The AudioPlayer
interface provides directives and requests for streaming audio and monitoring playback progression. Your skill can send directives to start and stop the playback. The Alexa service sends your skill AudioPlayer
requests to give you information about the playback state, such as when the track is nearly finished, or when playback starts and stops. Alexa also sends PlaybackController requests in response to hardware buttons, such as on a remote control or the next and previous tap controls on Alexa-enabled devices with a screen.
For more details about the audio player, see Stream Long-Form Audio with AudioPlayer.
Directives and requestsThe AudioPlayer interface includes the following directives responses and request types. You include the directives in a response to Alexa to start and stop an audio stream. Alexa sends the requests to notify your skill about changes to the playback state.
Play directiveSend Alexa a request to stream the audio file identified by the specified audioItem
. Use the playBehavior
parameter to indicate whether to play the stream immediately or to add the stream to the queue. Add the Play directive in your response to Alexa. Include the directive in the directives array in your response.
Note: You can send only one Play
directive in a request.
When you send a Play
directive, set the shouldEndSession
flag in the response object to true
to end the session. If you set this flag to false
, Alexa sends the stream to the device for playback, and then pauses the stream to listen for the user's response.
When you respond to a
LaunchRequest
or IntentRequest
, your response can include both
AudioPlayer
directives and
standard response properties, such as
outputSpeech
,
card
, and
reprompt
. For example, when you include
outputSpeech
in the same response as a
Play
directive, Alexa speaks the provided text, and then starts to stream the audio.
Example directive responseThe following example shows a directive entry in your response. For the full response format, see Response Format.
{
"type": "AudioPlayer.Play",
"playBehavior": "valid playBehavior value such as ENQUEUE",
"audioItem": {
"stream": {
"url": "https://cdn.example.com/url-of-the-stream-to-play",
"token": "opaque token representing this stream",
"expectedPreviousToken": "opaque token representing the previous stream",
"offsetInMilliseconds": 0,
"captionData":{
"content": "WEBVTT\n\n00:00.000 --> 00:02.107\n<00:00.006>My <00:00.0192>Audio <00:01.232>Captions.\n",
"type": "WEBVTT"
}
},
"metadata": {
"title": "title of the track to display",
"subtitle": "subtitle of the track to display",
"art": {
"sources": [
{
"url": "https://cdn.example.com/url-of-the-album-art-image.png"
}
]
},
"backgroundImage": {
"sources": [
{
"url": "https://cdn.example.com/url-of-the-background-image.png"
}
]
}
}
}
}
Directive parameters
type
Set to AudioPlayer.Play
.
String
Yes
playBehavior
Describes playback behavior. Accepted values:
REPLACE_ALL
: Immediately begin playback of the specified stream, and replace current and enqueued streams.ENQUEUE
: Add the specified stream to the end of the current queue. This request doesn't impact the currently playing stream.REPLACE_ENQUEUED
: Replace all streams in the queue. This request doesn't impact the currently playing stream.String
Yes
audioItem
Contains an object providing information about the audio stream to play.
Object
Yes
audioItem.stream
Contains an object representing the audio stream to play.
Object
Yes
audioItem.stream.url
Identifies the location of audio content at a remote HTTPS
location on port 443. For more details, see Audio stream URL requirements.
String
Yes
audioItem.stream.token
Opaque token that identifies the audio stream.
Maximum size: 1024 characters. Token should not contain Undefined Customer Data (UCD).
Use the token
in the following cases:
ENQUEUE
behavior. For more details, see Playlist Progression with ENQUEUEmetatdata
on devices with screens. For more details, see Guidelines for images for Alexa-enabled devices with a screenString
Yes
audioItem.stream.
expectedPreviousToken
An opaque token that represents the expected previous stream. This should match the value of audioItem.stream.token
for the previous stream.
This property is required and allowed only when the playBehavior
is ENQUEUE
. This is used to prevent potential race conditions if requests to progress through a playlist and change tracks occur at the same time. For details, see Playlist Progression with ENQUEUE.
String
Yes (when playBehavior
is ENQUEUE
)
audioItem.stream.
offsetInMilliseconds
The timestamp in the stream from which Alexa should begin playback. Set to 0 to start playing the stream from the beginning. Set to any other value to start playback from that associated point in the stream.
