Skip to content

A Facebook bot prototype to have users tag images from the National Archives Catalog

Notifications You must be signed in to change notification settings

usnationalarchives/nara-facebook-bot

Folders and files

NameName
Last commit message
Last commit date

Latest commit

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Repository files navigation

NARA Facebook Bot

Some notes on how to set up and test Facebook Messenger bots.

Intro to Messenger Bots

Bots exist on Facebook's Messenger platform.

Bots are associated with a particular Facebook page. When a user sends a message to that page, they begin interacting with the bot.

Setup

To set up a bot, you need the following:

1. Facebook page

Create one at https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.

Or use the one we've already set up at https://www.facebook.com/ChiefMessengerLab/.

2. Facebook developer account

Sign up at https://developers.facebook.com/.

3. Webhook

Any time a user sends a message or takes any action with your bot, an event is sent to a particular URL called a webhook. That server is where the bot code (i.e. this repository) should be stored. The code interprets the event and sends one or more messages back.

4. Facebook App

You can set one up at https://developers.facebook.com/apps.

Instructions: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform/getting-started/app-setup.

Or use the one we've already set up by asking an existing developer for access.

Required Environment Variables

These should be stored as node.js environment variables on the bot server.

URL
Full URL where app is located. Example: https://md-facebook-bot-test.herokuapp.com/.
VERIFY_TOKEN
Random string of your choice. Needed once to verify the webhook when first setting up the Facebook app.
PAGE_ACCESS_TOKEN
Get from Facebook after successfully creating Facebook app. Required to enable messaging.
AWS_SECRET_KEY
Get from AWS.
AWS_ACCESS_KEY
Get from AWS.

Access

Before a bot is publicly available (https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform/submission-process), testing the bot within Messenger requires certain access:

Once you have access, you can interact with the bot by going to https://m.me/ChiefMessengerLab.

More Catches

Check the Facebook page > Settings > Messenger Platform for additional settings:

  • Ensure "responses are all automated" is selected
  • Ensure the app appears under "Subscribed Apps"
  • Ensure any domain the bot uses is listed under "Whitelisted Domains"

About

A Facebook bot prototype to have users tag images from the National Archives Catalog

Resources

Stars

Watchers

Forks

Releases

No releases published

Packages

No packages published