.102}, {'end': 2562.298, 'text': 'So in the shortest case, what does the dialogue look like? And for the suggest a beer example, a user would say, Alexa, suggest a beer.', 'start': 2551.973, 'duration': 10.325}, {'end': 2566.38, 'text': 'And then Alexa would say OK, do you prefer lagers or ales the style?', 'start': 2562.358, 'duration': 4.022}, {'end': 2572.873, 'text': 'And then the user would respond Lager in this example, and then Alexa would provide the suggestion.', 'start': 2566.9, 'duration': 5.973}], 'summary': 'Think through possible invocation requests, sketch simple dialogues, and consider user interaction styles.', 'duration': 43.458, 'max_score': 2529.415, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE2529415.jpg'}], 'start': 2246.748, 'title': 'Skill design and planning', 'summary': 'Emphasizes the importance of skill design and planning, discussing the need for a unique skill concept, thorough research, and providing examples such as creating a beer recommendation skill. additionally, it discusses the process of selecting an invocation name and outlines the creation of simple dialogues for user interaction, including examples and expansion considerations.', 'chapters': [{'end': 2459.813, 'start': 2246.748, 'title': 'Skill design and planning', 'summary': 'Discusses the importance of skill design and planning, emphasizing the need to create a unique skill concept and do thorough research, as demonstrated through the example of creating a beer recommendation skill.', 'duration': 213.065, 'highlights': ["The first step in planning a skill is to come up with a unique concept, demonstrated through the example of creating a 'suggest a beer' skill.", 'It is essential to conduct thorough research to find existing skills related to the concept, as shown by the search for beer-related skills on alexa.amazon.com.', 'The need to differentiate the skill from existing ones, as evident in the example of offering beer suggestions based on location and style, which was not available in other similar skills.', 'The importance of sketching out sample dialogues and mapping out the skill as part of the planning process.']}, {'end': 2622.066, 'start': 2459.853, 'title': 'Designing invocation name and dialogues', 'summary': 'Discusses the process of selecting an invocation name for an alexa skill, emphasizing the importance of making it sound like an utterance, and outlines the creation of simple dialogues for user interaction, including examples and considerations for expansion.', 'duration': 162.213, 'highlights': ["The importance of making the invocation name sound like an utterance is emphasized. The speaker emphasizes the importance of making the invocation name sound like an utterance to facilitate user interaction, highlighting the selection of 'suggest a beer' as the invocation name to enable a more streamlined and natural interaction process.", "Creation of simple dialogues for user interaction is outlined, including examples and considerations for expansion. The process of creating simple dialogues for user interaction is detailed, with examples provided for the 'suggest a beer' skill, demonstrating the initial dialogue flow and the addition of filtering or selection by state to expand the skill's capabilities.", 'Considerations for expansion of dialogues are mentioned, indicating the potential for numerous interaction possibilities. The speaker acknowledges the potential for numerous dialogue variations, emphasizing the importance of considering various interaction possibilities while designing the skill, even if not all options are initially supported.']}], 'duration': 375.318, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE2246748.jpg', 'highlights': ['The need to differentiate the skill from existing ones, as evident in the example of offering beer suggestions based on location and style, which was not available in other similar skills.', 'The importance of sketching out sample dialogues and mapping out the skill as part of the planning process.', 'Creation of simple dialogues for user interaction is outlined, including examples and considerations for expansion.', 'Considerations for expansion of dialogues are mentioned, indicating the potential for numerous interaction possibilities.', 'The importance of making the invocation name sound like an utterance is emphasized.']