Alexa Connect Kit SDK for Matter Development Guidelines

You can connect your smart home device directly to Alexa with the Alexa Connect Kit (ACK) software development kit (SDK) for Matter. Matter is a local IPv6 wireless connectivity technology designed to enable interoperability between devices made by different manufacturers. When your device is Matter-certified, Alexa and other smart home assistants can control your device locally.

With the ACK SDK for Matter, you don't have to have expertise in the Matter protocol. The SDK has Matter command and control built in. To learn more about Matter, see Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA).

Follow these guidelines to build and manufacture your Matter-enabled ACK product or consider working with a qualified solution provider who has expertise in hardware and software design, development, certification, and manufacturing. For more details, see ACK Solution Providers.

For more details about the benefits of developing with ACK, see What is the Alexa Connect Kit?.

ACK for Matter architecture

Products built with ACK use Alexa capabilities to describe a device and the properties and directives it supports. In addition, each capability interface defines a set of pre-built utterances to control the device with voice. Alexa knows how to interpret the user's speech and what directives to send to your device. For example, the Alexa.Powercontroller capability supports turning a device on and off.

Similarly, Matter defines clusters with attributes and commands. Clusters define the capabilities of a device. For example, the ON/OFF cluster supports turning a device on and off.

With ACK for Matter, the Alexa service communicates with Amazon Echo devices by using smart home capability directives. The Echo, in turn, maps capability directives to Matter commands and sends these to your device. The ACK SDK for Matter embedded in your device app interprets the Matter commands to control the device.

The following diagram shows a high-level architectural overview of ACK for Matter. This single-chip solution, distributed as source code, allows you to integrate your device app into the connectivity platform. Amazon integrates both the ACK and Matter SDKs into the solution.

The ACK solution includes ACK managed services, Alexa-enabled devices, and the on-chip ACK software, including the ACK SDK, Amazon Web Services interfaces, the Matter SDK, and your device app.
ACK Matter high-level architectural diagram

Choose Matter clusters for your device

Before you integrate the ACK SDK for Matter into your device app, you choose the Matter clusters for your device category. Devices in the lighting category usually include the ON/OFF cluster, but might also include other clusters, such as the Level Control cluster to change the brightness of the light. For details about the Matter clusters supported for ACK, see Supported device categories and clusters for lighting smart plugs, and outlets.

Prerequisites

Before you start building your ACK-based Matter device, make sure you complete the following tasks:

  1. To sign up for ACK, contact Amazon about your project. Amazon assigns an ACK support engineer to your project. Include the following information in your request.
    • Indication of whether your product is a prototype or intended for public launch.
    • Default region. Valid regions: North America (NA), Europe (EU), and Far East (FE).
    • If you support more than one region, specify the fallback region.
  2. Select and purchase an ACK SDK for Matter development kit for prototyping.
  3. Create an Amazon Web Services (AWS) account. The AWS account gives you access to resources as part of the free tier of services.
  4. Contact your ACK support engineer to create your project and give you access to the ACK SDK for Matter software. Include your Matter ProductID and Matter VendorID from the CSA in your request. For prototypes, you can use the CSA test VendorID.

Steps to build a Matter-enabled ACK product

To build a Matter-enabled ACK product, complete the following steps to build and test a virtual product (prototype) and manufacture a production product. Or, to learn more about the development process, you can start with the Tutorial: Build an ACK-based Matter Device.

  1. Contact your ACK support engineer to create a virtual product.
  2. Set up your development environment with the ACK SDK for Matter and silicon vendor-provided tools.
  3. Develop device apps by using the ACK SDK for Matter APIs and adding Alexa capabilities that reflect the desired functionality of your device. Compile your source code for the Matter platform and flash the firmware onto your SoC.
  4. Provision ACK-based Matter Prototype Devices with the credentials that allow your device to join the Matter network.
  5. Commission your device into the Matter network.
  6. Test your device with the Alexa app and a Matter-compatible Amazon Echo device.
  7. Register your device with supported smart home assistants for device control and test your device with the Alexa app and Matter-compatible Amazon Echo devices.
  8. Certify your product with certification programs, such as the Works with Alexa (WWA) and Frustration-Free Setup (FFS) Amazon programs and the CSA Matter certification program.
  9. Manufacture your device.
  10. Launch your ACK-based product for sale.
  11. Identify and resolve product issues with operational metrics and logs.
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Last updated: Nov 05, 2025