Alexa ASK Lambda bug - amazon-web-services

Question

I'm trying to make a skill where after the LaunchRequest, an initial welcome message is played in the function StartGame asking the user for their school, and then the user says their school in the SetSchool intent, and then the skill says a message. Right now there's a bug in the last part, and I don't know how to debug it.
The error:
My code:
/* eslint-disable func-names */
/* eslint-disable dot-notation */
/* eslint-disable new-cap */
/* eslint quote-props: ['error', 'consistent']*/
/**
* This sample demonstrates a simple skill built with the Amazon Alexa Skills
* nodejs skill development kit.
* This sample supports en-US lauguage.
* The Intent Schema, Custom Slots and Sample Utterances for this skill, as well
* as testing instructions are located at https://github.com/alexa/skill-sample-nodejs-trivia
**/
'use strict';
const Alexa = require('alexa-sdk');
const questions = require('./question');
const ANSWER_COUNT = 4; // The number of possible answers per trivia question.
const GAME_LENGTH = 10; // The number of questions per trivia game.
const GAME_STATES = {
TRIVIA: '_TRIVIAMODE', // Asking trivia questions.
START: '_STARTMODE', // Entry point, start the game.
HELP: '_HELPMODE', // The user is asking for help.
};
const APP_ID = undefined; // TODO replace with your app ID (OPTIONAL)
const languageString = {
'en': {
'translation': {
'QUESTIONS': questions['HS_QUESTIONS_EN_US'],
'GAME_NAME': 'Science Bowl',
'HELP_MESSAGE': 'I will ask you %s multiple choice questions. Respond with the number of the answer. ' +
'For example, say one, two, three, or four. To start a new game at any time, say, start game. ',
'REPEAT_QUESTION_MESSAGE': 'To repeat the last question, say, repeat. ',
'ASK_MESSAGE_START': 'Would you like to start playing?',
...
},
},
};
const newSessionHandlers = {
'LaunchRequest': function () {
this.handler.state = GAME_STATES.START;
this.emitWithState('StartGame', true);
},
'SetSchool': function() {
this.handler.state = GAME_STATES.START;
this.emitWithState('School', true);
},
'AMAZON.StartOverIntent': function () {
this.handler.state = GAME_STATES.START;
this.emitWithState('StartGame', true);
},
'AMAZON.HelpIntent': function () {
this.handler.state = GAME_STATES.HELP;
this.emitWithState('helpTheUser', true);
},
'Unhandled': function () {
const speechOutput = this.t('START_UNHANDLED');
this.emit(':ask', speechOutput, speechOutput);
},
};
...
const startStateHandlers = Alexa.CreateStateHandler(GAME_STATES.START, {
'StartGame': function (newGame) {
let speechOutput = newGame ? this.t('NEW_GAME_MESSAGE', this.t('GAME_NAME')) + this.t('WELCOME_MESSAGE', GAME_LENGTH.toString()) : '';
this.handler.state = GAME_STATES.START;
this.emit(':ask', speechOutput, speechOutput);
},
'School': function(newGame) {
this.handler.state = GAME_STATES.START;
this.response.speak('test');
this.emit(':responseReady');
}
});
exports.handler = function (event, context) {
const alexa = Alexa.handler(event, context);
alexa.appId = APP_ID;
// To enable string internationalization (i18n) features, set a resources object.
alexa.resources = languageString;
alexa.registerHandlers(newSessionHandlers, startStateHandlers, triviaStateHandlers, helpStateHandlers); // these were defined earlier
alexa.execute();
};
I excluded most of the code so it would fit here. I would like to try and debug it but I don't even know how to view the error messages. What do I do?

Answer 1

If you're hosting on AWS Lambda logs can be found in CloudWatch.
From the AWS console open cloudwatch, then click on the Logs link in the left hand menu. you should be able to find your Lambda service from there.
That said your problem seems to be an issue of Intent definition by state.
You've already set the state to START but the startStateHandlers doesn't have the SetSchool Intent defined.
To fix you'd either have to add a SetSchool intent definition to the startStateHandlers OR reset the state to one that does contain the SetSchool intent before emitting your response in the StartGame handler.