Botkit - Building Blocks for Building Bots
Botkit designed to ease the process of designing and running useful, creative or just plain weird bots (and other types of applications) that live inside Slack!
It provides a semantic interface to sending and receiving messages so that developers can focus on creating novel applications and experiences instead of dealing with API endpoints.
Botkit features a comprehensive set of tools to deal with Slack's integration platform, and allows developers to build both custom integrations for their team, as well as public "Slack Button" applications that can be run from a central location, and be used by many teams at the same time.
Botkit is available via NPM.
npm install --save botkitYou can also check out Botkit directly from Git. If you want to use the example code and included bots, it may be preferable to use Github over NPM.
git clone git@github.com:howdyai/botkit.git-
Install Botkit
-
First make a bot integration inside of your Slack channel. Go here:
https://my.slack.com/services/new/bot
Enter a name for your bot. Make it something fun and friendly, but avoid a single task specific name. Bots can do lots! Let's not pigeonhole them.
- When you click "Add Bot Integration", you are taken to a page where you can add additional details about your bot, like an avatar, as well as customize its name & description.
Copy the API token that Slack gives you. You'll need it.
- Run the example bot app, using the token you just copied: ​
token=REPLACE_THIS_WITH_YOUR_TOKEN node bot.js
​ 5) Your bot should be online! Within Slack, send it a quick direct message to say hello. It should say hello back!
Try:
- who are you?
- call me Bob
- shutdown ​
​ Much like a vampire, a bot has to be invited into a channel. DO NOT WORRY bots are not vampires.
Type: /invite @<my bot> to invite your bot into another channel.
Bots built with Botkit have a few key capabilities, which can be used to create clever, conversational applications. These capabilities map to the way real human people talk to each other.
Bots can hear things. Bots can say things and reply to what they hear.
With these two building blocks, almost any type of conversation can be created.
To organize the things a bot says and does into useful units, Botkit bots have a subsystem available for managing multi-message conversations. Conversations add features like the ability to ask a question, queue several messages at once, and track when an interaction has ended. Handy!
After a bot has been told what to listen for and how to respond, it is ready to be connected to a stream of incoming messages. Currently, Botkit can handle 3 different types of incoming messages from Slack.
Here's an example of using Botkit with Slack's real time API, which is the coolest one because your bot will look and act like a real user inside Slack.
This sample bot listens for the word "hello" to be said to it -- either as a direct mention ("@bot hello") or an indirect mention ("hello @bot") or a direct message (a private message inside Slack between the user and the bot).
The Botkit constructor returns a controller object. By attaching event handlers
to the controller object, developers can specify what their bot should look for and respond to,
including keywords, patterns and various messaging and status events.
These event handlers can be thought of metaphorically as skills or features the robot brain has -- each event handler defines a new "When a human say THIS the bot does THAT."
The controller object is then used to spawn() bot instances that represent
a specific bot identity and connection to Slack. Once spawned and connected to
the API, the bot user will appear online in Slack, and can then be used to
send messages and conduct conversations with users. They are called into action by the controller when firing event handlers.
var Botkit = require('botkit');
var controller = Botkit.slackbot({
debug: false
});
// connect the bot to a stream of messages
controller.spawn({
token: <my_slack_bot_token>,
}).startRTM()
// give the bot something to listen for.
controller.hears('hello','direct_message,direct_mention,mention',function(bot,message) {
bot.reply(message,'Hello yourself.');
});These examples are included in the Botkit Github repo.
bot.js An example bot that can be connected to your team. Useful as a basis for creating your first bot!
examples/demo_bot.js another example bot that uses different ways to send and receive messages.
examples/slackbutton_bot.js an example of using the Slack Button to offer a bot integration.
examples/slackbutton_incomingwebhooks.js an example of using the Slack Button to offer an incoming webhook integration. This example also includes a simple form which allows you to broadcast a message to any team who adds the integration.
Table of Contents
- Connecting Your Bot To Slack
- Receiving Messages
- Sending Messages
- Working with Slack Integrations
- Advanced Topics
Bot users connect to Slack using a real time API based on web sockets. The bot connects to Slack using the same protocol that the native Slack clients use!