}, {'end': 3132.333, 'segs': [{'end': 2666.358, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 2622.166, 'weight': 0, 'content': [{'end': 2628.35, 'text': "So Start out simple and then start thinking about after you've thought through the dialogues.", 'start': 2622.166, 'duration': 6.184}, {'end': 2633.413, 'text': 'And also when you do the dialogues and sketch them out.', 'start': 2628.71, 'duration': 4.703}, {'end': 2638.116, 'text': "after you've thought through them and sketched them out yourself, test them out with friends or family.", 'start': 2633.413, 'duration': 4.703}, {'end': 2644.139, 'text': 'And you can do a little role-playing, you can pretend to be Alexa, ask your friend or family member to pretend to be the user.', 'start': 2638.176, 'duration': 5.963}, {'end': 2650.523, 'text': "Tell them what the skill is gonna do, but don't show them the dialogues, just see what they say.", 'start': 2644.58, 'duration': 5.943}, {'end': 2660.703, 'text': "And that will go a long way to helping you refine your dialogues and make sure that you're on the right track in terms of how the interactions might go.", 'start': 2651.083, 'duration': 9.62}, {'end': 2666.358, 'text': "After you've gone through that exercise, you can start, or what I like to do is bullet,", 'start': 2661.934, 'duration': 4.424}], 'summary': 'Simplify dialogues, sketch them, test with role-playing to refine interactions.', 'duration': 44.192, 'max_score': 2622.166, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE2622166.jpg'}, {'end': 2735.083, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 2688.218, 'weight': 3, 'content': [{'end': 2696.144, 'text': "So the primary features in this case are features that I selected because they weren't available in other skills that were similar.", 'start': 2688.218, 'duration': 7.926}, {'end': 2698.925, 'text': "So that's why they were my primary features.", 'start': 2696.244, 'duration': 2.681}, {'end': 2705.61, 'text': 'And then from there, I start mapping out the intents that will be included in the skill.', 'start': 2699.726, 'duration': 5.884}, {'end': 2708.032, 'text': 'And I am just focused on the custom intents here.', 'start': 2705.69, 'duration': 2.342}, {'end': 2710.613, 'text': "And in this skill, it's a simple skill.", 'start': 2708.132, 'duration': 2.481}, {'end': 2712.575, 'text': "So we're just going to have one intent.", 'start': 2710.653, 'duration': 1.922}, {'end': 2719.917, 'text': 'make a suggestion, and then we want to think about the slot values that are going to be required to make that suggestion.', 'start': 2713.095, 'duration': 6.822}, {'end': 2726.54, 'text': 'And so in the case of my suggestive beer skill, I wanted the state and the style.', 'start': 2719.957, 'duration': 6.583}, {'end': 2735.083, 'text': 'In this case of your skill, you might choose different slots that you need to let the user filter for your suggestion.', 'start': 2727, 'duration': 8.083}], 'summary': 'Selecting primary features and custom intents for a simple skill with one intent to make a suggestion, focusing on specific slot values like state and style.', 'duration': 46.865, 'max_score': 2688.218, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE2688218.jpg'}, {'end': 2812.61, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 2781.986, 'weight': 5, 'content': [{'end': 2788.739, 'text': "Okay so, like I mentioned in the beginning of this lesson, there's a lot to know when it comes to planning and designing skills,", 'start': 2781.986, 'duration': 6.753}, {'end': 2790.593, 'text': "and We've covered some of the basics.", 'start': 2788.739, 'duration': 1.854}, {'end': 2800.621, 'text': "but you'll also want to check out the Alexa Voice Design Guide and you'll also want to read through the developer documentation about understanding how users invoke custom skills.", 'start': 2790.593, 'duration': 10.028}, {'end': 2804.884, 'text': "And I've included links to both of those resources in the course notes.", 'start': 2801.101, 'duration': 3.783}, {'end': 2812.61, 'text': "Okay, now we are ready to start building our skill, and we'll get started on that in the next lesson.", 'start': 2805.684, 'duration': 6.926}], 'summary': 'Covered basics of planning and designing skills. refer to alexa voice design guide and developer documentation for further understanding. ready to start building skill in the next lesson.', 'duration': 30.624, 'max_score': 2781.986, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE2781986.jpg'}], 'start': 2622.166, 'title': 'Skill interaction and designing', 'summary': 'Emphasizes starting with simple dialogues for skill interaction, testing with feedback, and detailed planning for skill design including prioritizing features, mapping intents, and creating utterances.', 'chapters': [{'end': 2666.358, 'start': 2622.166, 'title': 'Designing dialogues for skill interaction', 'summary': 'Emphasizes starting with simple dialogues, then testing them with friends or family to refine interactions and ensure the right track, with a focus on role-playing and feedback gathering.', 'duration': 44.192, 'highlights': ['Testing dialogues with friends or family through role-playing can help refine interactions and ensure the right track.', 'Starting with simple dialogues is emphasized for designing skill interactions.', 'Sketching out dialogues before testing them with friends or family can aid in refining interactions and ensuring the right track.']