By Developers, For Developers

Historical errata for Build Talking Apps for Alexa

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40ERROR

‘ask -v’ needs a capital ‘V’ or —version

BTW, thanks for showing the version. That is super helpful in helping readers know where they stand WRT the version used in the book. I’m hoping that the major 2.x version I’m using isn’t too far off from the 1.x version you are using in the book.

~/code/local/build-talking-apps % ask -v (master)build-talking-apps
error: unknown option ‘-v’
~/code/local/build-talking-apps % ask —version (master)build-talking-apps
2.0.1
~/code/local/build-talking-apps % ask (master)build-talking-apps
Usage: ask [options] [command]

Command Line Interface for Alexa Skill Kit

Options:
-V, —version output the version number

2020-05-18This has been addressed (updated to v2.7.0, specifically) and will be in a new beta coming in the next day or so.
41ERROR

‘ask init’ throws an error. (See below)

I got a fresh MBP 13" at the start of 2020, so it doesn’t have any legacy ASK SDK flotsam and jetsam as nearly as I can tell. (Fresh install, not a restore from previous laptop.)

~/code/local/build-talking-apps % ask init (master)build-talking-apps
[Error]: CliFileNotFoundError: File /Users/scott/.ask/cli_config not exists.

=

As I mentioned, this is a fresh install of the ASK SDK. Here’s the output from my installation — no errors apparent at first glance:

~/code/local/build-talking-apps % npm install -g ask-cli (master)build-talking-apps
npm WARN deprecated request@2.88.2: request has been deprecated, see https ://github.com/request/request/issues/3142
/Users/scott/.nvm/versions/node/v12.14.1/bin/ask -> /Users/scott/.nvm/versions/node/v12.14.1/lib/node_modules/ask-cli/bin/ask.js

> dtrace-provider@0.8.8 install /Users/scott/.nvm/versions/node/v12.14.1/lib/node_modules/ask-cli/node_modules/dtrace-provider
> node-gyp rebuild || node suppress-error.js

ACTION binding_gyp_ndtp_target_build_ndtp .
TOUCH Release/obj.target/ndtp.stamp

> jsonpath@1.0.2 postinstall /Users/scott/.nvm/versions/node/v12.14.1/lib/node_modules/ask-cli/node_modules/jsonpath
> node lib/aesprim.js > generated/aesprim-browser.js

+ ask-cli@2.0.1
added 249 packages from 329 contributors in 20.743s

2020-05-18My guess is that this is due to ask init becoming ask configure in ASK CLI v2. This has been addressed (updated to v2.7.0, specifically) and will be in a new beta coming in the next day or so.
43ERROR

~/code/local/build-talking-apps % ask init —no-browser (master)build-talking-apps
error: unknown option ‘—no-browser’

2020-05-18My guess is that this is because with ASK CLI v2 "ask init" is now "ask configure" and "ask init" now means something else. This has been addressed (updated to v2.7.0, specifically) and will be in a new beta coming in the next day or so. \n
1ERROR

Late last week, Amazon released version 2.0.0 of the ASK CLI and version 2.0.1 a few days later. This was done without an announcement or much fanfare, and I only discovered it by accident while trying to update my installed ASK CLI version.

This new version of the CLI is significantly different than previous versions that the book is based on. The commands it offers are different and the template project it produces has a different project structure. As a result much of the book, especially as it pertains to project structure and use of the ASK CLI, needs to be updated. And I am actively working through that now for the next beta release.

In the meantime, if you’ve already installed the ASK CLI, then do not attempt to update it. Your current version should work just fine as-is until the next beta version is released. If you’ve not yet installed the ASK CLI or if you’ve already updated and have v2.0.0 or higher, then you can roll back to the previous version using `“npm install -g ask-cli@1.7.23” (you may need to do this with “sudo” depending on your OS and permissions settings).

I apologize for this inconvenience and was caught off guard by it just as much as you. I’m working to remedy the issue as soon as possible.

