Alexa - Ruby - Playing Audio Files - ruby

Question

I am trying to play an audio file through Alexa. My backend in Ruby on Rails and I am using alexa-ruby gem.
I was able to produce speeches via ask and tell directive like this
def index
parsed_request = JSON.parse(request.body.read)
alexa = AlexaRuby.new(parsed_request)
speech = "Hey there! I am alexa"
response = alexa.response.ask!(speech)
render json: response
end
When I tried to play audio, I am getting no response. This is what I tried to do
def index
parsed_request = JSON.parse(request.body.read)
alexa = AlexaRuby.new(parsed_request)
params = { url: 'https://s3.amazonaws.com/my-ssml-samples/Flourish.mp3', token: 'flourish-token', offset: 0 }
response = alexa.response.add_audio_player_directive(:start, params)
render json: response
end

Answer 1

So depending on the type of audio you are trying to play you may want to try a different strategy. The audio player directive is more for playing something like a stream and gives the pause, rewind, etc type controls. It would be used if you where creating a music player or playing a long format audio file like a podcast.
From you example it looks like you are just trying to play a simple mp3. You can do this with the exact same way you did the speech using SSML.
For Example:
def index
parsed_request = JSON.parse(request.body.read)
alexa = AlexaRuby.new(parsed_request)
speech = "<speak>
Welcome to Ride Hailer.
<audio src="soundbank://soundlibrary/transportation/amzn_sfx_car_accelerate_01" />
You can order a ride, or request a fare estimate.
Which will it be?</speak>"
response = alexa.response.ask!(speech)
render json: response
end
You can find additional info here
https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/docs/alexa/custom-skills/speech-synthesis-markup-language-ssml-reference.html