Creating Alexa reminder from app works but from Show device fails with Internal Server Error

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Gus Kaechelin asked · Oct 31, 2020 at 09:36 PM

Creating Alexa reminder from app works but from Show device fails with Internal Server Error

My Alexa reminders skill works great when testing from the Alexa iPhone app but fails with a 500 Internal Server Error when I invoke it from a physical Alexa show device.

My skill creates Alexa reminders using the reminders API with the following snippet:

const reminderRequest = {
  requestTime: moment().tz("America/New_York").format("YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss"),
  trigger: {
    type: "SCHEDULED_RELATIVE",
    offsetInSeconds: 30,
  },
  alertInfo: {
    spokenInfo: {
      content: [{
        locale: "en-US",
        text: "This is a demo reminder",
        ssml: "This is a demo reminder"
      }]
    }
  },
  pushNotification: {
    status: "ENABLED"
  }
};

let reminderClient = handlerInput.serviceClientFactory.getReminderManagementServiceClient();

await reminderClient.createReminder(reminderRequest); // <==== The problem line

This is working fine when I use the Alexa app to test. When I use my Alexa Show device (connected to the same Amazon account - with reminder permission) I get the following exception in the CloudWatch console:

2020-10-31T21:01:16.331Z    2e9c9f05-814c-4dc6-bc64-83fd6cc41671    INFO    { ServiceError:Internal Server Error
at ReminderManagementServiceClient.<anonymous> (/var/task/node_modules/ask-sdk-model/index.js:219:35)
at step (/var/task/node_modules/ask-sdk-model/index.js:45:23)
at Object.next (/var/task/node_modules/ask-sdk-model/index.js:26:53)
at fulfilled (/var/task/node_modules/ask-sdk-model/index.js:17:58)
at process._tickCallback (internal/process/next_tick.js:68:7)
 name: 'ServiceError',
 statusCode: 500,
 response:
   { code: 'INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR',
     message: 'Internal Server error' } }

I've handled permissions and if reminder permission is missing I prompt for them and they get assigned successfully. Also, teh await is not an issue as the whole method is async. The only difference is the skill being invoked from the Alexa app versus being invoked from a Show physical device.

The 500-InternalServerError leaves a lot to the imagination. Can anyone help with some insight into what the issue may be?

Thanks.

alexa skills kit alexa api reminders

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Gus Kaechelin · Nov 05, 2020 at 09:21 PM

Bumping this question... This is still an issue. Why an Internal Server Error when using a different device? Any help from the Amazon community would be great. Thanks.

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2 Answers

Answer 1 · 2020-11-16T21:47:48Z

Gus Kaechelin answered · Nov 16, 2020 at 09:47 PM

Hi @barry@amazon.

For some reason I was not able to reply to your last message so I need to send my response as a new comment...

Thanks again for your help. I first made a successful request to create a reminder via the SendDemoReminderIntent using the Alexa iPhone app with the following request (request id e19ed7d7-e5df-4fff-bd55-b6b393037559):

{
    "requestTime": "2020-11-16T13:13:56",
    "trigger": {
        "type": "SCHEDULED_RELATIVE",
        "offsetInSeconds": 30
    },
    "alertInfo": {
        "spokenInfo": {
            "content": [
                {
                    "locale": "en-US",
                    "text": "This is a demo reminder",
                    "ssml": "This is a demo reminder"
                }
            ]
        }
    },
    "pushNotification": {
        "status": "ENABLED"
    }
}

Again, this worked perfectly from the iPhone Alexa app.

I then invoke the exact same intent (SendDemoReminderIntent) via my Alexa Show with the following request (request id f7527516-0cdd-474b-ba4c-c6f8c732f2fd):

{
    "requestTime": "2020-11-16T13:16:23",
    "trigger": {
        "type": "SCHEDULED_RELATIVE",
        "offsetInSeconds": 30
    },
    "alertInfo": {
        "spokenInfo": {
            "content": [
                {
                    "locale": "en-US",
                    "text": "This is a demo reminder",
                    "ssml": "This is a demo reminder"
                }
            ]
        }
    },
    "pushNotification": {
        "status": "ENABLED"
    }
}

Now this request fails with the following error:

2020-11-16T18:16:23.706Z    f7527516-0cdd-474b-ba4c-c6f8c732f2fd    INFO    {
    "name": "ServiceError",
    "statusCode": 500,
    "response": {
        "code": "INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR",
        "message": "Internal Server error"
    }
}

The requests look exactly the same to me. The only difference seems to be the source device of the request. Please let me know if I can provide any additional information. At this point I'm completely stumped.

I really appreciate your help. Thanks!

Gus

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barry@amazon ♦♦ · Nov 17, 2020 at 11:25 AM

Hi @Gus Kaechelin,

Thanks for the information. I will forward it to our internal teams so they can check what might be happening here.

I tried to reproduce it here with my devices, but I am not able to launch the skill with the current invocation name. Are other users able to reproduce the issue on their account?

Regards,
Barry

PS: your reply might've been to large and that's why you had to post as a new comment ;)

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Gus Kaechelin barry@amazon ♦♦ · Nov 17, 2020 at 02:26 PM

I have not had an opportunity to have others try with different devices. The invocation name is kind-of difficult. For testing purposes I can change it to something easier if you want?

In the meantime I'll try to get some others to give it a try and let you know.

Thanks!

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Gus Kaechelin · Nov 30, 2020 at 03:12 PM

Hi @barry@amazon - bumping this again as I have not heard back in 2 weeks. Any insight into what may be happening on the backend with regard to the Internal System Error when attempting to set reminders from an echo vs. from the mobile app?

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barry@amazon ♦♦ Gus Kaechelin · 5 days ago

Hi @Gus Kaechelin and sorry for the long time without communication.

According to our internal team, a 500 service error typically indicates that the service is unavailable, which may have been the case at the time. Are you still encountering this issue?

Regards,
Barry

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Answer 2 · 2020-11-12T11:29:05Z

barry@amazon answered · Nov 12, 2020 at 11:29 AM

Hello @Gus Kaechelin and sorry for the long delay in getting back to you.

Is this still happening? Can you please share your skill ID so I can look further into this?

Regards,
Barry

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NewUser-e875b7be-6838-414f-af7f-6a81f3bde968 · Nov 12, 2020 at 11:45 PM

Hi @barry@amazon!

Yes - it is still happening. My skill id is amzn1.ask.skill.716c67c4-2ea5-4b3b-b8e1-66ab0c2fef91. Any insight you could provide would be awesome. I've been stuck on this for a few weeks now. Also, please let me know if I can provide any additional info to help analyze/debug the issue.

Thanks!

Gus

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barry@amazon ♦♦ NewUser-e875b7be-6838-414f-af7f-6a81f3bde968 · Nov 13, 2020 at 09:52 AM

Thanks for the information Gus.

I was able to reproduce the issue with your skill in an Echo Show 5, but I have not been able to launch it in the Alexa app.

However, in my test skill, I have successfully created a reminder in the same device. Could you log your reminderRequest and share it here so I can see if there are any clear differences between what I sent and what you are sending?

Regards,
Barry

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Creating Alexa reminder from app works but from Show device fails with Internal Server Error

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