Data-Driven Alexa Skills: Voice Access to Rich Data Sources for Enterprise Applications

✍ Scribed by Simon A. Kingaby

• Publisher: Apress
• Year: 2021
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 425
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Design and build innovative, custom, data-driven Alexa skills for home or business. Working through several projects, this book teaches you how to build Alexa skills and integrate them with online APIs. If you have basic Python skills, this book will show you how to build data-driven Alexa skills. You will learn to use data to give your Alexa skills dynamic intelligence, in-depth knowledge, and the ability to remember.

Data-Driven Alexa Skills takes a step-by-step approach to skill development. You will begin by configuring simple skills in the Alexa Skill Builder Console. Then you will develop advanced custom skills that use several Alexa Skill Development Kit features to integrate with lambda functions, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Internet data feeds. These advanced skills enable you to link user accounts, query and store data using a NoSQL database, and access real estate listings and stock prices via web APIs.

What You Will Learn

• Set up and configure your development environment properly the first time
• Build Alexa skills quickly and efficiently using Agile tools and techniques
• Create a variety of data-driven Alexa skills for home and business
• Access data from web applications and Internet data sources via their APIs
• Test with unit-testing frameworks throughout the development life cycle
• Manage and query your data using the DynamoDb NoSQL database engines
  

Who This Book Is For
Developers who wish to go beyond Hello World and build complex, data-driven applications on Amazon's Alexa platform; developers who want to learn how to use Lambda functions, the Alexa Skills SDK, Alexa Presentation Language, and Alexa Conversations; developers interested in integrating with public APIs such as real estate listings and stock market prices. Readers will need to have basic Python skills.

✦ Table of Contents

Table of Contents
About the Author
About the Technical Reviewer
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: Getting Started
Chapter 1: Voice User Interfaces
Why Voice User Interfaces?
A Brief History of VUIs
Today’s VUI Landscape
Smart Homes
Why Voice? Why Alexa? Why Now?
Summary
Chapter 2: Routines and Blueprints
What Is Alexa?
Alexa Routines
Alexa Blueprints
Summary
Chapter 3: The Developer Accounts
Creating the Developer Accounts
Amazon Account
Alexa Developer Account
AWS Developer Account
IAM and Account Security
GitHub Access
Jira Account
Summary
Chapter 4: Creating the VUI for a Custom Data-Driven Skill
Step 1: Create the Base Skill
The Skill Builder Interface
Step 2: Configure the VUI
Invocation Name
The Interaction Model
Slots
Creating the Custom Slot Values
Configuring the Dialog
Summary
Chapter 5: Writing the Back-End Code
Installing the Tools
Installing the Python Modules
Writing the Code
The Code We Have in the Template
The Lambda Function
The Changes We Need to Make
Changing the Launch Request Handler
Creating the Helper Functions
Creating the Calculate BMI API Handler
The Complete API Handler
Creating the Intent Handler
The Complete Intent Handler
The Calculate BMI Method
Add the Request Handlers to the Skill Builder
Testing the Completed Skill
Setting Up the Debug Environment
Testing the Skill
Summary
Chapter 6: Publishing an Alexa Skill
The Process
Distribution and Validation
Skill Preview
Privacy and Compliance
Testing Instructions
The Certification Checklist
Alexa Policies
Testing Your Custom Skill for Certification
Availability
Validation
Submission
Rejection? Now What?
Summary
Part II: Custom Skill Development
Chapter 7: Custom Alexa Skills
Alexa Hosted vs. Fully Custom
Our New Skill
The 90-Year Calendar
VUI Design
Creating the Alexa Skill
DynamoDb
S3 Storage
Account Linking
The Application Security Profile
Configure Account Linking
The Lambda Function
Creating the Security Role
Creating the Lambda Function
Summary
Chapter 8: Beyond Hello World
VUI Design
VUI Design with Botmock
Launch Response
Intents
Happy Path
The Over 90 Path
Adding a Prompt
Adding the No Intent
Saying Goodbye
What Do You Want to Do?
Linked vs. Unlinked Accounts
Getting the Event
What Happens Next?
Summary
Chapter 9: Configuring the VUI
Exporting the Botmock Diagram
Creating the Skill
Cleaning Up the Dialog Model
Summary
Chapter 10: Using APL to Present on Screens
The APL Editor
The 90-Year Calendar UI
Configuring the Imports for the Document
Drawing the Three Zones
Parameterizing the Height and Width
Scaling the Boxes and Rows to Fit
The Finished APL Code
Summary
Chapter 11: Coding the Lambda Function
Hook Up the VUI to the Lambda Function
Creating the Intent Handlers
The Structure of an Intent Handler
Section A – The Can Handle Declaration
Section B – The Handle Function
Section C – Return a Response
Building Out the Intent Handlers
The Help Intent
The Fallback Intent
The Cancel and Stop Intents
The Repeat Intent
The Start Over Intent
The Launch Request Handler
The Session Ended Request Handler
The Intent Reflector Handler
The Catch-All Exception Handler
The GiveBirthday Intent Handler
Calculate 90-Year Calendar Values
Define the Dataset for the 90-Year Calendar
Scale the Visuals to the Current Screen
Return the Rendered APL and Response
Defining the Skill Builder
Summary
Chapter 12: Unit Testing an Alexa Skill
Unit Testing the Lambda Function
Unit Testing the Launch Intent
Unit Testing the Give Birthday Intent
Testing in the Alexa Simulator
Testing Give Birthday in the Lambda Function
Copying the APL Over to the Lambda Function
Using the Utterance Profiler
NLU Evaluation
ASR Evaluation
Summary
Chapter 13: Storing the Data
Account Linking and Access Tokens
Linking Your Development Account
Checking If an Account Is Linked
Getting the Access Token
Getting the User Profile from DynamoDB
A Trio of Launch Request Handlers
Adding the Yes Intent Handler
Using Cards in the Response
Saving the User’s Profile
Adding the View Calendar Intent
Testing the View Calendar Intent
What You Can Do Next
Summary
Part III: Using APIs in Advanced Skills
Chapter 14: A Personal Net Worth Skill
Requirements
VUI Design
Creating the Personal Net Worth Skill
Creating the Lambda Function
The Give Address Intents
The Give Stock Intent
The Yes/No Intents
The No More Intent
Summary
Chapter 15: The Real Estate API
Application Programming Interfaces
The Real Estate Valuation API
Adding the Give Home Stats Intent
Back to the Real Estate API
Testing the API Call
Summary
Chapter 16: The Stock Market API
The Yahoo Finance API
The Alpha Vantage API
The Stock API Module
Adding a Delay to the For Loop
The Completed GetStockValue Function
Unit Testing the GetStockValue Function
A missing profile["stocks"] dictionary
An empty profile["stocks"] dictionary
A profile with one stock with a valid (non-zero) quantity (to test the API request)
A profile with an invalid stock ticker and a valid quantity (to test the error handling)
A profile with one stock with a zero quantity (to test the  skip logic)
A profile with three stocks, each with a valid quantity (to test the loop)
A profile with three stocks, one of which has a zero quantity (to test the skip logic in the loop)
A profile with twenty stocks (to test the delay properly)
What Can I Do Next?
Summary
Chapter 17: What’s Next?
Conclusion
What’s Next?
Index