Many Alexa skill developers use AWS Lambda and Node.js for your Alexa skill’s web service. If your skill still uses Node.js v0.10 functions, you need to migrate to one of the newer Node.js versions (4.3 or 6.10) by May 30, 2017. If you don’t update your skill, it will no longer be available after May 30, 2017 when AWS Lambda ends support for Node.js v0.10. It’s easy to update your skill and should take around five minutes.
Why Do I Need to Update My Skills?
Migration to a newer version of Node.js runtime ensures that your Node.js-based Lambda functions have access to important security, performance and functionality enhancements offered by more recent Node releases. The Node Foundation declared End-of-Life (EOL) of Node.js v0.10 on October 31st 2016, which means that it has stopped receiving bug fixes, security updates and performance improvements. AWS Lambda then announced Node.js v0.10 deprecation on November 2, 2016 and disabled new function creation using this runtime on January 11, 2017.
Three Easy Steps for Migrating Most Skills
For most Alexa skills, migration is easy and will take approximately five minutes using the steps below. We recommend that you update your skill to the most recent Node.js version (v6.10). If you upgrade and your skill doesn’t work in testing, you can fallback to Node.js version 4.3. If you still need help, please don’t hesitate to visit our Alexa developer forums or contact us for help.
- Visit the AWS Lambda Console Configuration Tab. Navigate to console.aws.amazon.com/lambda, open your skill’s function, and click the “Configuration" tab.
- Update Your Node.js Runtime. On the configuration tab, you’ll want to update your Runtime by clicking in the dropdown and selecting the appropriate version of Node.js
- If you built your skill using one of the Alexa tutorials, your function should be compatible with Node.js 6.10. You can change the Runtime to Node.js 6.10.
- If you’ve written your own Lambda function and made use of deprecated features (rare), you should follow this guide to upgrade to Node.js 4.3 or 6.10.
- Test your skill.
- From your Lambda function click the “Actions” dropdown and choose “Configure Test Event.”
- Then choose “Alexa Start Session” as the Sample event template and click “Save and test.” If you find an issue, try Node.js 4.3.
Optimize Your Skill
After you’ve updating your runtime to ensure your skill works after May 30th, take a few minutes to refresh your skill’s content. Fresh and interesting content gives your customers a reason to come back! We recently announced a new program that makes it free to build and host most Alexa skills using Amazon Web Services (AWS). The program aims to help you build engaging skills by giving you access to more AWS infrastructure beyond the AWS Free Tier. Learn about more ways to level up your skill using other AWS services.
Build a Skill, Get a Shirt
The Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) enables developers to build capabilities, called skills, for Alexa. ASK is a collection of self-service APIs, documentation, tools, and code samples that make it fast and easy for anyone to add skills to Alexa. Developers have built more than 12,000 skills with ASK. Explore the stories behind some of these innovations, then start building your own skill. Once you publish your skill, mark the occasion with an Alexa dev shirt.
Source: Alexa