2020-05-18This has been addressed (updated to v2.7.0, specifically) and will be in a new beta coming in the next day or so.
4ERROR

I think the code should reflect ask-cli v2 which is now out of beta.
For instance, ask new —url *.json wouldn’t work.

Instead,
ask new —template-url *.git

2020-05-18This has been addressed (updated to v2.7.0, specifically) and will be in a new beta coming in the next day or so.
41ERROR

‘ask init’ now seems to be ‘ask configure’

The process failed due to a lack of Vendor ID on my account. I had to set that up, as well as MFA, and rerun ‘ask configure’ to proceed.

==
~/code/local/build-talking-apps % ask configure (master)build-talking-apps
This command will configure the ASK CLI with a profile associated with your Amazon developer credentials.
————————————- Step 1 of 2 : ASK CLI Configuration ————————————-
? Please create a new profile or overwrite the existing profile.
Create new profile
? Please provide a profile name or press enter to use default as the profile name: ThirstyH
ead
[Warn]: ASK CLI uses authorization code to fetch LWA tokens. Do not share neither your authorization code nor access tokens.
Switch to “Login with Amazon” page and sign-in with your Amazon developer credentials.
If your browser did not open the page, run the configuration process again with command “ask configure —no-browser”.

ASK Profile “ThirstyHead” was successfully created. The details are recorded in ask-cli config file (.ask/cli_config) located at your HOME folder.
[Error]: There is no Vendor ID associated with your account. To setup Vendor ID, please follow the instructions here: https ://developer.amazon.com/en-US/docs/alexa/smapi/manage-credentials-with-ask-cli.html#vendor-id

[Time passes. Links are clicked. HTML forms are filled in and submitted. Several confirmation emails are exchanged. A second attempt is attempted…]

~/code/local/build-talking-apps % ask configure (master)build-talking-apps
This command will configure the ASK CLI with a profile associated with your Amazon developer credentials.
————————————- Step 1 of 2 : ASK CLI Configuration ————————————-
? Please create a new profile or overwrite the existing profile.
[ThirstyHead] NULL
[Warn]: ASK CLI uses authorization code to fetch LWA tokens. Do not share neither your authorization code nor access tokens.
Switch to “Login with Amazon” page and sign-in with your Amazon developer credentials.
If your browser did not open the page, run the configuration process again with command “ask configure —no-browser”.

ASK Profile “ThirstyHead” was successfully created. The details are recorded in ask-cli config file (.ask/cli_config) located at your HOME folder.
Vendor ID set as XXXXX.

————————————- Step 2 of 2 : Associate an AWS Profile with ASK CLI ————————————-
[Warn]: ASK CLI will create an IAM user and generate corresponding access key id and secret access key. Do not share neither of them.
? Do you want to link your AWS account in order to host your Alexa skills? Yes

Complete the IAM user creation with required permissions from the AWS console, then come back to the terminal.

Please fill in the “Access Key ID” and “Secret Access Key” from the IAM user creation final page.
? AWS Access Key ID: YYYYYY
? AWS Secret Access Key: [hidden]

AWS profile “ask_cli_default” was successfully created. The details are recorded in aws credentials file (.aws/credentials) located at your HOME folder.
AWS profile “ask_cli_default” was successfully associated with your ASK profile “ThirstyHead”.

————————————- Configuration Complete ————————————-
Here is the summary for the profile setup:
ASK Profile: ThirstyHead
AWS Profile: ask_cli_default
Vendor ID: XXXXX
~/code/local/build-talking-apps %

2020-05-18This has been addressed (updated to v2.7.0, specifically) and will be in a new beta coming in the next day or so.
7TYPO

With the current version of ask, 2.0.1, the option to check the version is “-V” instead of “-v”

2020-05-18This has been addressed (updated to v2.7.0, specifically) and will be in a new beta coming in the next day or so.
7ERROR

The command for initial configuration now is “ask configure” instead of “ask init”.

2020-05-18This has been addressed (updated to v2.7.0, specifically) and will be in a new beta coming in the next day or so.

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