Test Personalization with the Alexa Simulator

You can test your skill's personalization functionality by using the Alexa simulator in the developer console.

In the simulator, you first create user profiles that provide different combinations of permissions to your skill. Next, you select a profile, and then type text into the utterance box to open the skill and interact with your skill as that particular user. This functionality enables you to test different permission configurations.

For details about adding personalization to your skill, see Add Personalization to Your Skill.

Overview

To test the personalization of your skill, you can perform the following actions directly from the simulator in the developer console:

  • Create and configure user profiles – User profiles enable you to test your skill's functionality for different permission configurations. For each user profile on your account — both existing profiles and new profiles that you create within the simulator — you can toggle consent on and off for the various skill permissions that your skill requests. (Account refers to the Amazon account under which you created the skill.) For details, see Create and configure user profiles.
  • Enter utterances to simulate user input – You can enter user utterances into the simulator text box to test how your skill responds to users with different permissions enabled. For details, see Simulate user input with the selected profile.

Create and configure user profiles

In the simulator, you create user profiles, and then assign the user profiles different sets of permissions. For example, you might create a user profile for each of the following users:

  • a user who hasn't consented to any of the skill permissions that your skill requests
  • a user who has consented to all the skill permissions that your skill requests
  • a user who has consented to some, but not all, permissions that your skill requests

To create and configure a user profile in the simulator

  1. Sign in to the Alexa developer console and navigate to a skill that supports personalization.
  2. Ensure that the interaction model for the skill builds successfully.
  3. On the Build tab, in the left pane, click Tools, and then click Permissions.
  4. In the permissions list, in addition to Skills Personalization (which should already be selected if your skill supports personalization), select the individual permissions that your skill requires from the user.
    Examples are Full address and Full name. If you don't select any specific permissions on this page, the user profile you configure for testing won't have any permissions to configure.
  5. At the top, click the Test tab.
  6. At the top left, next to Test is disabled for this skill, click the box, and then select Development.
    The option changes to Skill testing is enabled in with Development selected.
  7. Ensure that the green box at the top right says Personalization has been enabled.
    Green box that indicates that the skill supports personalization.
  8. Under the green box, expand Personalization.
  9. Under Select a profile, click the box, and then click Create new profile.
  10. Enter a first and last name for the user.
    These don't need to be real names; they are just for testing.
  11. On the right, toggle Profile personalization to ON.
  12. On the right, enable any specific permissions that you want this user profile to have.
    For example, if your skill requires Full address and Full name, you might create four user profiles: 1) a profile that doesn't give either permission, 2) a profile that gives permission for just Full address, 3) a profile that gives permission for just Full name, and 4) a profile that gives permission for both Full address and Full name.
  13. Click Save.

Simulate user input with the selected profile

Now that you have some user profiles, you can simulate interaction with your skill by using a particular profile. This functionality enables you to test different permission configurations.

To select a profile and simulate user input

  1. In the Test tab, under the green box, expand Personalization, and then select a user profile.
    If you don't see any user profiles, create one.
  2. On the left, in the box that says, Type and click or hold the mic, type open <skill invocation name>.
    If you don't know your skill invocation name, go to the Build tab, and then click Invocation.
  3. After Alexa responds, type user utterances to interact with the skill as if you are the skill user with the profile you selected.
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Last updated: Nov 29, 2023