COVID Helper Bot

This is the source code for the framework that powers COVID Helper Bot.

The project is running on Glitch. Feel free to remix it!

How does it work

The conversation flow logic is implemented as a finite-state machine. You can create set of YAML files containing chat bubbles and quick reply options. The agent module interprets the files and feeds the appropriate bubble to the conversation flow based on the quick reply option from the user. Keyboard input repeats the last message.

  scripts
  |--- en-us (English - US)
     |--- main.yaml (Welcome message and language selector)
     |--- for-me.yaml (US main menu)
     |--- help-others.yaml (US - how to help others)
  |--- it-it (Italy - Italian)
     |--- for-me.yaml (Italian main menu and options)
     |--- telefoni.yaml (Italy's regional phone numbers)
  |--- es-es (Spain - Spanish)
     |--- for-me.yaml (Spain main menu and options)
     |--- telefonos.yaml (Spain's regional phone numbers)

Each file contains one of more sections. Each section represents a chat bubble (complete with quick replies), and it is tagged with a label. The main label is start.

To advance the conversation, users will select a quick reply option. Each option contains metadata, which is the reference to the next script file and bubble

Building a YAML file for your language

This framework can support multiple conversation flows. This is useful for example to create multiple pathways based on language preferences, or to easily split a flow into smaller files for easier editing and maintenance. The scripts folder is organized in locales and sections.

• Copy a folder (e.g. it-it) into the language you wish to support. For example, for France, you can copy the folder into fr-fr.
• Localize the main menu (located in for-me.yaml)
• Add the option for your language in scripts/en-us/main.yaml.

Not all locales have the same files. This is because the information is localized for the specific country/language combination.

Each file contains one or more chat bubbles. Each bubble is marked with a tag (e.g. start, or regions). Each bubble will list one or more options. Each option will have:

• A name (up to 36 characters long)
• A description (up to 72 characters long)
• A metadata field that will trigger the next bubble. The format must be path/to/filename.yaml#bubble-tag, for example (scripts/en-us/for-me.yaml#donate)

Take a look at the scripts folder for implementation examples.

Contributing

You're welcome to submit a pull request for new languages and functionality. If you are building a new language, make sure you include the following details in the pull request:

• Your Twitter username
• The name of the language (e.g. French)
• The local name of the language (e.g. François)
• The sources for your content. Important: only use authoritative official sources or the PR may not get merged.
• The licensing information for your content. Important: ensure the content license allows repurposing content for non-commercial purposes.