How a skill works
A custom skill has an invocation name, intents (what the user wants) and slots (the details, such as a date or product). Alexa turns speech into an intent request and sends it to your endpoint, usually an AWS Lambda function or an HTTPS service. Your code returns speech, cards or screen content.
Smart home skills are different: they use Amazon’s predefined device model, so users control lights, plugs or thermostats with standard phrases, and your backend translates directives to your device cloud.
Designing the interaction
- Write sample dialogues before code, including what users say when they are unsure.
- Provide many sample utterances per intent and test with real people, not only the team.
- Handle help, stop, cancel and fallback cleanly; certification checks them.
- Keep answers short. Voice is linear, and people stop listening quickly.
Account linking and data
If the skill acts on a user’s account in your service, it uses account linking based on OAuth 2.0. Ask for the smallest permissions you need, explain them clearly, and follow Amazon’s policies for personal information and children’s data.
Certification and operations
Skills go through Amazon certification before they are published, and every update is reviewed again. After launch, monitor latency, errors and intents that land in the fallback; they show what users want that the skill does not yet understand.
Amazon continues to change the Alexa platform, including its newer generative assistant. Check the current Alexa Skills Kit documentation for what applies to new skills.