docker-amazon-ask-cli

The purpose of this container is to be able to use the Amazon ASK CLI (Alexa Skills Kit).

• docker-amazon-ask-cli
  • Example
  • AWS Config (optional)
    • aws configure
    • Setting credentials and config file
  • Usage
    • Run One Command
    • Run bash, then run ask
    • Volumes
  • Developers
  • Sample ask commands
  • Links:

Example

This example will show you both how to use this container and start a simple HelloWorld Alexa Skill. In this example we'll assume that AWS has been configured see below.

Please read the other sections on how to properly use this container and volume configurations. Before running this example ensure that you've registered for an Alexa Developer account

# Get image
docker pull martindsouza/amazon-ask-cli

# Create a ASK configuration folders.
cd ~
mkdir alexa-demo \
  alexa-demo/ask-config \
  alexa-demo/aws-config \
  alexa-demo/app

# Note copy the aws-config information (see below) to the aws-config folder

# To help simply writing out a full docker run command each time will use an alias
alias alexa="docker run -it --rm \
  -v ~/alexa-demo/ask-config:/home/node/.ask \
  -v ~/alexa-demo/aws-config:/home/node/.aws \
  -v ~/alexa-demo/app:/home/node/app \
  martindsouza/amazon-ask-cli:latest "

# For windows users you'll need to run the following each time (unless you have an alternative to alias)
# docker run -it --rm \
# -v C:/%UserProfile%/alexa-demo/ask-config:/home/node/.ask ^
# -v C:/%UserProfile%/alexa-demo/aws-config:/home/node/.aws ^
# -v C:/%UserProfile%/alexa-demo/app:/home/node/app ^
# martindsouza/amazon-ask-cli:latest ^ 
# <command> 


# If using Lambda and want to load your configuration run:
# alexa aws configure
#
# Some parameters to help out:
# Region: us-east-1
# Output format: json


# Configure ASK
alexa ask init --no-browser

# ? Please choose one from the following AWS profiles for skill's Lambda function deployment.
#  default
# Chose default and hit enter
#
# A URL will be printed on screen. Copy and past into your browser
# Login using your Amazon Developer account
# Copy the code that is shown on the screen and past in the terminal
# You should see a success message like: Tokens fetched and recorded in ask-cli config.


# Verify profile was created
alexa ask init -l
# Should return:
# Profile              Associated AWS Profile
# [default]                 ** NULL **


# Create a new app:
alexa ask new --skill-name HelloWorld
# New project for Alexa skill created.
# This will also create a new folder: ~/alexa-demo/HelloWorld

# To create a new app with lambda:
# alexa ask new --skill-name HelloWorld --lambda-name hello-world-service


# Move the HellowWorld folder back to app directory
cd ~/alexa-demo/app/
mv HelloWorld/* .
mv HelloWorld/.ask .
rmdir HelloWorld

# Deploy (all): this will create both lambda and Alexa Skill
alexa ask deploy

# -------------------- Create Skill Project --------------------
# Profile for the deployment: [default]
# Skill Id: amzn1.ask.skill.55cb6762-4b48-433f-adef-2d6074d06c13
# Skill deployment finished.
# Model deployment finished.
# Lambda deployment finished.
# Your skill is now deployed and enabled in the development stage.
# Try invoking the skill by saying “Alexa, open {your_skill_invocation_name}” or simulate an invocation via the `ask simulate` command.


# Other options are:
# alexa ask deploy -t lambda
# alexa ask deploy -t skill
# alexa ask deploy -t model

AWS Config (optional)

If you plan to use Lambda you'll need to configure the AWS CLI. To simplify. You can configure it multiple ways.

In either case ensure that you pass in -v $(pwd)/aws-config:/home/node/.aws \ (where $(pwd)/aws-config is a location on your host machine) as an option when running the container to preserve the AWS configuration.

aws configure

Running aws configure in the container will ask you a set of questions to create the AWS credentials

Setting credentials and config file

Copy the files in samples/aws-config to your local/host folder that will hold the credentials. You need to modify the credentials file with your aws_access_key_id and aws_secret_access_key at a minimum.

Usage

Get the latest version of the container: docker pull martindsouza/amazon-ask-cli

They're two ways to use the ask cli for this container which are covered below. The volume documentation is listed following the examples.

Run One Command

In this mode the container will start, you run your ask command, then the container is stopped and deleted. Don't worry your Docker image is still kept.

docker run -it --rm \
  -v $(pwd)/ask-config:/home/node/.ask \
  -v $(pwd)/hello-world:/home/node/app-dev \
  martindsouza/amazon-ask-cli:latest \
  ask init -l

Run bash, then run ask

In this mode, the container will start, you can then run the container's bash, and the container will stop and delete only once you exit.

docker run -it --rm \
  -v $(pwd)/ask-config:/home/node/.ask \
  -v $(pwd)/app-dev/HelloWorld:/home/node/app-dev \
  martindsouza/amazon-ask-cli:latest \
  bash

# You'll be prompted with:
# bash-4.3$
#
# Type: exit  to end and terminate the container

Volumes

Path	Description
/home/node/.ask	.ask configuration folder for ASK cli
/home/node/.aws	.aws configuration folder AWS cli
/home/node/app	folder where your Alexa project is stored

Developers

docker build -t martindsouza/amazon-ask-cli .

# Pushing to Docker Hub
# Note: not required since I have a build hook linked to the repo
# docker login
# docker build -t martindsouza/amazon-ask-cli:0.0.1 .
# docker push martindsouza/amazon-ask-cli

Sample ask commands

# Delete skill
alexa ask api delete-skill -s SKILL_ID

Links:

• ASK CLI Quickstart
• ASK CLI Full Doc