}, {'end': 3132.333, 'start': 2666.358, 'title': 'Planning and designing skills', 'summary': 'Discusses the process of prioritizing key features, mapping out intents, selecting slot values, and creating utterances while designing a skill, emphasizing the importance of detailed planning and providing resources for further learning.', 'duration': 465.975, 'highlights': ['The primary features are selected based on their absence in similar skills, and the skill will have one custom intent. The primary features are chosen for not being available in similar skills, and the skill will include one custom intent.', 'The skill requires slot values for making suggestions, such as state and style, and the list of utterances can grow quickly to improve user experience. The skill needs slot values like state and style for making suggestions, and a comprehensive list of utterances, which can quickly grow to over 50, will enhance user experience.', 'The chapter provides links to Alexa Voice Design Guide and developer documentation for further learning, and emphasizes the significance of detailed planning and design. The chapter offers links to Alexa Voice Design Guide and developer documentation, highlighting the importance of detailed planning and design.']}], 'duration': 510.167, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE2622166.jpg', 'highlights': ['Starting with simple dialogues is emphasized for designing skill interactions.', 'Testing dialogues with friends or family through role-playing can help refine interactions and ensure the right track.', 'Sketching out dialogues before testing them with friends or family can aid in refining interactions and ensuring the right track.', 'The skill needs slot values like state and style for making suggestions, and a comprehensive list of utterances, which can quickly grow to over 50, will enhance user experience.', 'The primary features are selected based on their absence in similar skills, and the skill will have one custom intent.', 'The chapter offers links to Alexa Voice Design Guide and developer documentation, highlighting the importance of detailed planning and design.']}, {'end': 4100.608, 'segs': [{'end': 3188.176, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 3153.101, 'weight': 4, 'content': [{'end': 3162.582, 'text': "So we're going to start with this here, which is the data that's going to hold our suggestions.", 'start': 3153.101, 'duration': 9.481}, {'end': 3177.429, 'text': "and so in this case, here this is a a javascript object and it's providing, in my case, just three, um three objects within the object.", 'start': 3162.582, 'duration': 14.847}, {'end': 3183.133, 'text': "So this is actually an array of objects and there's three objects in here.", 'start': 3177.649, 'duration': 5.484}, {'end': 3186.535, 'text': 'You can kind of think of this like an Excel spreadsheet.', 'start': 3184.333, 'duration': 2.202}, {'end': 3188.176, 'text': 'Each one of these would be rows.', 'start': 3186.575, 'duration': 1.601}], 'summary': 'The data consists of a javascript array with three objects, similar to an excel spreadsheet.', 'duration': 35.075, 'max_score': 3153.101, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE3153101.jpg'}, {'end': 3340.4, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 3302.339, 'weight': 5, 'content': [{'end': 3317.048, 'text': "Okay, so we're setting the state slot variable value to the value that comes over with the request for the state.", 'start': 3302.339, 'duration': 14.709}, {'end': 3320.39, 'text': 'So the Alexa service is making the request and within that request,', 'start': 3317.128, 'duration': 3.262}, {'end': 3331.715, 'text': "the slot state value is what we're setting to the value of this variable that we're creating here and now down here.", 'start': 3321.01, 'duration': 10.705}, {'end': 3340.4, 'text': 'we want to respond back with the data suggestion or the suggestion from our data up here.', 'start': 3331.715, 'duration': 8.685}], 'summary': 'Setting state slot variable value to request value, responding with data suggestion.', 'duration': 38.061, 'max_score': 3302.339, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE3302339.jpg'}, {'end': 3465.764, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 3435.2, 'weight': 2, 'content': [{'end': 3437.78, 'text': 'what state would you like a beer suggestion for?', 'start': 3435.2, 'duration': 2.58}, {'end': 3444.722, 'text': "and then the reprompt asks them to uh to give a state if they don't respond within a few seconds.", 'start': 3437.78, 'duration': 6.942}, {'end': 3449.849, 'text': 'Okay, at this point we have everything that we need for the skill service.', 'start': 3445.462, 'duration': 4.387}, {'end': 3453.896, 'text': "And I'm going to go ahead and save that.", 'start': 3450.811, 'duration': 3.085}, {'end': 3465.764, 'text': "And if you're creating a skill using a different topic, which you