Push dynamic shortcuts to Assistant

Assistant can proactively suggest your Android dynamic shortcuts to users at contextually relevant times, enabling users to easily discover and replay your voice-enabled functionality. Android shortcuts provide users with quick methods to perform an action or access content in an app. For example, you could push a shortcut for each note a user creates in your note taking app. You make your dynamic links eligible to be displayed on Google surfaces, like Assistant, by adding the Google Shortcuts Integration Jetpack library to your project. This library allows Assistant to ingest dynamic shortcuts you push using the ShortcutManagerCompat class, which is a Jetpack wrapper for the ShortcutManager API.

By adding the Google Shortcuts Integration library to your app, dynamic shortcuts you push to Google are visible to users as voice shortcut suggestions in the Assistant app. You can push an unlimited number of dynamic shortcuts to Assistant when you add the Google Shortcuts Integration library as an app dependency, and use the pushDynamicShortcut() method of the ShortcutManagerCompat library.

Configure your development project

Adding dynamic shortcuts functionality to your app requires the Google Shortcuts Integration library, which is an Android Jetpack library. This section describes how to configure your app development project to include this library and set the Android SDK version to the level.

To add this Jetpack library and configure your project, follow these steps:

1. Update your gradle.properties file to handle Jetpack libraries:

   gradle.properties

   android.useAndroidX=true
   # Automatically convert third-party libraries to use AndroidX
   android.enableJetifier=true
   

2. Add the Jetpack library dependencies to your build.gradle:

   app/build.gradle

   dependencies {
    implementation "androidx.core:core:1.6.0"
    implementation "androidx.core:core-google-shortcuts:1.0.1"
    ...
   }
   

   In the preceding sample code, you list two Jetpack libraries as dependencies. The androidx.core:core:1.6.0 library contains the ShortcutManagerCompat class which you use to push dynamic shortcuts to Google.

   The androidx.core:core-google-shortcuts:1.0.1 is the Google Shortcuts Integration library. This library contains no developer-facing API. By adding it as a dependency, it enables Assistant to ingest the dynamic shortcuts you push using the ShortcutManagerCompat class.

Push dynamic shortcuts

In order to push dynamic shortcuts that are eligible for display on Assistant, you must first create the shortcut using the ShortcutInfoCompat.Builder() class. You then push the shortcut using the ShortcutManagerCompat.pushDynamicShortcut() method. Shortcuts should be pushed whenever a user completes a relevant action in your app. The following sample code pushes a shortcut every time a user places an order in a food delivery app:

ExampleOrderActivity

// Define the dynamic shortcut for a menu item
var intent = Intent(context, DisplayOrderActivity::class.java)
intent.action = Intent.ACTION_VIEW
var shortcutInfo = ShortcutInfoCompat.Builder(context, id)
    .setShortLabel("Cappuccino")
    .setLongLabel("Order another cappuccino")
    .addCapabilityBinding(
        "actions.intent.ORDER_MENU_ITEM", "menuItem.name", Arrays.asList("cappuccino")
    )
    .setIntent(intent) // Push the shortcut
    .build()

// Push the shortcut
ShortcutManagerCompat.pushDynamicShortcut(context, shortcutInfo)

// Define the dynamic shortcut for a menu item
Intent intent = new Intent(context, DisplayOrderActivity.class);
intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);

ShortcutInfoCompat.Builder shortcutInfo = new ShortcutInfoCompat.Builder(context, id)
    .setShortLabel("Cappuccino")
    .setLongLabel("Order another cappuccino")
    .addCapabilityBinding(
      "actions.intent.ORDER_MENU_ITEM", "menuItem.name", Arrays.asList("cappuccino"))
    .setIntent(intent)
    .build();

// Push the shortcut
ShortcutManagerCompat.pushDynamicShortcut(context, shortcutInfo);

The id referenced in the ShortcutInfoCompat.Builder method in the preceding sample code defines the shortcutId of the resulting shortcut object. This id must be to a unique string literal. For details, see the Android Shortcuts documentation.

In the preceding example, the addCapabilityBinding method binds the dynamic shortcut to a capability of the same android:name defined in shortcuts.xml. This method allows you to associate the shortcut to a semantic BII parameter.

Dynamic shortcuts can also be pushed without any particular BII parameter association. When invoked by the user, Assistant triggers the intent defined in the shortcut to fulfill the action. The following example shows a dynamic shortcut with no parameter association:

var intent: Intent = Intent(context, DisplayOrderActivity::class.java)
intent.setPackage(this, "com.sample.app")
intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_VIEW)

var shortcutInfo: ShortcutInfoCompat = ShortcutInfoCompat.Builder(context, id)
    .setShortLabel("Order coffee")
    .setLongLabel("Order a cup of coffee")
    .addCapabilityBinding("actions.intent.ORDER_MENU_ITEM")
    .setIntent(intent)
    .build()

ShortcutManagerCompat.pushDynamicShortcut(context, shortcutInfo);

Intent intent = new Intent(context, DisplayOrderActivity.class);
intent.setPackage(this, "com.sample.app");
intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);

ShortcutInfoCompat shortcutInfo = new ShortcutInfoCompat.Builder(context, id)
  .setShortLabel("Order coffee")
  .setLongLabel("Order a cup of coffee")
  .addCapabilityBinding("actions.intent.ORDER_MENU_ITEM")
  .setIntent(intent)
  .build();

ShortcutManagerCompat.pushDynamicShortcut(context, shortcutInfo);

Test dynamic shortcuts with Assistant

When Google Assistant successfully ingests a dynamic shortcut from your application, it is eligible to appear as a Voice Shortcut suggestion in the Assistant Android app. The Assistant app suggests the most recent shortcuts pushed by your app.

To test your dynamic shortcuts with Assistant, follow these steps:

1. Create a preview of your App Actions and make sure your test device or emulator is prepared for testing actions by following the same setup requirements as the Google Assistant Plugin.
2. Open your app and complete an action that you have defined a dynamic shortcut to be pushed for. For example, if you push a shortcut whenever a note is created in your note taking app, then create a new note.
3. Open Shortcuts in the Assistant Settings app on your device. Your dynamic shortcut should appear in the list for your app.