Build An Alexa How-To Skill

This tutorial will walk first-time Alexa skills developers through all the required steps involved in creating a skill using a template called ‘Minecraft Helper’. Ask how to craft an item in the game Minecraft, and this skill will give you instructions.

Skill Architecture

Each skill consists of two basic parts, a front end and a back end. The front end is the voice interface, or VUI. The voice interface is configured through the voice interaction model. The back end is where the logic of your skill resides.

Three Options for Skill Setup

There are a number of different ways for you to setup your skill, depending on your experience and what tools you have available.

• If this is your first skill, choose the Alexa-Hosted backend instructions to get started quickly.
• If you want to manage the backend resources in your own AWS account, you can follow the AWS-Hosted instructions.
• Developers with the ASK Command Line Interface configured may follow the ASK CLI instructions.

Additional Resources

Community

• Amazon Developer Forums - Join the conversation!
• Hackster.io - See what others are building with Alexa.

Tutorials & Guides

• Voice Design Guide - A great resource for learning conversational and voice user interface design.
• Codecademy: Learn Alexa - Learn how to build an Alexa Skill from within your browser with this beginner friendly tutorial on Codecademy!

Documentation

• Alexa Skills Kit SDK for Node.js
• Alexa Skills Kit Documentation