Push dynamic shortcuts to Assistant

Android shortcuts provide users with quick methods to perform an action or access content in an app. Assistant can proactively suggest your Android dynamic shortcuts to users at relevant times, enabling users to easily discover and replay your voice-enabled functionality.

For example, you can push a shortcut for each note a user creates in your note taking app. You make dynamic links eligible to display on Google surfaces, like Assistant, by adding the Google Shortcuts Integration Jetpack library to your project. This library lets Assistant take in dynamic shortcuts you push using the ShortcutManagerCompat class, which is a Jetpack wrapper for the ShortcutManager API.

When you use the Google Shortcuts Integration library in 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 using 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.

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

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

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, you enable Assistant to take in the dynamic shortcuts you push using the ShortcutManagerCompat class.

Note: Visit the Jetpack library explorer to find the latest versions of the Core and Google Shortcuts Integration libraries.

Push dynamic shortcuts

To push dynamic shortcuts that are eligible for display on Assistant, you first create the shortcut using the ShortcutInfoCompat.Builder() class.

You then push the shortcut using the ShortcutManagerCompat.pushDynamicShortcut() method. Shortcuts are pushed whenever a user completes a relevant action in your app. The following sample code pushes a shortcut every time a user creates a list in a notes and lists app.

ExampleOrderActivity

Kotlin

// Define the dynamic shortcut for an item
var intent = Intent(context, DisplayOrderActivity::class.java)
intent.action = Intent.ACTION_VIEW
var shortcutInfo = ShortcutInfoCompat.Builder(context, id)
    .setShortLabel("Running")
    .setLongLabel("Start running")
    .addCapabilityBinding(
        "actions.intent.CREATE_ITEM_LIST", "itemList.name", Arrays.asList("My First List")
    )
    .setIntent(intent) // Push the shortcut
    .build()

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

Java

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

ShortcutInfoCompat.Builder shortcutInfo = new ShortcutInfoCompat.Builder(context, id)
    .setShortLabel("Running")
    .setLongLabel("Start running")
    .addCapabilityBinding(
      "actions.intent.CREATE_ITEM_LIST", "itemList.name", Arrays.asList("My First List"))
    .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 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 lets you associate the shortcut to a semantic built-in intent (BII) parameter.

Dynamic shortcuts sometimes are 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:

Kotlin

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("Create a list")
    .setLongLabel("Create a list")
    .addCapabilityBinding("actions.intent.CREATE_ITEM_LIST")
    .setIntent(intent)
    .build()

ShortcutManagerCompat.pushDynamicShortcut(context, shortcutInfo);

Java

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("Create a list")
  .setLongLabel("Create a list")
  .addCapabilityBinding("actions.intent.CREATE_ITEM_LIST")
  .setIntent(intent)
  .build();

ShortcutManagerCompat.pushDynamicShortcut(context, shortcutInfo);

Test dynamic shortcuts with Assistant

When Google Assistant successfully takes in a dynamic shortcut from your application, the shortcut 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:

Create a preview of your App Actions and prepare your test device or emulator for testing actions by following the same setup requirements as for the Google Assistant Plugin.
Open your app and define a dynamic shortcut to push. Then complete an action. For example, if you push a shortcut whenever a note is created in your note taking app, then create a new note.
Open Shortcuts in the Assistant Settings app on your device. Your dynamic shortcut appears in the list for your app.