Chatbot Overview
Conversational Bots
Intents & Entities
Intelligent Bots
Kore.ai's Approach
Kore.ai Conversational Platform
Bot Concepts and Terminology
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Bot Types
Bot Tasks
Starting with Kore.ai Platform
How to Access Bot Builder
Working with Kore.ai Bot Builder
Building your first Bot
Getting Started with Building Bots
Using the Dialog Builder Tool
Creating a Simple Bot
Release Notes
Latest Updates
Older Releases
Bot Builder
Creating a Bot
Design
Develop
Dialog Task
Working with User Intent Node
Working with the Dialog Node
Working with Entity Node
Supported Entity Types
Working with Composite Entities
Supported Time Zones
Supported Colors
Supported Company Names
Working with Message Nodes
Working with the Confirmation Nodes
Working with Service Node
Implementing Custom Authentication
Enabling 2-way SSL for Service nodes
Working with Script Node
Working with Agent Transfer Node
Working with WebHook Node
Defining Connections & Transitions
Managing Dialogs
Prompt Editor
Action & Information Task
Working with Action Tasks
Working with Information Tasks
Establishing Flows
Alert Tasks
Working with Alert Tasks
Managing Ignore Words and Field Memory
Knowledge Tasks
Knowledge Ontology
Building Knowledge Graph
Importing and Exporting Bot Ontology
Knowledge Extraction
Natural Language
Overview
Machine Learning
ML Model
Fundamental Meaning
Knowledge Graph Training
Traits
Ranking and Resolver
NLP Detection
NLP Settings and Guidelines
Bot Intelligence
Overview
Context Management
Session and Context Variables
Context Object
Dialog Management
Sub-Intents
Amend Entity
Multi-Intent Detection
Sentiment Management
Tone Analysis
Sentiment Management
Default Conversations
Default Standard Responses
Channel Enablement
Test & Debug
Talking to Bot
Utterance Testing
Batch Testing
Recording Conversations
Publishing your Bot
Analyzing your Bot
Overview
Dashboard
Conversation Flows
Bot Metrics
Advanced Topics
Bot Authorization
Language Management
Collaborative Development
IVR Integration
Universal Bots
Defining
Creating
Customizing
Enabling Languages
Smart Bots
Defining
Sample Bots
Github
Asana
Travel Planning
Flight Search
Event Based Bot Actions
Bot Settings
Bot Functions
General Settings
PII Settings
Customizing Error Messages
Bot Management
Using Bot Variables
API Guide
API Overview
API List
API Collection
SDKs
SDK Overview
SDK Security
SDK App Registration
Kore.ai Web SDK Tutorial
Message Formatting and Templates
Mobile SDK Push Notification
Web Socket Connect & RTM
Using the BotKit SDK
Installing the BotKit SDK
BotKit SDK Configuration
Events for the BotKit SDK
Functions for the BotKit SDK
BotKit SDK Tutorial – Agent Transfer
BotKit SDK Tutorial – Flight Search Sample Bot
Using an External NLP Engine
Bot Administration
Bots Admin Console
User Management
Managing Users
Managing Groups
Managing Role
Bots Management
Enrollment
Inviting Users
Sending Bulk Invites to Enroll Users
Importing Users and User Data
Synchronizing Users from Active Directory
Security & Compliance
Overview
Using Single Sign-On
Cloud Connector
Analytics
Billing
How Tos
Context Switching
Using Traits
Live Agent Transfer
Schedule a Smart Alert
Configure Agent Transfer
  1. Home
  2. Docs
  3. Bots
  4. SDKs
  5. Functions for the BotKit SDK

Functions for the BotKit SDK

The Kore.ai BotKit SDK provides functions that you can use for greater control of your bot and provide a better user experience.
The following functions are supported by the BotKit SDK.

sdk.sendUserMessage

This function sends the message to the bot user.
Usage
Used inside the on_bot_message event callback. An on_bot_message event is called when the bot sends the reply to the user. In the SDK, payload data such as message can be modified and sent to the Bots Platform.
Syntax

sdk.sendUserMessage(payload, callback)

>Parameters:

  • payload – A JSON response payload as follows:
     {
       "message":"Message sent by bot to the user",
       "taskId":"Dialog task ID",
       "nodeId":"Current node ID in the dialog flow",
       "channel":"Channel name",
       "context": <context object>
    }
    
  • callback – The function to call at event completion used to send the updated message and context back to the Bots Platform.

