A TypeScript Alexa Skill Example with IoT Integration Using mqtt

Build and Test

• npm install
• npm run build
• npm run test (node testflow.js)

Webpack

• webpack us used to build the index.ts and data/aws-config.json into one, bundled js file: dist/index.js
• this dist/index.js is then deployed (manually) to the skill's lambda
• Note: in this example, tsc is also used to build lib/index.js, however this file is not complete because it does not contain the data/aws-config.json data

aws-config.json

• in order to run/test the code:
• • Copy data/aws-config-template.json and rename it aws-config.json
• • Edit the appId and cognitoIdentityPoolId fields

{
    "region": "us-east-1",
    "cognitoIdentityPoolId": "[your cognito identity pool id]",
    "appId": "[your skill's app id]",
    "skillLambdaName": "[your skill lambda name]",
    "alexaDynamoDBTableName": "[your skill's dynamo db table name]",
    "lambdaFunctionNameForDBAccess": "[name of the lambda function used to test DB access by callLambda.js]",
    "thingARN": "[your thing's ARN]",
    "thingEndpoint": "[your thing's HTTPS endpoint]",
    "thingName": "[your thing's name]"
}

testflow.js

• provided by amazon in the alexa-cookbook repo
• invokes the intents specified in dialogs/default.txt
• • https://github.com/alexa/alexa-cookbook/tree/master/testing/TestFlow
• requests a valid alexa skill/app id

var appId = '[your skill's app id]';

callLambda.js

• Shows how to access the app/skill's DynamoDB using a vanilla (non-alexa) lambda

mqttTest.js

• subscribes to the mqtt endpoint and topic used by the thing's endpoint

Speech Assets

• these are not part of the lambda build process but are helpful when creating the skill
• speechAssets/IntentSchema.json
• speechAssets/InteractionModel.json (can be pasted into a new skill)
• speechAssets/SampleUtterances.txt

Deploy

• copy dist/index.js to the lambda code editor
• (or set up the aws CLI ...)