probably are, you can change up the slot name here.", 'start': 3458.399, 'duration': 7.365}], 'summary': 'Developing a beer suggestion skill for a specific state with necessary data.', 'duration': 30.564, 'max_score': 3435.2, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE3435200.jpg'}, {'end': 3614.151, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 3584.504, 'weight': 1, 'content': [{'end': 3593.051, 'text': 'And you really want to spend time going through and considering different utterances and testing those utterances and polishing the skill.', 'start': 3584.504, 'duration': 8.547}, {'end': 3604.542, 'text': "And once you've gotten to the point where you feel pretty good about it you've tested it in practice all the different ways that you think a user might use it and all of the utterances that you've provided.", 'start': 3593.131, 'duration': 11.411}, {'end': 3614.151, 'text': 'then you want to start getting your skill ready to go through the certification process so that you can get it out there and make it public and available for everybody else to use.', 'start': 3604.542, 'duration': 9.609}], 'summary': 'Polish and test utterances, certify, and release skill for public use.', 'duration': 29.647, 'max_score': 3584.504, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE3584504.jpg'}, {'end': 3654.423, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 3624.559, 'weight': 3, 'content': [{'end': 3628.142, 'text': 'See certification requirements in our technical documentation.', 'start': 3624.559, 'duration': 3.583}, {'end': 3630.604, 'text': "You'll want to read through this.", 'start': 3628.583, 'duration': 2.021}, {'end': 3637.33, 'text': "We'll talk through some of this stuff, but you want to be familiar with the certification process and the requirements,", 'start': 3631.405, 'duration': 5.925}, {'end': 3644.196, 'text': 'especially the guidelines around the invocation name.', 'start': 3637.33, 'duration': 6.866}, {'end': 3654.423, 'text': "you'll want to take a look at the invocation name guidelines and just make sure that you've dotted all your I's and crossed all your T's before you submit for the certification process.", 'start': 3644.196, 'duration': 10.227}], 'summary': 'Review technical documentation for certification requirements, especially focusing on the guidelines around the invocation name.', 'duration': 29.864, 'max_score': 3624.559, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE3624559.jpg'}, {'end': 3753.963, 'src': 'embed', 'start': 3723.99, 'weight': 0, 'content': [{'end': 3727.611, 'text': "something that's going to get people excited about wanting to try your skill.", 'start': 3723.99, 'duration': 3.621}, {'end': 3730.672, 'text': "but just to walk through this, I'm going to go with something simple.", 'start': 3727.611, 'duration': 3.061}, {'end': 3737.255, 'text': "And then you want to provide some example phrases, and this is going to let users know how they're going to use your skills.", 'start': 3731.093, 'duration': 6.162}, {'end': 3742.837, 'text': 'So we might say, Alexa, ask beer suggestions.', 'start': 3737.275, 'duration': 5.562}, {'end': 3753.963, 'text': 'to suggest a beer from Florida.', 'start': 3747.857, 'duration': 6.106}], 'summary': "Create a skill to suggest beer, e.g. 'alexa, ask beer suggestions for a beer from florida.'", 'duration': 29.973, 'max_score': 3723.99, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE3723990.jpg'}], 'start': 3132.333, 'title': 'Developing alexa skills', 'summary': 'Covers creating a data search handler in javascript, developing and certifying alexa skills, and building custom alexa skills. it emphasizes thorough testing, preparation for certification, and providing real suggestions for all 50 states. additionally, it outlines the process of building a custom alexa skill for suggesting local beers, focusing on privacy and compliance, and provides guidance for further learning and development.', 'chapters': [{'end': 3400.938, 'start': 3132.333, 'title': 'Creating data search handler in javascript', 'summary': "Explains creating a data search handler in javascript, using an example of providing suggestions based on user input, with a javascript object holding three objects and a function to loop through the data and find the value for the user's request.", 'duration': 268.605, 'highlights': ['The javascript object holds three objects, each representing a suggestion, with state and suggestion values, similar to an Excel spreadsheet.', "A JavaScript function is used to loop through the data and find the value for the user's request, based on the property name and value passed from the Alexa service.", 'The handler function sets the state slot variable value to the value from the request for the state, and responds back with the suggestion using the get suggestion function.', 'The get suggestion function retrieves the suggestion from the data based on the state value passed from the Alexa service, ensuring it matches by converting it to uppercase.']