Long
Yes
audioItem.stream. captionData
An object with two fields, content
and type
. Use these fields to provide captions for the associated audio attachment on any compatible device with a screen. A captionData
object doesn't exist until you provide the content
and type
.
Object
No
audioItem.stream .captionData.type
The format of the string in the content field.
Supported formats: WEBVTT
String
No
audioItem.stream .captionData.content
The time-encoded caption text.
Supported formats: WEBVTT
String
No
audioItem.metadata
Information about the audio displayed on the Alexa-enabled device with a screen. The information isn't shown in the Alexa app.
If you don't include this object, Alexa shows the skill name on a gray background by default.
This entire object is optional. However, if you do include audioItem.metadata
, provide all four metadata
properties (title
, subtitle
, art
, and backgroundImage
). Associate each new metadata item with a different audioItem.stream.token
.
For more details, see Guidelines for images for Alexa-enabled devices with a screen.
Tip:Include the
audioItem.metadata
with the directive regardless of whether the device supports the
Alexa.Presentation.APL
interface. The
Echo Spot (2024 release)doesn't support APL for skills, but it does display the
title
,
subtitle
, and
art
metadata when streaming audio.
Object
No
audioItem.metadata.title
The title text to display. This is typically used for the audio track title.
String
No
audioItem.metadata.subtitle
Subtitle text to display, such as a category or an artist name.
String
No
audioItem.metadata.art
An object representing the album art to display. This object has a single sources
property, which accepts an array of url
objects.
{
"art": {
"sources": [
{
"url": "https://cdn.example.com/url-of-the-album-art-image.png"
}
]
}
}
art
image before the title, in place of the skill icon.For best results, follow the image guidelines and specifications.
Object
No
audioItem.metadata.
backgroundImage
An object representing the background image to display. This object has a single sources
property, which accepts an array of url
objects.
{
"backgroundImage": {
"sources": [
{
"url": "https://cdn.example.com/url-of-the-background-image.png"
}
]
}
}
For details about the image format, see Image requirements and recommendations.
backgroundImage
is the full background image.For best results, follow the image guidelines and specifications.
Note: Background images for AudioPlayer
skills get an automatic color overlay. The color comes from the skill's album cover color. You can't remove or change this color tint.
Object
No
Playlist progression with ENQUEUEThe audioItem.stream.expectedPreviousToken
property is required if playBehavior
is ENQUEUE
to handle situations in which requests to progress through a playlist and change tracks happen at the same time. The value of audioItem.stream.expectedPreviousToken
should match the audioItem.stream.token
property provided with the previous stream.
For example:
AMAZON.PreviousIntent
.PlaybackNearlyFinished
request.AMAZON.PreviousIntent
first and sends a new Play
directive with track 1. This track begins playing. The already-sent PlaybackNearlyFinished
request is now outdated, since it assumed that track 2 was playing.PlaybackNearlyFinished
request and sends a Play
directive with track 3, since this is the next track after the originally playing track 2. This request includes expectedPreviousToken
set to track 2.expectedPreviousToken
provided in the directive doesn't match the token
for the actively playing stream, so the device ignores this directive.PlaybackNearlyFinished
request. The skill responds with a Play
directive for track 2. This track begins playing once track 1 finishes.If this check wasn't in place, the directive sent in step 5 would put track 3 on the queue, which would cause the audio to skip from track 1 to track 3 when track 1 finishes.
Note: Including audioItem.stream.expectedPreviousToken
when playBehavior
is any other value (REPLACE_ALL
or REPLACE_ENQUEUED
) causes an error.
If you provide images in the audioItem.metadata.art
and audioItem.metadata.backgroundImage
properties, note the following guidelines:
audioItem.stream.token
property for the track.audioItem.metadata.art
, use a square image for the best results. If the image isn't square, it's displayed with extra black space on the device. Note that the image is cropped to a circle shape on the Echo Spot (original 2017 release).source
array. The device selects the image with the highest resolution to display. Important: Alexa identifies the metadata for a given audio stream by the audioItem.stream.token
included in the Play
directive. The Alexa service might cache the metadata associated with a particular audioItem.stream.token
for up to five days. As a result, changes to the metadata, such as a different image or a change to the title text, might not reflect on the device immediately. For example, during testing you might notice this behaviour when you experiment with different images or title text for the same audio stream. To clear the cache, send a new Play
directive with a different audioItem.stream.token
.
