As smart homes become more central to our customers' daily lives, we are committed to ensuring Works with Alexa (WWA) certified devices deliver consistently excellent experiences. Today, we are announcing new WWA certification requirements that focus on improved setup experiences and enhanced reliability standards.
Effective October 1, 2025, the following reliability requirements will apply to all devices that carry the WWA badge.
- Error Defects: Error Defects are technical failures at the API/response level (like INVALID_SKILL_RESPONSE_EXCEPTION), indicating communication failures between Alexa and a developer's skill. These defects frustrate customers by preventing smart devices from completing requested actions and providing little troubleshooting recourse. INTERNAL_ERROR occurs when an unspecified error occurs and Alexa is unable to communicate the correct failure reason to customers, while SKILL_RESPONSE_TIMEOUT_EXCEPTION occurs when the skill fails to respond within the expected timeframe. Starting on 10/1/2025, INTERNAL_ERROR or SKILL_RESPONSE_TIMEOUT_EXCEPTION must not exceed a threshold of 3% of total request volume when measured on a rolling 30-day basis. Learn more about the User Perceived Error dashboard, exception background, and prevention here.
- Model Number match: The model attribute reported during Alexa Discovery must match the Model Number provided during a Works with Alexa certification request. This enables product traceability from skill connection to retail listing on Amazon.com, allows Alexa to showcase reliable products to customers, and allows developers to easily review and track in-field device performance.
Additionally, effective October 1, 2025, all new Matter-based devices seeking WWA certification must comply with the following:
- Device Reset Instructions: Clear reset instructions must be included in the Distributed Compliance Ledger (DCL) before WWA submission. These updates must be made prior to WWA submission so the reset instructions can be surfaced to customers through the Alexa app during device setup.
- Brand Name Consistency: Maintain consistent brand names across the DCL and Product Packaging to help customers identify devices in the Alexa app during setup.
- Extended Discovery: To enable DNS Device Detection by Alexa-enabled devices, implement Extended Discovery in device firmware with no timeout (-1). Configure the Matter SDK by adding these definitions to src/include/platform/CHIPDeviceConfig.h:
#define CHIP_DEVICE_CONFIG_ENABLE_EXTENDED_DISCOVERY 1
#define CHIP_DEVICE_CONFIG_ENABLE_COMMISSIONABLE_DEVICE_TYPE 1
#define CHIP_DEVICE_CONFIG_EXTENDED_DISCOVERY_TIMEOUT_SECS -1
Additionally, per the Matter specification, a device that supports Extended Discovery must provide a method for customers to put the device into commissioning mode even after the device has been previously commissioned. A device that has no timeout for Extended Discovery must provide a method for the customer to enable a limit or disable Extended Discovery. For these methods, you may consider variants of the instructions provided in the ‘Pairing Hint Values’ table in the Matter specification. For example, variants of Bit index 12 could be:
- Factory reset the device: “Press the reset button 10 times with maximum 1 second between each press.”
- Put device that has already been commissioned into commissioning mode: “Press the reset button 3 times with maximum 1 second between each press.”
- Disables extended discovery: “Press the reset button 5 times with maximum 1 second between each press.”
Starting on 1/31/2026, all new lighting and power Matter-based devices seeking WWA certification must support Matter Simple Setup (MSS). Existing WWA-certified devices must implement and verify MSS implementation starting 7/31/2026 to retain their WWA badge. This requirement ensures seamless device setup through Matter's standardized protocol — a key friction for Alexa customers — enabling an automatic setup experience with Alexa and Alexa+. Technical documentation is available for both Wi-Fi and Thread implementations. Developers may pursue MSS implementation and WWA certification independently, using a unique FFS Device Type ID to verify implementation when requesting the WWA badge.
Our developer support team stands ready to assist with implementation questions and ensure a smooth transition to these enhanced standards. These updates represent our continued dedication to raising the bar for smart home device integration, ultimately creating better experiences for our shared customers.