Build Talking Apps for Alexa

Publishing Proactive Events

Proactive events give a skill the ability to notify users of significant information out-of-session, even though the user isn’t actively using the skill. When the notification is received, all of the user’s Alexa devices will chime and display a visual indication of pending notifications (a pulsing yellow ring on Echo and Echo Dot devices, for instance). The user can then ask Alexa to read the notifications by saying, “Alexa, read notifications.”

A common example of proactive events is when an Amazon order has been delivered. If the user has notifications enabled, their Alexa devices will notify them of the delivery. But proactive events aren’t limited to Amazon orders. Any skill can take advantage of them to communicate ...