Moderation

Prior to moderationPrior to moderation

Private skills are self-moderated when published, and public skills must be submitted for moderation. To do this:

1. On the Settings tab, fill out all the required fields. To learn how to do it, see Creating a skill.

   • If you are a representative of the manufacturer for whose devices you are creating the skill, specify your name, email, and company site in the contact information. This way you can make your skill official. In other cases, it's enough to specify the name and email address.

   • In the Description field, list the types of devices your skill works with. For example: LED light bulb, socket.

   • If your skill is official, add IDs of device cards from Yandex.Market in the Devices section and pass certification. All devices that automatically pass moderation within a few days will appear on the Yandex Smart Home page in Yandex Market.

   If you don't have any product cards on Yandex.Market, you can learn how to create them on the Yandex Market for sellers page.

   • Moderators test the skill on each of the specified types.

   • If you can't add products and submit the skill for moderation, write to smart-home-dev@support.yandex.ru

2. Test the skill.

3. Grant moderators access to your devices. The Yandex Dialogs team will test the skill remotely by video call: submit your skill for moderation and we'll send you an email to the address you specified in the skill settings. We'll ask you to choose a testing date (no later than two weeks from the application).

I have an unofficial skill with Yandex OAuth sign-in

If you created an unofficial skill with sign-in via Yandex OAuth:

1. Publish your skill as private.

2. Create a test account on Yandex.

3. Grant the test account access to the skill.

4. Add smart devices to the test account.

5. Grant moderators access to the test account.

Moderation stepsModeration steps

Moderation includes two steps:

1. Checking the settings. This steps takes no more than one business day.
2. Testing a device with a skill. Agree and conduct remote testing by a video call: it won't take more than 60 minutes.

Moderators will check that:

• Account linking works correctly: the devices connected in the provider's app show up as expected in the Home with Alice interface.
• The devices are running as expected.
• The state of devices changes correctly.
• The skill works without errors.
• The skill responds to each request within three seconds.

The Yandex Dialogs team will test the skill in two ways: using Alice voice control and the Home with Alice interface. Our moderators will review the test results and, if they have no more questions for the developer, approve the skill within one business day.

It takes no more than 2 weeks total between applying and getting the moderation result. You'll see the result of each moderation step in the developer console.

Skills awaiting moderation can't be edited. To edit a skill, in the developer console, open the skill page and click Return to development. The skill will be removed from moderation.

Blocking a skillBlocking a skill

Moderators will block a published skill if:

• The skill responds to one out of five requests with an error.
• The skill doesn't respond for 24 hours.
• Users have reported the skill.

The blocked skill will disappear from the Skill store and won't be available to new users. If users have already launched the skill, they will be able to launch it again.

To avoid skill lock, keep track of its quality. Analyze the statistics of requests addressed to the skill to detect errors in a timely manner. For more information, see Skill monitoring.

Frequently asked questionsFrequently asked questions

Why do I get the error "Couldn't update the device list"?

The reason is that SSL certificates are installed incorrectly. Check their status using the SSL Labs online service.

For the skill to run correctly, set up the SSL certificate chain on the web server or in the provider service.

Why was my skill blocked after publication?

If your skill doesn't respond for several hours or users have reported it, the skill gets blocked. Check that the skill matches it's operating protocol, fix errors, and resubmit it for moderation.

Why did my skill fail moderation?

Skill settings don't match the requirements. To see the reason, select the skill in the developer console, then go to the General → Analyzing results tab.

How do I cancel moderation if my skill has been approved?

Open the skill in the developer console, then click Return to development.

How do I submit a private skill for moderation?

To submit a private skill for self-moderation, select the skill in the developer console, then click Deploy.

Why can't I find my published skill in the Skill store?

The skill will become searchable in the Skill store within 24 hours of publication. To get a link to a skill, open it in the developer console and go to the Promotion tab. A direct link will appear within 10 minutes after publication.