To connect a bot to Slack, get a Bot API token from the Slack integrations page.
Note: Since API tokens can be used to connect to your team's Slack, it is best practices to handle API tokens with caution. For example, pass tokens in to your application via evironment variable or command line parameter rather than include it in the code itself. This is particularly true if you store and use API tokens on behalf of users other than yourself!
Read Slack's Bot User documentation
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| config | Incoming message object |
Spawn an instance of your bot and connect it to Slack. This function takes a configuration object which should contain at least one method of talking to the Slack API.
To use the real time / bot user API, pass in a token, preferably via an environment variable.
Controllers can also spawn bots that use incoming webhooks.
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| callback | Optional Callback in the form function(err,bot,payload) { ... } |
Opens a connection to Slack's real time API. This connection will remain
open until it fails or is closed using closeRTM().
The optional callback function receives:
- Any error that occurred while connecting to Slack
- An updated bot object
- The resulting JSON payload of the Slack API command rtm.start
The payload that this callback function receives contains a wealth of information about the bot and its environment, including a complete list of the users and channels visible to the bot. This information should be cached and used when possible instead of calling Slack's API.
A successful connection the API will also cause a rtm_open event to be
fired on the controller object.
Close the connection to the RTM. Once closed, an rtm_close event is fired
on the controller object.
var Botkit = require('Botkit');
var controller = Botkit.slackbot();
var bot = controller.spawn({
token: my_slack_bot_token
})
bot.startRTM(function(err,bot,payload) {
if (err) {
throw new Error('Could not connect to Slack');
}
});Once connected to Slack, bots receive a constant stream of events - everything from the normal messages you would expect to typing notifications and presence change events.
Botkit's message parsing and event system does a great deal of filtering on this real time stream so developers do not need to parse every message. See Receiving Messages for more information about listening for and responding to messages.
It is also possible to bind event handlers directly to any of the enormous number of native Slack events, as well as a handful of custom events emitted by Botkit.
You can receive and handle any of the native events thrown by slack.
controller.on('channel_joined',function(bot,message) {
// message contains data sent by slack
// in this case:
// https://api.slack.com/events/channel_joined
});You can also receive and handle a long list of additional events caused by messages that contain a subtype field, as listed here
controller.on('channel_leave',function(bot,message) {
// message format matches this:
// https://api.slack.com/events/message/channel_leave
})Finally, Botkit throws a handful of its own events! Events related to the general operation of bots are below. When used in conjunction with the Slack Button, Botkit also fires a few additional events.
| Event | Description |
|---|---|
| message_received | a message was received by the bot |
| bot_channel_join | the bot has joined a channel |
| user_channel_join | a user has joined a channel |
| bot_group_join | the bot has joined a group |
| user_group_join | a user has joined a group |
| direct_message | the bot received a direct message from a user |
| direct_mention | the bot was addressed directly in a channel |
| mention | the bot was mentioned by someone in a message |
| ambient | the message received had no mention of the bot |
| Event | Description |
|---|---|
| rtm_open | a connection has been made to the RTM api |
| rtm_close | a connection to the RTM api has closed |
Botkit bots receive messages through a system of event handlers. Handlers can be set up to respond to specific types of messages, or to messages that match a given keyword or pattern.
For Slack, Botkit supports five type of message event:
| Event | Description |
|---|---|
| message_received | This event is fired for any message of any kind that is received and can be used as a catch all |
| ambient | Ambient messages are messages that the bot can hear in a channel, but that do not mention the bot in any way |
| direct_mention | Direct mentions are messages that begin with the bot's name, as in "@bot hello" |
| mention | Mentions are messages that contain the bot's name, but not at the beginning, as in "hello @bot" |
| direct_message | Direct messages are sent via private 1:1 direct message channels |
These message events can be handled using by attaching an event handler to the main controller object. These event handlers take two parameters: the name of the event, and a callback function which is invoked whenever the event occurs. The callback function receives a bot object, which can be used to respond to the message, and a message object.