Examples
The following code snippet shows an example of the sdk.sendUserMessage function returning an error to the user.

return sdk.sendUserMessage(payload, function(err){
    if(err)
       console.log("err", err);

In the following code example, the initial message to a user is displayed when a user switches to a Live Agent.

    formdata.welcome_message = "";
    var visitorId = _.get(payload, 'channel.channelInfos.from');
    if (!visitorId) {
        visitorId = _.get(payload, 'channel.from');
    }
    visitorId = payload.context.session.UserContext._id;
    userDataMap[visitorId] = payload;
    data.message = "An Agent will be assigned to you shortly!!!";
    sdk.sendUserMessage(payload, callback);

In the next code example, the message sent to the user with the sdk.sendUserMessage function is based on user selection for converting currency. The isTemplate parameter determines if custom or default message formatting should be used.

    on_user_message : function(requestId, payload, callback) {
		message = payload.message.toLowerCase();console.log("MESSAGE",payload.message);
		//payload .context.session.BotContext.currency = "koko";
		if ( message == "Yes" || message == "yes")
		{
			var overrideMessagePayload = {
				body : " Enter the currency code for which the amount will be converted",
				isTemplate :false
			};
			data.overrideMessagePayload = overrideMessagePayload;
			currCode = true;
			return sdk.sendUserMessage(payload);
		}
		else if ( message == "No" || message == "no" )
		{
			 var overrideMessagePayload = {
				body : "Ok, Enter the country name so that I can fetch it on your behalf",
				isTemplate :false
			};
			payload.overrideMessagePayload = overrideMessagePayload;
			countryname = true;
			return sdk.sendUserMessage(payload);

sdk.sendBotMessage

This function sends the message to the bot.
Usage
Used inside the on_user_message event callback. An on_user_message event is called when the user sends a message to the bot. In the SDK, payload data such as message can be modified and sent to the Bots Platform.
Syntax:

sdk.sendBotMessage(payload, callback)

Parameters:

  • payload – A JSON response payload as follows:
     {
       "message":"Message sent by the user",
       "channel":"Channel name",
       "context": <context object>
    }
    
  • callback – The function to call at event completion used to send the updated message and context back to the Bots Platform.

Examples
The following code snippet send the user response to the bot.

    on_user_message: function(requestId, payload, callback) {
        sdk.sendBotMessage(payload, callback);
    },

In this on_user_message function, the message is returned directly to the user, and if not a transfer to a Live Agent, then is sent to the bot.

    on_user_message: function(requestId, payload, callback) {
        if (payload.message === "Hi") {
            payload.message = "Hello";
            //Sends back 'Hello' to user.
            return sdk.sendUserMessage(payload, callback);
        } else if (!payload.agent_transfer) {
            //Forward the message to bot
            return sdk.sendBotMessage(payload, callback);
        } else {
            payload.message = "Agent Message";
            return sdk.sendUserMessage(payload, callback);
        }
    },

sdk.AsyncResponse

This function prepares the asynchronous response to send to the Bots Platform.
Usage
If the dialog task execution flow reaches a webhook node, the Bots Platform makes an on_webhook event call to the SDK. The on_webhook event call supports two types of responses:

  • Synchronous response – If the business logic execution can be completed within an acceptable time, the SDK can respond synchronously using the callback(null, payload) function.
  • Asynchronous response – If the business logic execution needs more time, the SDK can send the asynchronous response to the Bots Platform by calling the callback(null, new sdk.AsyncResponse()) function to send an HTTP code 202 to the Bots Platform. When the response is ready, the SDK can call the sdk.respondToHook(payload) function.

