An example Alexa skill that does nothing you can't find anywhere else. This project is just a template as I prepare to embark on the most epic HackRU journey of my life. The boilerplate code is available via Python cookiecutter at this repo.
It is recommended to run this project in a virtualenv. If virtualenvs are unfamiliar to you, this basic tutorial might be a good place to start (especially for those on a UNIX-like system).
- Create a virtualenv for this project, then run the activation script which on windows is
. ./{your virtual environment name}/Scripts/activate.ps1. - Use
pip install -r requirements.txtto install the required Python packages. - You will need
ngrokto make your skill accessible to Alexa for testing. You can download ngrok here. Save it somewhere useful (like C:\dev-tools) and add that folder to your PATH environment variable.
- Launch the server by invoking
python midnight_alexa_test.py. - With the server running, start
ngrok http 5000. - Configure your app on the Alexa Developer Portal. Flask-Ask's inventor, John Wheeler, has posted this introduction video that shows how to deploy your speech assets configuration to the Alexa Developer Portal.
- That's all! If you are using a browser that supports WebRTC for micophone input (Chrome, Firefox or Opera), you may use the wonderful browser-based tool, echosim, to test your script. Just log in with the same credentials you used to deploy your Skill! Download the companion Alexa App onto your smartphone for enhanced testing (and overall fun).