// reply to @bot hello
controller.on('direct_mention',function(bot,message) {
// reply to _message_ by using the _bot_ object
bot.reply(message,'I heard you mention me!');
});
// reply to a direct message
controller.on('direct_message',function(bot,message) {
// reply to _message_ by using the _bot_ object
bot.reply(message,'You are talking directly to me');
});In addition to these traditional event handlers, Botkit also provides the hears() function,
which configures event handlers based on matching specific keywords or phrases in the message text.
The hears function works just like the other event handlers, but takes a third parameter which
specifies the keywords to match.
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| patterns | An array or a comma separated string containing a list of regular expressions to match |
| types | An array or a comma separated string of the message events in which to look for the patterns |
| callback | callback function that receives a message object |
controller.hears(['keyword','^pattern$'],['direct_message','direct_mention','mention','ambient'],function(bot,message) {
// do something to respond to message
// all of the fields available in a normal Slack message object are available
// https://api.slack.com/events/message
bot.reply(message,'You used a keyword!');
});Bots have to send messages to deliver information and present an interface for their functionality. Botkit bots can send messages in several different ways, depending on the type and number of messages that will be sent.
Single message replies to incoming commands can be sent using the bot.reply() function.
Multi-message replies, particulary those that present questions for the end user to respond to,
can be sent using the bot.startConversation() function and the related conversation sub-functions.
Bots can originate messages - that is, send a message based on some internal logic or external stimulus -
using bot.say() method. Note that bots that do not need to respond to messages or hold conversations
may be better served by using Slack's Incoming Webhooks feature.
Once a bot has received a message using a on() or hears() event handler, a response
can be sent using bot.reply().
Messages sent using bot.reply() are sent immediately. If multiple messages are sent via
bot.reply() in a single event handler, they will arrive in the Slack client very quickly
and may be difficult for the user to process. We recommend using bot.startConversation()
if more than one message needs to be sent.
You may pass either a string, or a message object to the function. Message objects may contain any of the fields supported by Slack's chat.postMessage API.
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| message | Incoming message object |
| reply | String or Object Outgoing response |
| callback | Optional Callback in the form function(err,response) { ... } |
controller.hears(['keyword','^pattern$'],['direct_message','direct_mention','mention'],function(bot,message) {
// do something to respond to message
// ...
bot.reply(message,"Tell me more!");
});
controller.on('ambient',function(bot,message) {
// do something...
// then respond with a message object
bot.reply(message,{
text: "A more complex response",
username: "ReplyBot",
icon_emoji: ":dash:",
});
})For more complex commands, multiple messages may be necessary to send a response, particularly if the bot needs to collect additional information from the user.
Botkit provides a Conversation object type that is used to string together several
messages, including questions for the user, into a cohesive unit. Botkit conversations
provide useful methods that enable developers to craft complex conversational
user interfaces that may span a several minutes of dialog with a user, without having to manage
the complexity of connecting multiple incoming and outgoing messages across
multiple API calls into a single function.
Messages sent as part of a conversation are sent no faster than one message per second, which roughly simulates the time it would take for the bot to "type" the message. (It is possible to adjust this delay - see special behaviors)
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| message | incoming message to which the conversation is in response |
| callback | a callback function in the form of function(err,conversation) { ... } |
startConversation() is a function that creates conversation in response to an incoming message.
The conversation will occur in the same channel in which the incoming message was received.
Only the user who sent the original incoming message will be able to respond to messages in the conversation.
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| message | incoming message to which the conversation is in response |
| callback | a callback function in the form of function(err,conversation) { ... } |
startPrivateConversation() works juts like startConversation(), but the resulting
conversation that is created will occur in a private direct message channel between
the user and the bot.
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| message | String or message object |
Call convo.say() several times in a row to queue messages inside the conversation. Only one message will be sent at a time, in the order they are queued.
controller.hears(['hello world'],['direct_message','direct_mention','mention','ambient'],function(bot,message) {
// start a conversation to handle this response.
bot.startConversation(message,function(err,convo) {
convo.say('Hello!');
convo.say('Have a nice day!');
})
});| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| message | String or message object containing the question |
| callback or array of callbacks | callback function in the form function(response_message,conversation), or array of objects in the form { pattern: regular_expression, callback: function(response_message,conversation) { ... } } |
| capture_options | Optional Object defining options for capturing the response |
When passed a callback function, conversation.ask will execute the callback function for any response. This allows the bot to respond to open ended questions, collect the responses, and handle them in whatever manner it needs to.
