Botkit is designed to ease the process of designing and running useful, creative bots that live inside Slack, Facebook Messenger, Twilio IP Messaging, and other messaging platforms.
Built in to Botkit are a comprehensive set of features and tools to deal with Twilio IP Messaging platform, allowing developers to build interactive bots and applications that send and receive messages just like real humans.
This document covers the Twilio-IPM implementation details only. Start here if you want to learn about to develop with Botkit.
Table of Contents
- Getting Started
- Twilio IPM Events
- Working with Twilio IPM
- System Bots vs User Bots
- Using Twilio's API
-
Install Botkit more info here
-
Register a developer account with Twilio. Once you've got it, navigate your way to the Get Started with IP Messaging documentation on Twilio's site. Read up!!
-
To get your bot running, you need to collect 5 different API credentials. You will need to acquire your Twilio Account SID, Auth Token, Service SID, API Key, and your API Secret to integrate with your Botkit. This is a multi-step process!
These values are available on your Twilio Account page. Copy both the SID and token values.
To get an API key and secret go here and click 'Create an API Key'. Provide a friendly name for the API service and click 'Create API Key'. Be sure to copy your Twilio API key and API Secret keys to a safe location - this is the last time Twilio will show you your secret! Click the checkbox for 'Got it! I have saved my API Key Sid and Secret in a safe place to use in my application.'
To generate a Twilio service SID, go here and click 'Create an IP Messaging Service'.
Provide a friendly name and click 'create'. At the top under 'Properties' you should see Service SID. Copy this to a safe place. You now have all 5 values!
Keep this tab open! You'll come back here in step 7 to specify your bot's webhook endpoint URL.
- Now that you've got all the credentials, you need to set up an actual IP Messaging client. If you don't already have a native app built, the quickest way to get started is to clone the Twilio IPM client demo, which is available at https://github.com/twilio/ip-messaging-demo-js
Follow the instructions to get your IP Messaging Demo client up and running using the credentials you collected above.
- Start up the sample Twilio IPM Bot. From inside your cloned Botkit repo, run:
TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID=<your account sid> TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN=<your auth token> TWILIO_IPM_SERVICE_SID=<your service sid> TWILIO_API_KEY=<your twilio API key> TWILIO_API_SECRET=<your twilio API secret> node twilio_ipm_bot.js
-
If you are not running your bot at a public, SSL-enabled internet address, use localtunnel.me to make it available to Twilio. Note the URL it gives you. For example, it may say your url is
https://xyx.localtunnel.me/In this case, the webhook URL for use in step 7 would behttps://xyx.localtunnel.me/twilio/receive -
Set up a webhook endpoint for your app that uses your public URL, or the URL that localtunnel gave you. This is done on settings page for your IP Messaging service. Enable all of the POST-event webhooks events!
-
Load your IP Messaging client, and talk to your bot!
Try:
- hello
- who am i?
- call me Bob
- shutdown
Since Twilio delivers messages via web hook, your application must be available at a public internet address. Additionally, Twilio requires this address to use SSL. Luckily, you can use LocalTunnel to make a process running locally or in your dev environment available in a Twilio-friendly way.
