ACIR Files for Alexa Conversations
Note: Sign in to the developer console to build or publish your skill.
Note: Alexa Conversations Description Language (ACDL) is offered as a beta and may change as we receive feedback and iterate on the feature.
The Alexa Conversations Description Language (ACDL) compiler generates Alexa Conversations Intermediate Representation (ACIR) files from ACDL files. ACIR files are also called ACIR modules. ACIR is the common representation of artifacts across all tooling related to Alexa Conversations. The following diagram shows where ACIR files fit into the ACDL authoring workflow.
File location
Note: Version 2.29 of the Alexa Skills Kit Command Line Interface (ASK CLI) is now available. This single tool lets you work with all Alexa skills, including Alexa Conversations Description Language (ACDL) skills, interaction model skills, and skills that use both. You can continue to use the current ASK CLI for ACDL, but it will no longer be updated. To get the latest supported features and functionality, use version 2.29 or later.
After you compile your skill by using the Alexa Skills Kit Command-Line Interface (ASK CLI), the ACIR files are in <skill-directory>/skill-package/build/.
The ACDL compiler generates ACIR files from the files in <skill-directory>/skill-package/conversations/.
File contents
ACIR files contain a structured set of expressions in JSON format. You don't need to modify ACIR files, because the ASK CLI generates ACIR files when you compile the skill. When you deploy the skill, the ASK CLI creates a skill package out of the ACIR files and pushes the skill package to the Alexa cloud. For instructions on how to compile and deploy an Alexa Conversations skill using the ASK CLI, see Tutorial: Create an Alexa Conversations Skill with ACDL.
Example
The following ACIR file example is from the Weather Bot quick-start template that you can use when you create an Alexa Conversations skill by using the ASK CLI.
{
"schema" : "https://amazonalexa.com/ask/2020/12/Module",
"expressions" : [ {
"kind" : "ActionDeclaration",
"name" : "default.getWeather",
"arguments" : [ {
"name" : "cityName",
"type" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.ask.types.builtins.AMAZON.US_CITY"
}
}, {
"name" : "date",
"type" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.ask.types.builtins.AMAZON.DATE"
}
} ],
"returnType" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "default.WeatherResult"
}
}, {
"kind" : "TypeDeclaration",
"name" : "default.CityAndDate",
"properties" : {
"date" : {
"type" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.ask.types.builtins.AMAZON.DATE"
},
"optional" : false
},
"cityName" : {
"type" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.ask.types.builtins.AMAZON.US_CITY"
},
"optional" : false
}
}
}, {
"kind" : "TypeDeclaration",
"name" : "default.WeatherResult",
"properties" : {
"cityName" : {
"type" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.ask.types.builtins.AMAZON.US_CITY"
},
"optional" : false
},
"lowTemp" : {
"type" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.ask.types.builtins.AMAZON.NUMBER"
},
"optional" : false
},
"highTemp" : {
"type" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.ask.types.builtins.AMAZON.NUMBER"
},
"optional" : false
}
}
}, {
"kind" : "QualifiedNameDeclaration",
"name" : "default.getWeatherEvent",
"type" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.UtteranceEvent",
"arguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "default.CityAndDate"
} ]
},
"expression" : {
"kind" : "Call",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.utterances",
"genericArguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "default.CityAndDate"
} ],
"arguments" : {
"samples" : {
"kind" : "Call",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.expression",
"genericArguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.schema.List",
"arguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.schema.List",
"arguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.schema.String"
} ]
} ]
} ],
"arguments" : {
"items" : [ {
"kind" : "Literal",
"type" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.schema.String"
},
"value" : "What's the weather {date} in {cityName}"
}, {
"kind" : "Literal",
"type" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.schema.String"
},
"value" : "what is the weather {date}"
}, {
"kind" : "Literal",
"type" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.schema.String"
},
"value" : "How is the weather {date}"
}, {
"kind" : "Literal",
"type" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.schema.String"
},
"value" : "How is weather in {cityName} {date}"
}, {
"kind" : "Literal",
"type" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.schema.String"
},
"value" : "how is weather"
}, {
"kind" : "Literal",
"type" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.schema.String"
},
"value" : "can you please give me weather report for {date}"
} ]
}
}
}
}
}, {
"kind" : "DialogDeclaration",
"name" : "default.Weather",
"returnType" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.schema.Nothing"
},
"samples" : [ {
"kind" : "Sample",
"expressions" : [ {
"kind" : "NameDeclaration",
"name" : "weatherRequest",
"type" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "default.CityAndDate"
},
"expression" : {
"kind" : "Call",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.expect",
"arguments" : {
"act" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.Invoke",
"event" : "default.getWeatherEvent"
}
}
}, {
"kind" : "Call",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.ensure",
"arguments" : {
"requestArgs" : {
"kind" : "Call",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.expression",
"genericArguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.schema.List",
"arguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.Args",
"arguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.RequestArguments"
} ]
} ]
} ],
"arguments" : {
"items" : [ {
"kind" : "Call",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.expression",
"arguments" : {
"response" : "prompts.request_city_apla",
"arguments" : {
"kind" : "Call",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.expression",
"genericArguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.schema.List",
"arguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.schema.List",
"arguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.Argument"
} ]
} ]
} ],
"arguments" : {
"items" : [ "default.getWeather.arguments.cityName" ]
}
}
}
}, {
"kind" : "Call",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.expression",
"arguments" : {
"response" : "prompts.request_date_apla",
"arguments" : {
"kind" : "Call",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.expression",
"genericArguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.schema.List",
"arguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.schema.List",
"arguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.Argument"
} ]
} ]
} ],
"arguments" : {
"items" : [ "default.getWeather.arguments.date" ]
}
}
}
}, {
"kind" : "Call",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.expression",
"arguments" : {
"response" : "prompts.request_city_apla",
"arguments" : {
"kind" : "Call",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.expression",
"genericArguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.schema.List",
"arguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.schema.List",
"arguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.Argument"
} ]
} ]
} ],
"arguments" : {
"items" : [ "default.getWeather.arguments.cityName", "default.getWeather.arguments.date" ]
}
}
}
} ]
}
}
}
}, {
"kind" : "NameDeclaration",
"name" : "weatherResult",
"type" : {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "default.WeatherResult"
},
"expression" : {
"kind" : "Call",
"name" : "default.getWeather",
"arguments" : {
"date" : "weatherRequest.date",
"cityName" : "weatherRequest.cityName"
}
}
}, {
"kind" : "Call",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.response",
"arguments" : {
"act" : {
"kind" : "Call",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.expression",
"genericArguments" : [ {
"kind" : "TypeReference",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.Notify"
} ],
"arguments" : {
"actionName" : "default.getWeather"
}
},
"payload" : {
"kind" : "Call",
"name" : "com.amazon.alexa.ask.conversations.expression",
"arguments" : {
"weatherResult" : "weatherResult"
}
},
"response" : "prompts.weather_apla"
}
} ]
} ]
} ]
}
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Last updated: Nov 27, 2023