When passed an array, the bot will look first for a matching pattern, and execute only the callback whose pattern is matched. This allows the bot to present multiple choice options, or to proceed only when a valid response has been received. At least one of the patterns in the array must be marked as the default option, which will be called should no other option match. Botkit comes pre-built with several useful patterns which can be used with this function. See included utterances
Callback functions passed to ask() receive two parameters - the first is a standard message object containing
the user's response to the question. The second is a reference to the conversation itself.
Note that in order to continue the conversation, convo.next() must be called by the callback function. This
function tells Botkit to continue processing the conversation. If it is not called, the conversation will hang
and never complete causing memory leaks and instability of your bot application!
The optional third parameter capture_options can be used to define different behaviors for collecting the user's response.
This object can contain the following fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| key | String If set, the response will be stored and can be referenced using this key |
| multiple | Boolean if true, support multi-line responses from the user (allow the user to respond several times and aggregate the response into a single multi-line value) |
controller.hears(['question me'],['direct_message','direct_mention','mention','ambient'],function(bot,message) {
// start a conversation to handle this response.
bot.startConversation(message,function(err,convo) {
convo.ask('How are you?',function(response,convo) {
convo.say('Cool, you said: ' + response.text);
convo.next();
});
})
});controller.hears(['question me'],['direct_message','direct_mention','mention','ambient'],function(bot,message) {
// start a conversation to handle this response.
bot.startConversation(message,function(err,convo) {
convo.ask('Shall we proceed Say YES, NO or DONE to quit.',[
{
pattern: 'done',
callback: function(response,convo) {
convo.say('OK you are done!');
convo.next();
}
},
{
pattern: bot.utterances.yes,
callback: function(response,convo) {
convo.say('Great! I will continue...');
// do something else...
convo.next();
}
},
{
pattern: bot.utterances.no,
callback: function(response,convo) {
convo.say('Perhaps later.');
// do something else...
convo.next();
}
},
{
default: true,
callback: function(response,convo) {
// just repeat the question
convo.repeat();
convo.next();
}
}
]);
})
});| Pattern Name | Description |
|---|---|
| bot.utterances.yes | Matches phrases like yes, yeah, yup, ok and sure. |
| bot.utterances.no | Matches phrases like no, nah, nope |
In order to direct the flow of the conversation, several helper functions are provided. These functions should only be called from within a convo.ask handler function!
convo.sayFirst(message) Works just like convo.say, but injects a message into the first spot in the queue
so that it is sent immediately, before any other queued messages.
convo.stop() end the conversation immediately, and set convo.status to stopped
convo.repeat() repeat the last question sent and continue to wait for a response.
convo.silentRepeat() simply wait for another response without saying anything.
convo.next() proceed to the next message in the conversation. This must be called at the end of each handler.
Conversations trigger events during the course of their life. Currently, only two events are fired, and only one is very useful: end.
Conversations end naturally when the last message has been sent and no messages remain in the queue.
In this case, the value of convo.status will be completed. Other values for this field include active, stopped, and
timeout.
convo.on('end',function(convo) {
if (convo.status=='completed') {
// do something useful with the users responses
var res = convo.extractResponses();
// reference a specific response by key
var value = convo.extractResponse('key');
// ... do more stuff...
} else {
// something happened that caused the conversation to stop prematurely
}
});Returns an object containing all of the responses a user sent during the course of a conversation.
var values = convo.extractResponses();
var value = values.key;Return one specific user response, identified by its key.
var value = convo.extractResponse('key');| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| message | A message object |
| callback | Optional Callback in the form function(err,response) { ... } |
Note: If your primary need is to spontaneously send messages rather than respond to incoming messages, you may want to use Slack's incoming webhooks feature rather than the real time API.
bot.say(
{
text: 'my message text',
channel: '#channel'
}
);There are a dizzying number of ways to integrate your application into Slack. Up to this point, this document has mainly dealt with the real time / bot user integration. In addition to this type of integration, Botkit also supports:
- Incoming Webhooks - a way to send (but not receive) messages to Slack
- Outgoing Webhooks - a way to receive messages from Slack based on a keyword or phrase
- Slash Command - a way to add /slash commands to Slack
- Slack Web API - a full set of RESTful API tools to deal with Slack
- The Slack Button - a way to build Slack applications that can be used by multiple teams
var Botkit = require('botkit');
var controller = Botkit.slackbot({})
var bot = controller.spawn({
token: my_slack_bot_token
});
// use RTM
bot.startRTM(function(err,bot,payload) {
// handle errors...