Stops the current audio playback. Include the directive in the directives array in your response.
Example directive responseThe following example shows a directive entry in your response. For the full response format, see Response Format.
{
"type": "AudioPlayer.Stop"
}
Directive parameters Parameter Description Type Required type
Set to AudioPlayer.Stop
String Yes ClearQueue directive
Clears the audio playback queue. You can set this directive to clear the queue without stopping the currently playing stream, or clear the queue and stop any currently playing stream. Include the directive in the directives array in your response.
Example directive responseThe following example shows a directive entry in your response. For the full response format, see Response Format.
{
"type": "AudioPlayer.ClearQueue",
"clearBehavior" : "valid clearBehavior value such as CLEAR_ALL"
}
Directive parameters
type
Set to AudioPlayer.ClearQueue
.
String
Yes
clearBehavior
Describes the clear queue behavior. Accepted values:
CLEAR_ENQUEUED
: clears the queue and continues to play the currently playing streamCLEAR_ALL
: clears the entire playback queue and stops the currently playing stream (if applicable).String
Yes
PlaybackStarted requestSent when Alexa begins playing the audio stream previously sent in a Play
directive. This request lets your skill verify that playback started successfully. Also, Alexa sends this request to notify your skill when Alexa resumes playback after pausing it for a voice request.
Important: The request doesn't include the session
object because the request isn't sent in the context of a skill session. Use the context
object to get details, such as the applicationId
and userId
.
{
"version": "1.0",
"context": {
"System": {
"application": {},
"user": {},
"device": {}
}
},
"request": {
"type": "AudioPlayer.PlaybackStarted",
"requestId": "unique.id.for.the.request",
"timestamp": "timestamp of request in format: 2018-04-11T15:15:25Z",
"token": "token representing the currently playing stream",
"offsetInMilliseconds": 0,
"locale": "a locale code such as en-US"
}
}
Request parameters Parameter Description Type type
AudioPlayer.PlaybackStarted
String requestId
Represents a unique identifier for the specific request. String timestamp
Provides the date and time when Alexa sent the request as an ISO 8601 formatted string. Used to [verify the request when hosting your skill as a web service][hosting-as-web-service#timestamp]. String token
An opaque token that represents the audio stream. You provide this token when sending the Play
directive. String offsetInMilliseconds
Identifies a track's offset in milliseconds when the PlaybackStarted
request is sent. Long locale
A string
indicating the user's locale. For example: en-US
. See [supported locale codes][service_ref#request-locale]. String
For the full request format, see Request Format.
ResponseYour skill can respond to PlaybackStarted
with a Stop
or ClearQueue
directive.
The response cannot include:
outputSpeech
, card
, or reprompt
.AudioPlayer
directives. Note: Your skill isn't required to return a response to AudioPlayer
requests.
Sent when the stream Alexa is playing comes to an end on its own. If your skill explicitly stops the playback with the Stop directive, Alexa sends PlaybackStopped
instead of PlaybackFinished
.
Important: The request doesn't include the session
object because the request isn't sent in the context of a skill session. Use the context
object to get details, such as the applicationId
and userId
.
{
"version": "1.0",
"context": {
"System": {
"application": {},
"user": {},
"device": {}
}
},
"request": {
"type": "AudioPlayer.PlaybackFinished",
"requestId": "unique.id.for.the.request",
"timestamp": "timestamp of request in format: 2018-04-11T15:15:25Z",
"token": "token representing the currently playing stream",
"offsetInMilliseconds": 0,
"locale": "a locale code such as en-US"
}
}
Request parameters Parameter Description Type type
AudioPlayer.PlaybackFinished
String requestId
Represents a unique identifier for the specific request. String timestamp
Provides the date and time when Alexa sent the request as an ISO 8601 formatted string. Used to [verify the request when hosting your skill as a web service][hosting-as-web-service#timestamp]. String token
An opaque token that represents the audio stream. You provide this token when sending the Play
directive. String offsetInMilliseconds
Identifies a track's offset in milliseconds when the PlaybackFinished
request is sent. Long locale
A string
indicating the user's locale. For example: en-US
. See [supported locale codes][service_ref#request-locale]. String Response
Your skill can respond to PlaybackFinished
with a Stop
or ClearQueue
directive.