Additionally, you need to enable your Twilio IPM instance's webhook callback events. This can be done via the Twilio dashboard, but can also be done automatically using a Bash script. You can use the sample script below to enable all of the post-event webhook callbacks:
#!/bin/bash
echo 'please enter the service uri'
read servuri
echo 'please enter the service sid'
read servsid
echo 'please enter the account sid'
read accsid
echo 'please enter the auth token'
read authtok
onChannelDestroyedCurl="curl -X POST https://ip-messaging.twilio.com/v1/Services/$servsid -d 'Webhooks.OnChannelDestroyed.Url=$servuri/twilio/receive' -d 'Webhooks.OnChannelDestroyed.Method=POST' -d 'Webhooks.OnChannelDestroyed.Format=XML' -u '$accsid:$authtok'"
eval $onChannelDestroyedCurl
onChannelAddedCurl="curl -X POST https://ip-messaging.twilio.com/v1/Services/$servsid -d 'Webhooks.OnChannelAdded.Url=$servuri/twilio/receive' -d 'Webhooks.OnChannelAdded.Method=POST' -d 'Webhooks.OnChannelAdded.Format=XML' -u '$accsid:$authtok'"
eval $onChannelAddedCurl
onMemberRemovedCurl="curl -X POST https://ip-messaging.twilio.com/v1/Services/$servsid -d 'Webhooks.OnMemberRemoved.Url=$servuri/twilio/receive' -d 'Webhooks.OnMemberRemoved.Method=POST' -d 'Webhooks.OnMemberRemoved.Format=XML' -u '$accsid:$authtok'"
eval $onMemberRemovedCurl
onMessageRemovedCurl="curl -X POST https://ip-messaging.twilio.com/v1/Services/$servsid -d 'Webhooks.OnMessageRemoved.Url=$servuri/twilio/receive' -d 'Webhooks.OnMessageRemoved.Method=POST' -d 'Webhooks.OnMessageRemoved.Format=XML' -u '$accsid:$authtok'"
eval $onMessageRemovedCurl
onMessageUpdatedCurl="curl -X POST https://ip-messaging.twilio.com/v1/Services/$servsid -d 'Webhooks.OnMessageUpdated.Url=$servuri/twilio/receive' -d 'Webhooks.OnMessageUpdated.Method=POST' -d 'Webhooks.OnMessageUpdated.Format=XML' -u '$accsid:$authtok'"
eval $onMessageUpdatedCurl
onChannelUpdatedCurl="curl -X POST https://ip-messaging.twilio.com/v1/Services/$servsid -d 'Webhooks.OnChannelUpdated.Url=$servuri/twilio/receive' -d 'Webhooks.OnChannelUpdated.Method=POST' -d 'Webhooks.OnChannelUpdated.Format=XML' -u '$accsid:$authtok'"
eval $onChannelUpdatedCurl
onMemberAddedCurl="curl -X POST https://ip-messaging.twilio.com/v1/Services/$servsid -d 'Webhooks.OnMemberAdded.Url=$servuri/twilio/receive' -d 'Webhooks.OnMemberAdded.Method=POST' -d 'Webhooks.OnMemberAdded.Format=XML' -u '$accsid:$authtok'"
eval $onMemberAddedCurl
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Once connected to your Twilio IPM service, bots receive a constant stream of events.
Normal messages will be sent to your bot using the message_received event. In addition, Botkit will trigger these Botkit-specific events:
| Event | Description |
|---|---|
| bot_channel_join | The bot has joined a channel |
| bot_channel_leave | The bot has left a channel |
| user_channel_join | A user (not the bot) has joined a channel |
| user_channel_leave | A user (not the bot) has left a channel |
Botkit will handle and distribute all of the Twilio IPM API webhooks events. Your Bot can act on any of these events, and will receive the complete payload from Twilio. Below, is a list of the IPM API callback events that can be subscribed to in your Bot:
| Event | Description |
|---|---|
| onMessageSent | Message sent |
| onMessageRemoved | Message removed/deleted |
| onMessageUpdated | Message edited |
| onChannelAdded | Channel created |
| onChannelUpdated | Channel FriendlyName or Attributes updated |
| onChannelDestroyed | Channel Deleted/Destroyed |
| onMemberAdded | Channel Member Joined or Added |
| onMemberRemoved | Channel Member Removed or Left |
Botkit receives messages from Twilio IPM using Webhooks, and sends messages using Twilio's REST APIs. This means that your Bot application must present a web server that is publicly addressable. Everything you need to get started is already included in Botkit.
To connect your bot to Twilio, follow the instructions here. You will need to collect 5 separate pieces of your API credentials. A step by step guide can be found here. Since you must already be running your Botkit app to fully configure your Twilio app, there is a bit of back-and-forth. It's ok! You can do it.
