NOTE: This software is not being actively developed or maintained.

Simple Slack Bot

A simple library for creating Slack bots in C#.

This is being developed for my own use and may or not every be finished/fixed/maintained.

Installation

Install from NuGet:

PM> Install-Package SimpleSlackBot

Usage

Create a bot integration on Slack to get an API Key to connect a bot.

Create a Handle that can receive and send messages:

class EchoHandler : Handler
{
	const string prefix = "echo ";

	public override async Task OnMessage(Channel channel, User user, string text, bool botIsMentioned)
	{
		if (!text.StartsWith(prefix, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
			return;

		await SendMessage(channel, text.Substring(prefix.Length));
	}
}

Connect the bot and register your handler:

using (var bot = await SlackBot.Connect(token))
{
	bot.RegisterHandler(new EchoHandler());
	bot.RegisterHandler(new CountdownHandler());

	Console.WriteLine("Press a key to disconnect...");
	Console.ReadKey();
}

Command Cancellation

It's possible to make your handler support having commands cancelled. An optional CancellationToken can be used to signal cancellations when a user sends abort, stop or cancel:

class CountdownHandler : Handler
{
	public override async Task OnMessage(Channel channel, User user, string text, bool botIsMentioned, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
	{
		if (!string.Equals(text, "countdown", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
			return;

		for (var i = 10; i > 0 && !cancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested; i--)
		{
			await SendMessage(channel, $"{i}...");
			await Task.Delay(1000);
		}

		if (!cancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested)
			await SendMessage(channel, "Thunderbirds are go!");
		else
			await SendMessage(channel, "Countdown was aborted. Thunderbirds are cancelled, kids :(");
	}
}

Testing Bots without Slack

You can use the ConsoleBot to test your handlers without needing to go via Slack.

var bot = new ConsoleBot();

bot.RegisterHandler(new EchoHandler());
bot.RegisterHandler(new CountdownHandler());

bot.HandleInput();

Upon calling HandleInput, the bot will block, consuming input from the console (via Console.ReadLine). The test project uses this version of the bot by default. You should change the useSlackBot boolean in Program.cs to switch to the real SlackBot.

Sample Bot Handlers

There are a couple of sample bot handlers in the TestBot project that might help illustrate how to build things.

• Echo Handler
• Slow Echo Handler (shows editing messages)
• Countdown Handler (shows 'typing...')
• FogBugz Case Handler
• Mention Handler (responds only when mentioned)