Using java.awt.Desktop inside Alexa Skill's Intent handler

Question

I am developing my firsts skills using ask-sdk-java and Skillservlet. I have successfully implemented my custom skill handler and communication with alexa.

Now I would like to run some code inside the handler, like opening a web browser using java.awt.Desktop:

public Optional<Response> handle(HandlerInput input){
 
Desktop.getDesktop().browse(new URI("http://www.google.com"));
 
        String speechText = "Of course";
        return input.getResponseBuilder()
                .withSpeech(speechText)
                .build();
}

I am building it as a .war file and running into tomcat server.

When calling the intent, I receive the alexa response, but no web browser is opened.

It is possible to achieve this?

Kind Regards,

Answer 1

Are you expecting the browser to open on the server running the skill or on your Echo device? ASK-SDK is server side and your response to the device will always be mediated by the Alexa Voice Service. You cannot run arbitrary Java code on a customer device.

You can run HTML and JavaScript in a response, but only using the Alexa Web API for Games, and only on devices that support it.