The response cannot include:
outputSpeech
, card
, or reprompt
.AudioPlayer
directives. Note: Your skill isn't required to return a response to AudioPlayer
requests.
Sent when Alexa stops playing an audio stream in response to one of the following AudioPlayer
directives:
Stop
Play
with a playBehavior
of REPLACE_ALL
.ClearQueue
with a clearBehavior
of CLEAR_ALL
.This request is also sent if the user makes a voice request to Alexa, since this temporarily pauses the playback. In this case, the playback begins automatically once the voice interaction is complete. If playback stops because the audio stream comes to an end on its own, Alexa sends PlaybackFinished
instead of PlaybackStopped
.
Important: The request doesn't include the session
object because the request isn't sent in the context of a skill session. Use the context
object to get details, such as the applicationId
and userId
.
{
"version": "1.0",
"context": {
"System": {
"application": {},
"user": {},
"device": {}
}
},
"request": {
"type": "AudioPlayer.PlaybackStopped",
"requestId": "unique.id.for.the.request",
"timestamp": "timestamp of request in format: 2018-04-11T15:15:25Z",
"token": "token representing the currently playing stream",
"offsetInMilliseconds": 0,
"locale": "a locale code such as en-US"
}
}
Request parameters Parameter Description Type type
AudioPlayer.PlaybackStopped
String requestId
Represents a unique identifier for the specific request. String timestamp
Provides the date and time when Alexa sent the request as an ISO 8601 formatted string. Used to [verify the request when hosting your skill as a web service][hosting-as-web-service#timestamp]. String token
An opaque token that represents the audio stream. You provide this token when sending the Play
directive. String offsetInMilliseconds
Identifies a track's offset in milliseconds when the PlaybackStopped
request is sent. Long locale
A string
indicating the user's locale. For example: en-US
. See [supported locale codes][service_ref#request-locale]. String Response
Your skill can't return a response to PlaybackStopped
.
Sent when the device is ready to add the next stream to the queue.
To progress through a playlist of audio streams, respond to this request with a Play
directive for the next stream and set playBehavior
to ENQUEUE
or REPLACE_ENQUEUED
. This adds the new stream to the queue without stopping the current playback. Alexa begins streaming the new audio item once the currently playing track finishes.
Important: The request doesn't include the session
object because the request isn't sent in the context of a skill session. Use the context
object to get details, such as the applicationId
and userId
.
{
"version": "1.0",
"context": {
"System": {
"application": {},
"user": {},
"device": {}
}
},
"request": {
"type": "AudioPlayer.PlaybackNearlyFinished",
"requestId": "unique.id.for.the.request",
"timestamp": "timestamp of request in format: 2018-04-11T15:15:25Z",
"token": "token representing the currently playing stream",
"offsetInMilliseconds": 0,
"locale": "a locale code such as en-US"
}
}
Request parameters Parameter Description Type type
AudioPlayer.PlaybackNearlyFinished
String requestId
Represents a unique identifier for the specific request. String timestamp
Provides the date and time when Alexa sent the request as an ISO 8601 formatted string. Used to [verify the request when hosting your skill as a web service][hosting-as-web-service#timestamp]. String token
An opaque token that represents the audio stream that is currently playing. You provide this token when sending the Play
directive. String offsetInMilliseconds
Identifies a track's offset in milliseconds when the PlaybackNearlyFinished
request is sent. Long locale
A string
indicating the user's locale. For example: en-US
. See [supported locale codes][service_ref#request-locale]. String Response
Your skill can respond to PlaybackNearlyFinished
with any AudioPlayer directive.
The response cannot include:
outputSpeech
, card
, or reprompt
. Note: Your skill isn't required to return a response to AudioPlayer
requests.
Sent when Alexa encounters an error when attempting to play a stream.
This request type includes two token
properties – one as a property of the request
object, and one as a property of the currentPlaybackState
object. The request.token
property represents the stream that failed to play. The currentPlaybackState.token
property can be different if Alexa is playing a stream and the error occurs when attempting to buffer the next stream on the queue. In this case, currentPlaybackState.token
represents the stream that was successfully playing.