});
// send webhooks
bot.configureIncomingWebhook({url: webhook_url});
bot.sendWebhook({
text: 'Hey!',
channel: '#testing',
},function(err,res) {
// handle error
});
// receive outgoing or slash commands
// if you are already using Express, you can use your own server instance...
controller.setupWebserver(process.env.port,function(err,webserver) {
controller.createWebhookEndpoints(controller.webserver);
});
controller.on('slash_command',function(bot,message) {
// reply to slash command
bot.replyPublic(message,'Everyone can see the results of this slash command');
});Incoming webhooks allow you to send data from your application into Slack. To configure Botkit to send an incoming webhook, first set one up via Slack's integration page.
Once configured, use the sendWebhook function to send messages to Slack.
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| config | Configure a bot to send webhooks |
Add a webhook configuration to an already spawned bot. It is preferable to spawn the bot pre-configured, but hey, sometimes you need to do it later.
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| message | A message object |
| callback | Optional Callback in the form function(err,response) { ... } |
Pass sendWebhook an object that contains at least a text field.
This object may also contain other fields defined by Slack which can alter the
appearance of your message.
var bot = controller.spawn({
incoming_webhook: {
url: <my_webhook_url>
}
})
bot.sendWebhook({
text: 'This is an incoming webhook',
channel: '#general',
},function(err,res) {
if (err) {
// ...
}
});Outgoing webhooks and Slash commands allow you to send data out of Slack.
Outgoing webhooks are used to match keywords or phrases in Slack. Read Slack's official documentation here.
Slash commands are special commands triggered by typing a "/" then a command. Read Slack's official documentation here.
Though these integrations are subtly different, Botkit normalizes the details so developers may focus on providing useful functionality rather than peculiarities of the Slack API parameter names.
Note that since these integrations use send webhooks from Slack to your application, your application will have to be hosted at a public IP address or domain name, and properly configured within Slack.
controller.setupWebserver(port,function(err,express_webserver) {
controller.createWebhookEndpoints(express_webserver)
});
controller.on('slash_command',function(bot,message) {
// reply to slash command
bot.replyPublic(message,'Everyone can see this part of the slash command');
bot.replyPrivate(message,'Only the person who used the slash command can see this.');
})
controller.on('outgoing_webhook',function(bot,message) {
// reply to outgoing webhook command
bot.replyPublic(message,'Everyone can see the results of this webhook command');
})| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| port | port for webserver |
| callback | callback function |
Setup an Express webserver for
use with createwWebhookEndpoints()
If you need more than a simple webserver to receive webhooks, you should by all means create your own Express webserver!
The callback function receives the Express object as a parameter, which may be used to add further web server routes.
This function configures the route http://_your_server_/slack/receive
to receive webhooks from Slack.
This url should be used when configuring Slack.
When a slash command is received from Slack, Botkit fires the slash_command event.
When an outgoing webhook is recieved from Slack, Botkit fires the outgoing_webhook event.
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| src | source message as received from slash or webhook |
| reply | reply message (string or object) |
| callback | optional callback |
When used with outgoing webhooks, this function sends an immediate response that is visible to everyone in the channel.
When used with slash commands, this function has the same functionality. However, slash commands also support private, and delayed messages. See below. View Slack's docs here
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| src | source message as received from slash |
| reply | reply message (string or object) |
| callback | optional callback |
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| src | source message as received from slash |
| reply | reply message (string or object) |
| callback | optional callback |
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| src | source message as received from slash |
| reply | reply message (string or object) |
| callback | optional callback |
All (or nearly all - they change constantly!) of Slack's current web api methods are supported using a syntax designed to match the endpoints themselves.