Syntax:

sdk.AsyncResponse()
callback(null, new sdk.AsyncResponse())

Parameters:
None.
Examples
This example of an on_webhook function, the Bot waits asynchronously for the booking of the cab selected by the user.

on_webhook : function(requestId, payload, componentName, callback) {
        var context = payload.context;
        if (componentName === 'FindNearbyCabs') {
            findCabs()
                .then(function(cabList) {
                    context.cabList = cabList;
                    callback(null, data);
                });
        } else if (componentName === 'BookTheCab') {
            sdk.saveData(requestId, payload)
                .then(function() {
                    bookTheCab(requestId, context.entities.selectedCab.id, context.session.UserSession.location, context.entities.whereTo);
                    callback(null, new sdk.AsyncResponse());
                });
        }
    }

sdk.respondToHook

This function sends the webhook response to the Bots Platform.
Usage
If the dialog task execution flow reaches a webhook node, the Bots Platform makes an on_webhook event call to the SDK. The on_webhook event call supports two types of responses:

  • Synchronous response – If the business logic execution can be completed within an acceptable time, the SDK can respond synchronously using the callback(null, payload) function.
  • Asynchronous response – If the business logic execution needs more time, the SDK can send the asynchronous response to the Bots Platform by calling the callback(null, new sdk.AsyncResponse()) function to send an HTTP code 202 to the Bots Platform. When the response is ready, the SDK can call the sdk.respondToHook(payload) function.

Syntax:

sdk.respondToHook(payload)

Parameters:

  • payload – A JSON response payload as follows:
     {
       "taskId":"Dialog task ID",
       "nodeId":"Current node ID in the dialog flow",
       "channel":"Channel name",
       "context": <context object>
    }

Examples
In the following code snippet, if the booking of the cab fails, the event is handled synchronously. Conversely, the booking of the cab is handled asynchronously via a webhook.

function onBookingFailure(requestId) {
    sdk.getSavedData(requestId)
        .then(function(payload) {
            payload.context.successful = false;
            sdk.respondToHook(payload);
        });
}
//call cabBookingService with the requestId. This service is expected to respond asynchronously.
//'requestId' must be passed along all asynchronous flows, to allow the BotKit to respond
// back to the hook once the async process is completed.
function bookTheCab(requestId, cabId, userLoc, destination) {
    cabBookingService(requestId, cabId, userLoc, destination, {
        on_success: onBookingSuccess,
        on_failure: onBookingFailure
    });
}

sdk.registerBot

This function registers the bot and makes callback events available at runtime.
Usage
The BotKit SDK is designed to require you to create one Node.js file for each bot. All callbacks for that bot are maintained in the Node.js file. To register a bot, you must export the following variables and functions as:

module.exports = {
      botId : “xxxxx”,
      botName : ““xxxxx”,
      on_user_message : function(requestId, data, callback) {
           //code goes here
      },
      on_bot_message : function(requestId, data, componentName, callback) {
           //code goes here
      },
     on_webhook : function(requestId, data, componentName, callback) {
           //code goes here
      },
}

Syntax:
To register the bot, call

sdk.registerBot(require('./<Bot Name>.js'));

Parameters:

  • Node.js file for the bot to register

Examples
The following code example shows registration of the bot by botId and botName.

module.exports = {
    botId : botId,
    botName : botName,
    on_user_message : function(requestId, payload, callback) {
        debug('on_user_message');
        onUserMessage(requestId, payload, callback);
    },
    on_bot_message : function(requestId, payload, callback) {
        debug('on_bot_message');
        onBotMessage(requestId, payload, callback);
    },
    on_agent_transfer : function(requestId, payload, callback) { console.log("on agent transfer event");
        debug('on_webhook');
        onAgentTransfer(requestId, payload, callback);
    },
    gethistory: gethistory
};

sdk.saveData

This function saves the data in the Redis in-memory data structure store.
Usage
When you respond to an on_webhook event call asynchronously, you can store the payload in the Redis store by requestId. After completion of your business logic execution, you can read the data using the sdk.getSavedData(requestId)function while preparing the webhook response.
Syntax:

sdk.saveData(requestId, payload)

