ask new --template-url does not support Alexa Hosted Skill, however provides an option to choose Alexa Hosted Skill.

[AnasuyaKiran]

I'm submitting a...

[ ] Regression (a behavior that used to work and stopped working in a new release)
[x] Bug report  
[ ] Performance issue
[ ] Feature request
[ ] Documentation issue or request 
[ ] Other... Please describe: 

ask new --template-url gives an option to host backend services as Alexa hosted. However on selecting the same it reports the below error:
Please follow the wizard to start your Alexa skill project ->
? Choose a method to host your skill's backend resources: Alexa-hosted skills
Host your skill code by Alexa (free).
? Choose the default locale for your skill: en-US
? Choose the default region for your skill: us-east-1
[Error]: No custom template allowed for an Alexa hosted skill.

Expected Behavior

As there is an option to Host the Skill as Alexa Hosted the backend logic is to be implemented. Developer Console supports this. Alexa hosted Skills should be supported by ask new --template-url

Current Behavior

The command provides an option for Alexa Hosted Skill but does not support it.

% ask new --template-url https://github.com/ajot/python-alexa-skill-starter-template-cli-v2.git --template-branch master
Please follow the wizard to start your Alexa skill project ->
? Choose a method to host your skill's backend resources: Alexa-hosted skills
Host your skill code by Alexa (free).
? Choose the default locale for your skill: en-US
? Choose the default region for your skill: us-east-1
[Error]: No custom template allowed for an Alexa hosted skill.

CLI Snapshot
If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem.

Steps to Reproduce (for bugs)

anasuyas@147dda0c04c5 SimpleFishTestSkill % ask new --template-url https://github.com/alexa/skill-sample-nodejs-fact.git --template-branch master
Please follow the wizard to start your Alexa skill project ->
? Choose a method to host your skill's backend resources: Alexa-hosted skills
Host your skill code by Alexa (free).
? Choose the default locale for your skill: en-US
? Choose the default region for your skill: us-east-1
[Error]: No custom template allowed for an Alexa hosted skill.

Possible Solution

Your Environment and Context

• ask-cli version: 2.22.1
• Operating System and version: macOS
• Node.js version used for development:v14.15.4
• NPM version used for development:
  npm --version
  6.14.10

[RonWang]

Hey @AnasuyaKiran , this one is a feature request that we need to pass it to our backend team to support. Current create-alexa-hosted-skill API doesn't take custom template url as the input.

[habuma]

Not a lot of activity on this issue since 2021, aside from a couple of status changes. Any chance this will be addressed soon? I'd like to recommend it to others to begin projects using some example skills that I've created (for educational purposes). It works fine for Lambda-hosted skills, but it would be easier for newbies to use Alexa-hosted skills.