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

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