Botframework-solutions: Bot.Builder.Community.Adapters.Alexa not working with the VA

What project is affected?

Virtual Assistant.

What language is this in?

C#

What happens?

BotBuilder.Community.Adapters.Alexa doesn't seem to work with the VA.

What are the steps to reproduce this issue?

Followed the instructions here:- https://github.com/BotBuilderCommunity/botbuilder-community-dotnet/tree/develop/libraries/Bot.Builder.Community.Adapters.Alexa

1) In the Startup.cs I added the following NuGet packages:

Bot.Builder.Community.Adapters.Alexa;
Bot.Builder.Community.Adapters.Alexa.Integration.AspNet.Core;
Bot.Builder.Community.Adapters.Alexa.Middleware;

Before this code

            // Configure bot
            services.AddTransient<IBot, DialogBot<MainDialog>>();

I added:

            // Registering the AlexaHttpAdapter
            services.AddSingleton<IAlexaHttpAdapter>((sp) =>
            {
                var alexaHttpAdapter = new AlexaHttpAdapter(validateRequests: true)
                {
                    OnTurnError = async (context, exception) =>
                    {
                        await context.SendActivityAsync("Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again later." + context + " Exception:" + exception);
                    },
                    ShouldEndSessionByDefault = true,
                    ConvertBotBuilderCardsToAlexaCards = false,
                };
                alexaHttpAdapter.Use(new AlexaIntentRequestToMessageActivityMiddleware());
                return alexaHttpAdapter;
            });

            services.AddSingleton<AlexaIntentRequestToMessageActivityMiddleware>();

2) Created an Alexa controller:

using Bot.Builder.Community.Adapters.Alexa.Integration.AspNet.Core;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using Microsoft.Bot.Builder;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace GuideDogs_VA.Controllers
{
    [Route("api/skillrequests")]
    [ApiController]
    public class AlexaBotController : ControllerBase
    {
        private readonly IAlexaHttpAdapter _adapter;
        private readonly IBot _bot;

        public AlexaBotController(IAlexaHttpAdapter adapter, IBot bot)
        {
            _adapter = adapter;
            _bot = bot;
        }

        [HttpPost]
        public async Task PostAsync()
        {
            await _adapter.ProcessAsync(Request, Response, _bot);
        }
    }
}

3) Created an Alexa Skill using the following JSON:

{
    "interactionModel": {
        "languageModel": {
            "invocationName": "guide dogs",
            "intents": [
                {
                    "name": "GetUserIntent",
                    "slots": [
                        {
                            "name": "phrase",
                            "type": "phrase"
                        }
                    ],
                    "samples": [
                        "{phrase}"
                    ]
                },
                {
                    "name": "AMAZON.FallbackIntent",
                    "samples": []
                },
                {
                    "name": "AMAZON.NavigateHomeIntent",
                    "samples": []
                },
                {
                    "name": "AMAZON.CancelIntent",
                    "samples": []
                },
                {
                    "name": "AMAZON.HelpIntent",
                    "samples": []
                },
                {
                    "name": "AMAZON.StopIntent",
                    "samples": []
                }
            ],
            "types": [
                {
                    "name": "phrase",
                    "values": [
                        {
                            "name": {
                                "value": "hi there Alexa"
                            }
                        },
                        {
                            "name": {
                                "value": "you are just going to repeat what I said aren't you"
                            }
                        },
                        {
                            "name": {
                                "value": "what colour is the sky?"
                            }
                        }
                    ]
                }
            ]
        }
    }
}

What were you expecting to happen?

When testing the Alexa Skill through Alexa's developer console or via an Alexa device, for it to respond, but unfortunately it ends up calling OnEventSync() even though the activity type is of type message.

Can you share any logs, error output, etc.?

System.NullReferenceException thrown from the MainDialog.cs file:

Any screenshots or additional context?

Response from the VA to Alexa (response generated from the Startup.cs context.SendActivityAsync:- await context.SendActivityAsync("Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again later." + context + " Exception:" + exception):

{
    "body": {
        "version": "1.0",
        "response": {
            "outputSpeech": {
                "type": "PlainText",
                "text": "Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again later.Microsoft.Bot.Builder.TurnContext Exception:System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.\r\n   at GuideDogs_VA.Dialogs.MainDialog.OnEventAsync(DialogContext dc, CancellationToken cancellationToken) in C:\\Users\\hussel\\source\\repos\\GuideDogs-VA\\GuideDogs_VA\\Dialogs\\MainDialog.cs:line 204\r\n   at Microsoft.Bot.Builder.Solutions.Dialogs.RouterDialog.OnContinueDialogAsync(DialogContext innerDc, CancellationToken cancellationToken)\r\n   at Microsoft.Bot.Builder.Dialogs.ComponentDialog.BeginDialogAsync(DialogContext outerDc, Object options, CancellationToken cancellationToken)\r\n   at Microsoft.Bot.Builder.Dialogs.DialogContext.BeginDialogAsync(String dialogId, Object options, CancellationToken cancellationToken)\r\n   at Microsoft.Bot.Builder.Dialogs.DialogExtensions.RunAsync(Dialog dialog, ITurnContext turnContext, IStatePropertyAccessor`1 accessor, CancellationToken cancellationToken)\r\n   at GuideDogs_VA.Bots.DialogBot`1.OnTurnAsync(ITurnContext turnContext, CancellationToken cancellationToken) in C:\\Users\\hussel\\source\\repos\\GuideDogs-VA\\GuideDogs_VA\\Bots\\DialogBot.cs:line 39\r\n   at Bot.Builder.Community.Adapters.Alexa.Middleware.AlexaIntentRequestToMessageActivityMiddleware.OnTurnAsync(ITurnContext context, NextDelegate next, CancellationToken cancellationToken)\r\n   at Microsoft.Bot.Builder.MiddlewareSet.ReceiveActivityWithStatusAsync(ITurnContext turnContext, BotCallbackHandler callback, CancellationToken cancellationToken)\r\n   at Microsoft.Bot.Builder.BotAdapter.RunPipelineAsync(ITurnContext turnContext, BotCallbackHandler callback, CancellationToken cancellationToken)"
            },
            "directives": [],
            "shouldEndSession": true,
            "type": "_DEFAULT_RESPONSE"
        },
        "sessionAttributes": {}
    }
}