Design Guide: Display Modes
Display modes are the surfaces developers use to render add-on experiences in Alexa+. Each mode is designed for a specific type of interaction, from quick confirmations to immersive workflows. Using these consistently helps experiences stay simple and predictable.
Inline and Fullscreen modes
Inline (default)
Your component renders directly in the conversation. This is the default behavior for any MCP response with a UI payload. Inline is where your experience lives unless you explicitly request fullscreen.
When to use:
- Confirmations, summaries, and single-decision flows.
- Content that complements the spoken reply.
- Most add-on responses.
Fullscreen
An expansion of the inline fragment that provides more real estate for complex interactions and higher content density. Fullscreen is not a separate surface. Treat it as the same experience with more room.
When to use:
- Games.
- Panning and zooming interactions.
- Information-dense displays such as schedules, charts, and detailed lists.
- Complex multi-step interactions.
Your responsibility
As the developer, you declare in your tool what you support (inline, fullscreen, or both). You will also provide the controls for customers to enter a fullscreen mode (such as a button to expand a map view).
Hydrated (default when you don't provide a UI payload)
If you return data only, with no UI payload, Alexa renders that data through its native interface. This makes your MCP's data appear consistently with other Alexa+ experiences. Hydration is the default behavior whenever your response omits a UI payload. Contact your Solutions Architect for more details on this integration path.
Voice-only
Voice-only is the always-on baseline of an add-on. Alexa surfaces voice responses automatically on devices without a screen, without requiring you to select a mode. Your tool's data must remain intelligible without any visual support and be free of text formatting artifacts (such as pipes).
Choosing a mode
Alexa+ devices with screens generally respect modes you specify. If a specified mode isn't supported on a given device, Alexa falls back to text rendering. Let customers change their mode using your controls: don't move them between inline and fullscreen spontaneously unless it's necessary.
Related topics
| Go back to: Tools, Schema, and Data Design | Next: Layout and Rendering |
Last updated: Jul 21, 2026