If your bot has the appropriate scope, it may call any of these method using this syntax:
bot.api.channels.list({},function(err,response) {
})Botkit has a built in storage system used to keep data on behalf of users and teams between sessions. Botkit uses this system automatically when storing information for Slack Button applications (see below).
By default, Botkit will use json-file-store to keep data in JSON files in the filesystem of the computer where the bot is executed. (Note this will not work on Heroku or other hosting systems that do not let node applications write to the file system.)
Support for freeform storage for teams, users and channels. Basically this is a key value store. You can pass in whatever data you like to any of these, as long as it has an ID field, which should be a Slack unique id.
var controller = Botkit.slackbot({
json_file_store: 'path_to_json_database'
})
controller.storage.teams.get(id,function(err,team) {
})
controller.storage.teams.save(team_data,function(err) { ... })
controller.storage.users.get(id,function(err,user) {
})
controller.storage.users.save(user_data,function(err) { ... })
controller.storage.channels.get(id,function(err,channel) {
})
controller.storage.channels.save(channel_data,function(err) { ... })If you want to use a database or do something else with your data, you can write your own storage module and pass it in.
Make sure your module returns an object with all the methods. See simple_storage.js for an example of how it is done!
Then, use it when you create your bot:
var controller = Botkit.slackbot({
storage: my_storage_provider
})The Slack Button is a way to offer a Slack integration as a service available to multiple teams. Botkit includes a framework on top of which Slack Button applications can be built.
Slack button applications can use one or more of the real time API, incoming webhook and slash command integrations, which can be added automatically to a team using a special oauth scope.
If special oauth scopes sounds scary, this is probably not for you! The Slack Button is useful for developers who want to offer a service to multiple teams.
How many teams can a Slack button app built using Botkit handle? This will largely be dependent on the environment it is hosted in and the type of integrations used. A reasonably well equipped host server should be able to easily handle at least one hundred real time connections at once.
To handle more than one hundred bots at once, consider speaking to the creators of Botkit at Howdy.ai
For Slack button applications, Botkit provides:
- A simple webserver
- OAuth Endpoints for login via Slack
- Storage of API tokens and team data via built-in Storage
- Events for when a team joins, a new integration is added, and others...
See the included examples for several ready to use example apps.
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| config | configuration object containing clientId, clientSecret, redirect_uri and scopes |
Configure Botkit to work with a Slack application.
Get a clientId and clientSecret from Slack's API site. Configure Slash command, incoming webhook, or bot user integrations on this site as well.
Configuration must include:
- clientId - Application clientId from Slack
- clientSecret - Application clientSecret from Slack
- redirect_uri - the base url of your application
- scopes - an array of oauth permission scopes
Slack has many, many oauth scopes that can be combined in different ways. There are also special oauth scopes used when requesting Slack Button integrations. It is important to understand which scopes your application will need to function, as without the proper permission, your API calls will fail.
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| webserver | an Express webserver Object |
| error_callback | function to handle errors that may occur during oauth |
Call this function to create two web urls that handle login via Slack.
Once called, the resulting webserver will have two new routes: http://_your_server_/login and http://_your_server_/oauth. The second url will be used when configuring
the "Redirect URI" field of your application on Slack's API site.
var Botkit = require('botkit');
var controller = Botkit.slackbot();
controller.configureSlackApp({
clientId: process.env.clientId,
clientSecret: process.env.clientSecret,
redirect_uri: 'http://localhost:3002',
scopes: ['incoming-webhook','team:read','users:read','channels:read','im:read','im:write','groups:read','emoji:read','chat:write:bot']
});
controller.setupWebserver(process.env.port,function(err,webserver) {
// set up web endpoints for oauth, receiving webhooks, etc.
controller
.createHomepageEndpoint(controller.webserver)
.createOauthEndpoints(controller.webserver,function(err,req,res) { ... })
.createWebhookEndpoints(controller.webserver);
});bot.identifyTeam(function(err,team_id) {
})bot.identifyBot(function(err,identity) {
// identity contains...
// {name, id, team_id}
})| Event | Description |
|---|---|
| create_incoming_webhook | |
| create_bot | |
| update_team | |
| create_team | |
| create_user | |
| update_user | |
| oauth_error |