Here is the complete code for a basic Twilio bot:
var Botkit = require('botkit');
var controller = Botkit.twilioipmbot({
debug: false
})
var bot = controller.spawn({
TWILIO_IPM_SERVICE_SID: process.env.TWILIO_IPM_SERVICE_SID,
TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID: process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID,
TWILIO_API_KEY: process.env.TWILIO_API_KEY,
TWILIO_API_SECRET: process.env.TWILIO_API_SECRET,
identity: 'Botkit',
autojoin: true
});
// if you are already using Express, you can use your own server instance...
// see "Use BotKit with an Express web server"
controller.setupWebserver(process.env.port,function(err,webserver) {
controller.createWebhookEndpoints(controller.webserver, bot, function() {
console.log('This bot is online!!!');
});
});
// user said hello
controller.hears(['hello'], 'message_received', function(bot, message) {
bot.reply(message, 'Hey there.');
});
controller.hears(['cookies'], 'message_received', function(bot, message) {
bot.startConversation(message, function(err, convo) {
convo.say('Did someone say cookies!?!!');
convo.ask('What is your favorite type of cookie?', function(response, convo) {
convo.say('Golly, I love ' + response.text + ' too!!!');
convo.next();
});
});
});| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| port | port for webserver |
| callback | callback function |
Setup an Express webserver for
use with createWebhookEndpoints()
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 https://_your_server_/twilio/receive
to receive webhooks from twilio.
This url should be used when configuring Twilio.
Bots inside a Twilio IPM environment can run in one of two ways: as the "system" user, ever present and automatically available in all channels, OR, as a specific "bot" user who must be added to channels in order to interact.
By default, bots are "system" users, and can be configured as below:
var bot = controller.spawn({
TWILIO_IPM_SERVICE_SID: process.env.TWILIO_IPM_SERVICE_SID,
TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID: process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID,
TWILIO_API_KEY: process.env.TWILIO_API_KEY,
TWILIO_API_SECRET: process.env.TWILIO_API_SECRET,
});
To connect as a "bot" user, pass in an identity field:
var bot = controller.spawn({
TWILIO_IPM_SERVICE_SID: process.env.TWILIO_IPM_SERVICE_SID,
TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID: process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID,
TWILIO_API_KEY: process.env.TWILIO_API_KEY,
TWILIO_API_SECRET: process.env.TWILIO_API_SECRET,
identity: 'My Bot Name',
});
To have your bot automatically join every channel as they are created and removed,
pass in autojoin:
var bot = controller.spawn({
TWILIO_IPM_SERVICE_SID: process.env.TWILIO_IPM_SERVICE_SID,
TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID: process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID,
TWILIO_API_KEY: process.env.TWILIO_API_KEY,
TWILIO_API_SECRET: process.env.TWILIO_API_SECRET,
identity: 'Botkit',
autojoin: true
});
You can use the Twilio API directly in your Bot via Botkit's bot.api object. Botkit's bot.api provides a thin wrapper on the Twilio official module.
For example, to retrieve a member from a channel using the un-wrapped Twilio API client, you would use the following code:
service.channels('CHANNEL_SID').members('MEMBER_SID').get().then(function(response) {
console.log(response);
}).fail(function(error) {
console.log(error);
});In Botkit, this can be accomplished by simply replacing the reference to a service object, with the bot.api object, as shown here:
bot.api.channels('CHANNEL_SID').members('MEMBER_SID').get().then(function(response) {
console.log(response);
}).fail(function(error) {
console.log(error);
});This gives you full access to all of the Twilio API methods so that you can use them in your Bot.
Here is an example showing how to join a channel using Botkit's bot.api object, which creates a member to the channel, by wrapping the IPM API.
controller.on('onChannelAdded', function(bot, message){
// whenever a channel gets added, join it!
bot.api.channels(message.channel).members.create({
identity: bot.identity
}).then(function(response) {
}).fail(function(error) {
console.log(error);
});
});