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Amazon Alexa

Use Alexa to capture student notes, log activities, set reminders, run workflows, and give general voice commands to Mossie -- all hands-free from any Alexa-enabled device.

Getting Started

Enable the Skill

  1. Open the Alexa app on your phone
  2. Go to Skills & Games and search for "Mossie"
  3. Tap Enable Skill
  4. Tap Link Account and sign in with your Mossie credentials

Account linking uses OAuth. Your credentials are stored securely by Amazon and are never exposed to the Alexa skill code.

Your First Command

Once linked, try:

"Alexa, open Mossie"

Alexa responds with a welcome message and explains what you can do.

Voice Commands

Capture a Note

Save a general note to your Mossie workspace.

Say this

  • "Alexa, tell Mossie to capture a note"
  • "Alexa, ask Mossie to take a note about curriculum planning"
  • "Alexa, tell Mossie note that we need more supplies"

Alexa asks "What would you like to capture?" if no content is provided in the initial command.

Student Notes

Capture observations about specific students. Mossie uses entity extraction to match student names against your roster.

Say this

  • "Alexa, tell Mossie about Sarah's reading progress"
  • "Alexa, tell Mossie note about Jake that he helped a classmate"
  • "Alexa, ask Mossie to note that Emma finished her project early"

Alexa asks follow-up questions if needed:

  • "Which student is this note about?"
  • "What would you like to note about this student?"

If the student name matches someone in your roster, Mossie creates a performance note linked to that student. If no match is found, the note is saved as a quick capture for you to review in the app.

Activity Log

Log what happened in class today.

Say this

  • "Alexa, tell Mossie to log class activity"
  • "Alexa, tell Mossie we did multiplication tables today"
  • "Alexa, ask Mossie to log that we went on a field trip"

Smart Reminders

Set context-aware reminders. When you mention a student's name, Mossie automatically links the reminder to that student.

Say this

  • "Alexa, tell Mossie to remind me about parent conferences"
  • "Alexa, ask Mossie to follow up on Jake's homework"
  • "Alexa, tell Mossie remind me to check on Emma's reading progress"

Reminders default to tomorrow morning. If a student name is detected, the reminder is linked to that student so you see relevant context when the reminder fires.

Quick Notes

Short, general notes without a specific category.

Say this

  • "Alexa, tell Mossie quick note library books due Friday"
  • "Alexa, tell Mossie jot down assembly next Tuesday"

Run a Workflow

Trigger one of your custom Mossie workflows by name.

Say this

  • "Alexa, tell Mossie to run my Friday newsletter"
  • "Alexa, ask Mossie to run the weekly report workflow"

The command is sent to the voice execute endpoint, which matches it to your workflows. If the workflow is found, it is queued and runs in the background. Results appear in the Mossie app.

If the workflow name is not recognized, Alexa tells you it could not find a matching workflow.

Voice Command (General)

For anything that does not fit a specific category, you can give a general command. Mossie's AI classifies the intent and acts accordingly.

Say this

  • "Alexa, ask Mossie to create a lesson plan on fractions"
  • "Alexa, tell Mossie to draft feedback for Sarah"
  • "Alexa, ask Mossie to build an assessment on vocabulary"

The voice execute endpoint classifies the command into one of:

  • Capture -- Saved as a note
  • Execute Workflow -- Triggers a named workflow
  • Execute Assistant -- Triggers a custom assistant
  • Execute Built-in -- Prepares a built-in tool (lesson plan, assessment, or feedback) and asks you to open the Mossie app to finish
  • Query -- Looks up information in your knowledge base

How It Works

sequenceDiagram
    participant U as You
    participant A as Alexa
    participant L as Lambda Function
    participant M as Mossie API

    U->>A: "Tell Mossie about Sarah's progress"
    A->>L: StudentNoteIntent (studentName, noteContent)
    L->>M: Extract entities from text
    M->>L: Matched: Sarah Smith (studentId: 42)
    L->>M: Create performance note for student 42
    M->>L: Note created
    L->>A: "Note saved for Sarah Smith"
    A->>U: Speaks confirmation

The Alexa skill runs as an AWS Lambda function. It receives the recognized intent and slot values from Alexa, calls the Mossie API with your linked OAuth credentials, and returns a spoken confirmation.

Entity Recognition

Mossie automatically detects student names in your commands and matches them against your roster.

"Tell Mossie that Ethan and Maya worked well together on the science project"

Mossie will:

  1. Detect "Ethan" and "Maya" in your note
  2. Match them to students in your classroom roster
  3. Create a linked note associated with both students

If a name cannot be matched, Mossie saves the note as a quick capture and tells you the student was not found. You can review and link it manually in the app.

Where It Works

The Mossie Alexa skill works on any Alexa-enabled device:

Device Supported
Echo Dot / Echo Yes
Echo Show Yes
Echo Auto Yes
Fire TV Yes
Alexa app on phone Yes
Third-party Alexa devices Yes

Privacy

  • Voice audio is processed by Amazon's Alexa service, which converts it to text
  • Only the transcribed text is sent to the Mossie API
  • Your Mossie credentials are stored securely via OAuth token exchange
  • You can unlink your account at any time in the Alexa app under Skills & Games

Tips

  1. Use student names clearly -- Alexa needs to understand the name before Mossie can match it
  2. Keep commands brief -- Short, direct commands are recognized more reliably
  3. Use in quiet environments -- Background noise affects Alexa's speech recognition
  4. Check your roster -- Make sure students are in your Mossie classroom before expecting name matching

Troubleshooting

Your account is not linked:

  1. Open the Alexa app
  2. Go to Skills & Games then find Mossie
  3. Tap Link Account
  4. Sign in with your Mossie credentials

"I couldn't find that student"

The student name was not matched:

  • Check that the student is in your classroom roster in the Mossie app
  • Try using the student's full first name
  • Unusual spellings or nicknames may not match automatically

Alexa does not respond to Mossie commands

  • Verify the Mossie skill is enabled in the Alexa app
  • Try "Alexa, open Mossie" to check the connection
  • Check your internet connection

Notes not appearing in the Mossie app

  • Open the Mossie app and refresh the workspace
  • Notes created via Alexa appear immediately but may take a moment to show up in lists
  • Verify your account linking is still active

See Also