A chatbot is a computer program designed to simulate conversation through voice commands or text chats (or both) with human users, especially over the internet. The level of intelligence among chatbots vary immensely, some (like the one used here) are very basic, while others can be very sophisticated by employing machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence in order to attain near human-level conversation.
This application makes use of the Flask framework and Twilio API for WhatsApp while working with Python.
To use it, ensure you have an active phone number and WhatsApp installed in your smartphone. Create an account with Twilio then register your smartphone with your account(see technical details for more info). You will need to send the code given for your smartphone as a message to the number provided in your account.
- Python for programming
- Flask web framework
- Twilio API for WhatsApp
- Ngrok for temporary provision of Twilio URL
- Quatable API
- Cat as a Service API
- Real-time automated WhatsApp responses
- Multi-device access to application provided by Ngrok URL
To successfully test this application, there are two requirements you will need:
- A smartphone with WhatsApp installed, with an active phone number
- A Twilio Account. You can create a free Twilio account now.
If you do not want to create your own project but would prefer to use this project, you will need to do the following:
- Clone this repo:
$ git clone git@github.com:GitauHarrison/whatsapp-chatbot-using-flask-and-twilio.git- Move into the cloned directory:
$ cd whatsapp-chatbot-using-flask-and-twilio- Create and activate your virtual environment:
$ mkvirtualenv whatsapp-chatbot- Install used dependencies
(whatsapp-chatbot)$ pip3 install -r requirements.txt- Before you can run your server, remember to create a
.envfile following the guidance seen in the.env.template. Create a.envfile in the root directory:
(whatsapp-chatbot)$ touch .env- Update the
.envfile with all the necessary details.
MAIL_SERVER=
MAIL_PORT=
MAIL_USE_TLS=
MAIL_USERNAME=
MAIL_PASSWORD=
ADMINS=- Run the application:
(whatsapp-chatbot)$ flask runOnce your application is running, you can access your localhost on http://127.0.0.1:5000/. Additionally, if you look carefully in your terminal, you will see * Tunnel URL: NgrokTunnel: "https://4209c9af6d43.ngrok.io" -> "http://localhost:5000"
The HTTP value may be different from the one shown here because I am using the free tier package of ngrok.
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Ensure you are still logged in to your Twilio Account:
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Go back to the Twilio Console,
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Click on Programmable Messaging, then on Settings, and finally on WhatsApp Sandbox Settings.
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Copy the
https://URL from the ngrok output and then paste it on the “When a message comes in” field. -
Our chatbot is exposed in the URL ending with
/bot. You will need to append/botto thehttps://URL fromngrok. -
Be certain to set your request method to
HTTP POST. -
Click the Save button to apply your changes
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From Try It Out/Try Whatsapp, you will see a code assigned to you. This code begins with the word
join-. You will need to use this code to start sending and receiving messages.
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From your smartphone, or the WhatsApp Web App, you can try sending messages with sentences including the words 'cat' and 'quote'. Also, try excluding those words.
- Add the phone number +1 415 523 8886 to your contact list.
- Send the code
join-<code>to the number above. If you have WhatsApp installed, you can click here.
You can invite your friends to your Sandbox. Ask them to send a WhatsApp Message to the number above with the code shown.
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If you do not know how to make a flask application, learn how to do that here.
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This application makes use of
ngrok. Learn how to incorporate it in your flask app here. -
If you would like to know how to create your own WhatsApp chatbot from scratch using flask and twilio (rather than simply running this application), read more here.