Important: The request doesn't include the session
object because the request isn't sent in the context of a skill session. Use the context
object to get details, such as the applicationId
and userId
.
{
"version": "1.0",
"context": {
"System": {
"application": {},
"user": {},
"device": {}
}
},
"request": {
"type": "AudioPlayer.PlaybackFailed",
"requestId": "unique.id.for.the.request",
"timestamp": "timestamp of request in format: 2018-04-11T15:15:25Z",
"token": "token representing the currently playing stream",
"offsetInMilliseconds": 0,
"locale": "a locale code such as en-US",
"error": {
"type": "error code",
"message": "description of the error that occurred"
},
"currentPlaybackState": {
"token": "token representing stream playing when error occurred",
"offsetInMilliseconds": 0,
"playerActivity": "player state when error occurred, such as PLAYING"
}
}
}
Request parameters Parameter Description Type type
AudioPlayer.PlaybackFailed
String requestId
Represents a unique identifier for the specific request. String timestamp
Provides the date and time when Alexa sent the request as an ISO 8601 formatted string. Used to [verify the request when hosting your skill as a web service][hosting-as-web-service#timestamp]. String token
An opaque token provided by the Play
directive that represents the stream that failed to play. String locale
A string
indicating the user's locale. For example: en-US
. See [supported locale codes][service_ref#request-locale]. String error
Contains an object with error information Object error.type
Identifies the specific type of error. For details about each error type, see Playback errors. String error.message
A description of the error the device has encountered. String currentPlaybackState
Contains an object providing details about the playback activity occurring at the time of the error. Object currentPlaybackState.
token
An opaque token that represents the audio stream currently playing when the error occurred. Note that this may be different from the value of the request.token
property. String currentPlaybackState.
offsetInMilliseconds
Identifies a track's offset in milliseconds when the error occurred. Long currentPlaybackState.
playerActivity
Identifies the player state when the error occurred: PLAYING
, PAUSED
, FINISHED
, BUFFER_UNDERRUN
, or IDLE
. String Error Type Description MEDIA_ERROR_UNKNOWN
An unknown error occurred. MEDIA_ERROR_INVALID_REQUEST
The request is malformed, unauthorized, forbidden, or not found. MEDIA_ERROR_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE
Alexa was unable to reach the URL for the stream. MEDIA_ERROR_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR
Alexa accepted the request, but was unable to process the request as expected. MEDIA_ERROR_INTERNAL_DEVICE_ERROR
There was an internal error on the device. Response
Your skill can respond to PlaybackFailed
with any AudioPlayer directive.
The response cannot include:
outputSpeech
, card
, or reprompt
. Note: Your skill isn't required to return a response to AudioPlayer
requests.
If a response to an AudioPlayer
request causes an error, Alexa sends your skill a System.ExceptionEncountered
request. Alexa ignores any directives included in the response to this request.
{
"type": "System.ExceptionEncountered",
"requestId": "unique.id.for.the.request",
"timestamp": "timestamp of request in format: 2018-04-11T15:15:25Z",
"locale": "a locale code such as en-US",
"error": {
"type": "error code such as INVALID_RESPONSE",
"message": "description of the error that occurred"
},
"cause": {
"requestId": "unique identifier for the request that caused the error"
}
}
Request parameters Parameter Description Type type
System.ExceptionEncountered
string
requestId
Represents a unique identifier for the specific request. string
timestamp
Provides the date and time when Alexa sent the request as an ISO 8601 formatted string. Used to [verify the request when hosting your skill as a web service][hosting-as-web-service#timestamp]. string
locale
A string
indicating the user's locale. For example: en-US
. See [supported locale codes][service_ref#request-locale]. string
error
Contains an object with error information object
error.type
Identifies the specific type of error (INVALID_RESPONSE
, DEVICE_COMMUNICATION_ERROR
, INTERNAL_ERROR
). string
error.message
A description of the error the device has encountered. string
cause.requestId
The requestId
for the request that caused the error string
Response
Your skill can't return a response to System.ExceptionEncountered
request.
Last updated: Sep 06, 2024
RetroSearch is an open source project built by @garambo | Open a GitHub Issue
Search and Browse the WWW like it's 1997 | Search results from DuckDuckGo
HTML:
3.2
| Encoding:
UTF-8
| Version:
0.7.4