}, {'end': 3665.27, 'start': 3402.079, 'title': 'Developing and certifying alexa skills', 'summary': 'Highlights the process of developing and testing an alexa skill, emphasizing the importance of thorough testing and preparation for certification, as well as the need to provide real suggestions for all 50 states.', 'duration': 263.191, 'highlights': ['Thorough testing and consideration of different user utterances are crucial before submitting a skill for certification, as emphasized in the chapter.', 'Real suggestions for all 50 states need to be provided in the skill, indicating the need for comprehensive coverage and preparation.', 'The chapter emphasizes the importance of familiarizing with the certification process and requirements, particularly focusing on the guidelines around the invocation name.', 'The process of developing an Alexa skill involves creating a skill service, testing it, and then preparing it for certification, as outlined in the chapter.', "The chapter stresses the significance of the launch request in informing users about the skill's functionality and prompting user interaction, with a specific example provided.", "The developer discusses the need to change the launch request to guide users on the skill's usage, exemplifying the practical implementation of the recommendation."]}, {'end': 4100.608, 'start': 3665.33, 'title': 'Building custom alexa skills', 'summary': 'Outlines the process of building a custom alexa skill for suggesting local beers and provides guidance on the certification process, with an emphasis on privacy and compliance, as well as suggestions for further learning and development.', 'duration': 435.278, 'highlights': ['The process of building a custom Alexa skill for suggesting local beers and guidance on the certification process. Building a custom Alexa skill for suggesting local beers, emphasizing on privacy and compliance, and suggesting further learning and development.', 'The certification process, emphasizing on privacy and compliance. Emphasis on privacy and compliance during the certification process.', 'Suggestions for further learning and development, including subscribing to the DabbleLab channel on YouTube, getting a code editor, and taking a JavaScript course. Suggestions for further learning and development, such as subscribing to the DabbleLab channel on YouTube, getting a code editor, and taking a JavaScript course.']}], 'duration': 968.275, 'thumbnail': 'https://coursnap.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs.com/video-capture/4SXCHvxRSNE/pics/4SXCHvxRSNE3132333.jpg', 'highlights': ['The process of building a custom Alexa skill for suggesting local beers and guidance on the certification process.', 'Thorough testing and consideration of different user utterances are crucial before submitting a skill for certification, as emphasized in the chapter.', 'Real suggestions for all 50 states need to be provided in the skill, indicating the need for comprehensive coverage and preparation.', 'The chapter emphasizes the importance of familiarizing with the certification process and requirements, particularly focusing on the guidelines around the invocation name.', 'The javascript object holds three objects, each representing a suggestion, with state and suggestion values, similar to an Excel spreadsheet.', 'The handler function sets the state slot variable value to the value from the request for the state, and responds back with the suggestion using the get suggestion function.']}], 'highlights': ['The course is designed to give an introduction to building skills for Amazon Alexa, catering to individuals with or without programming experience.', "The Amazon Developer Portal provides access to the Alexa skills kit and the Alexa voice service, allowing anyone to extend Alexa's capabilities or incorporate Alexa into smart devices and software.", 'Setting up a skill in the Amazon Developer Portal and building a skill service are highlighted as the two main requirements for creating a new skill.', 'The process of Alexa working with custom skills is explained, outlining the user interaction, request handling, and response generation.', 'AWS provides a free tier with the first million requests per month being free.', 'The test tool in AWS for Lambda functions allows configuring and testing with the JSON message sent to the function, providing a detailed response and debugging capabilities.', 'The need to differentiate the skill from existing ones, as evident in the example of offering beer suggestions based on location and style, which was not available in other similar skills.', 'Starting with simple dialogues is emphasized for designing skill interactions.', 'The process of building a custom Alexa skill for suggesting local beers and guidance on the certification process.']}