poke.md

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Poke Input Plugin

The Poke input plugin provides a mechanism to proactively engage users or trigger actions based on various events or conditions within your web application. This plugin acts as a way for your application to "poke" the chatbot, prompting it to respond or initiate specific behaviors.

Purpose

The Poke plugin is useful for:

• Maintaining Conversation Flow: Prompting the chatbot to suggest topics or re-engage users after periods of inactivity.

• Reacting to User Actions: Triggering chatbot responses based on user interactions with your web application, such as clicking a button, completing a form, or reaching a certain point in a process.

• Delivering Timed Messages: Displaying messages to users at specific times or intervals.

API Reference

Constructor

constructor(bot)

Parameters:

• bot: The initialized instance of the Bot class.

Methods

input(payload)

Queues a "poke" payload and sends it to the backend engine when the backend is available.

input(payload)

Parameters:

• payload: An object containing information about the poke. The structure of this payload is flexible and can be defined based on your application's needs. Common properties might include:
  • time: A timestamp or time interval.
  • event: The name of an event that triggered the poke.
  • target_type: The type of target (e.g., 'plugin', 'function').
  • target_plugin: The name of a specific plugin or function.
  • parameters: Any additional data relevant to the poke.

receiver(response)

Handles the response from the backend engine and triggers output plugins to display the response to the user.

receiver(response)

Parameters:

• response: The response from the backend engine.

ui(options)

This method currently does not create any UI elements, as poke triggers are typically initiated by events or conditions within your web application.