Show HN: Flask-Ask – Amazon Echo Development in Python | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Flask-Ask – Amazon Echo Development in Python

johnwheeler.org

107 pointsjohnwheeler13 comments

Hi Everybody!

For the last month I've been working on a Flask extension called Flask-Ask I want to plug. The "Ask" part stands for the "Alexa Skills Kit", which is the service behind the Amazon Echo family of devices.

https://github.com/johnwheeler/flask-ask

I've used a lot of web frameworks, and I love Flask! The Alexa Skills Kit is based on its own Request/Response model built in JSON on top of REST, so it made sense to incorporate mitsuhiko's architectural patterns like decorator-based routing, context locals, and templates, and adapt them for Flask-Ask.

I put up a 5-min tutorial for Flask-Ask here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC2zi4WIFX0

You can develop without an Echo Device using Amazon's Echosim service: https://echosim.io/

Thanks!

Good work on the lib. I think EchoSim is provided by iQuarius media and not Amazon.

Thank you! Thank you for the correction with iQuarius Media too!

Awesome! Thank you so much for this :) I've been experimenting with using Echo for home automation (mainly TV/Logitech Harmony related stuff) and this is really, really cool for that. A tangent: Siri on the AppleTV 4th gen was pretty cool until I got Echo - now having to have that remote and press a button seems archaic. Apple and Google will definitely release something similar soon.

Thank you. I experienced the same feelings. It's interesting how eliminating the extra button press makes the technology not 20% more useful, but maybe 10x more useful (IMO).

There are constraints. For example, the Alexa service can't do dictation, so building certain types of applications doesn't make sense.

But, after experiencing the Echo, it's hard to imagine a future without this type of computing - where you speak a sentence and it maps to a function carried out on a server. It's a very natural and fun way to get things done.

I really find it creepy. Sounds like a possibility of total surveillance.

Clever use of flask & ngrok was news to me too. Thanks.

I can imagine asking alexa "whats the best 2 man tent on the wirecutter; order it for me, delivered to work by Friday"* Do you think the technology will get there anytime soon?

*other review sites are available

Bah no API! https://mobile.twitter.com/wirecutter/status/532929880665890...

I was going to try and dazzle you.

I don't think Amazon provides a hook to do orders (although you can reorder past purchases on Echo through Amazon), and I don't know if they have a checkout type api orders could be routed to externally.

Good idea for a skill. One potential issue is the products would be limited to a vocabulary of around 50000 items because of the way the NLP works (custom slot type), so it might work best for product niches.

Wow great work. Makes me want to grab an Echo and start using this. I love Flask :)

Do you know if Android or iOS can expose custom voice commands API like this, without building an entire native app?

Thank you Steve.

I don't know much about Siri or Google Now voice activation APIs ("Hey Siri" and "OK Google"). Also (as you're probably aware), Google just came out with an Echo competitor called Google Home, which presumably operates on APIs like Echo's.

I think the model itself is probably a generic one. For Echo, speech maps to actions executed on a server, so you can say:

"Alexa, ask calculator what's two plus three"

and from there, Alexa does the non-trivial work of determining that:

1. "calculator" is a skill (i.e. program)

2. "what's two plus three" maps to a function of the program

3. "two" and "three" are arguments of the function.

The Alexa Skills Kit's job is to parse the speech, break it down into those elements, and pass it securely to your program using JSON over HTTPS.

Flask-Ask provides natural mappings to corresponding Python constructs (programs, functions, parameters) through a decorator-based API.

iOS doesn't have an API for custom voice commands, even for native apps. Though there are rumors that they might do something like this, maybe they'll show something at WWDC.

Awesome - looks like a really easy and quick way to get started. I'll be trying this out this weekend. And good job on the video - you got right to the point :)

Thank you! I appreciate the feedback. I'll make sure and keep getting to the point.

I invested in a Blue Snowball mic, and I'm making more videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FjlV1PeK2w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62WIaU_eVGE

I'll be making more to cover all aspects of the API: 8 or 9 3-min videos. I think that's all it will take for anyone to become proficient with Flask-Ask and the Alexa Skills Kit. They're easy.

If you try it out this weekend, the Ask constructor has changed from the one in the video

Ask(app)

Ask(app, "/")

Also, you don't need to add /_ask to the end of the ngrok URL anymore.

Thank you for your interest!

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