Parameters:

  • requestId – The requestId from the asynchronous on_webhook event call.
  • payload – A JSON response payload as follows:
     {
       "taskId":"Dialog task ID",
       "nodeId":"Current node ID in the dialog flow",
       "channel":"Channel name",
       "context": <context object>
    }

Examples
In this on_webhook event, the user request to book a cab is saved in the Redis store and the asynchronous processing of the booking begins.

on_webhook : function(requestId, payload, componentId, callback) {
        var context = data.context;
        if (componentId === 'FindNearbyCabs') {
            findCabs()
                .then(function(cabList) {
                    context.cabList = cabList;
                    callback(null, payload);
                });
        } else if (componentName === 'BookTheCab') {
            sdk.saveData(requestId, payload)
                .then(function() {
                    //Assuming the cab booking was successful. A mock service to book the cab can be called here.
                    payload.successful = 'true';
                    payload.bookedCab = context.entities.selectedCab || {};
                    callback(null, payload);
                });
        }
    }

sdk.getSavedData

This function reads the data in the Redis in-memory data structure store.
Usage
When you respond to an on_webhook event call asynchronously, you can store the payload in the Redis store by requestId. After completion of your business logic execution, you can read the data using the sdk.getSavedData(requestId)function while preparing the webhook response.
Syntax:

sdk.getSavedData(requestId, payload)

Parameters:

  • requestId – The requestId from the asynchronous on_webhook event call.
  • payload – A JSON response payload as follows:
     {
       "taskId":"Dialog task ID",
       "nodeId":"Current node ID in the dialog flow",
       "channel":"Channel name",
       "context": <context object>
    }

Examples
In this code example, the sdk.getSavedData function is used to return the selected cab and booking information, or if the asynchronous booking webhook event fails, sends the failure message for the selected booking to the user.

/*/
 * Responds to the webhook asynchronously with the success flag.
 */
function onBookingSuccess(requestId) {
    sdk.getSavedData(requestId)
        .then(function(payload) {
            payload.context.bookedCab = payload.entities.selectedCab;
            payload.context.successful = true;
            sdk.respondToHook(payload);
        });
}
function onBookingFailure(requestId) {
    sdk.getSavedData(requestId)
        .then(function(payload) {
            payload.context.successful = false;
            sdk.respondToHook(payload);
        });
}

sdk.getMessages

This function is used to get the transcript of previous conversations between the Bot and the user. It works similar to the public API Conversation History (see here for Conversation History API)
Usage
Fetches the conversational messages between the bot and user in reverse chronological order. This API supports pagination. You can provide offset/skip and limit to get a certain number of messages at a time.
Syntax:

sdk.getMessages(requestData, callback)

Parameters:

  • requestData – as follows:
    requestData.baseUrl + '/getMessages?' + "skip=" + offset + "&limit=" + limit + "&userId=" + userId+"&channelType"=channel-type

    where

    • stream_id – Bot ID accessible from the Config Settings page of the Bot Builder
    • user_id – The ID of the user whose conversation history to access
    • skip – The number of messages to be skipped.
    • limit – The number of messages to be shown on each page.
    • channelType – Optional, the channel where the conversation was hosted.
  • callback – The function to call at event completion used to send the message history back to the Bots Platform.

Examples

//this example is from the LiveChat.js
//where the gethistory() function uses getMessage() to extract the messages
    var userId = req.query.userId;
    var data = userDataMap[userId];
    if(data) {
        data.limit = 100;
        return sdk.getMessages(data, function(err, resp){
            if(err){
                res.status(400);
                return res.json(err);
            }
            var messages = resp.messages;
            res.status(200);
            return res.json(messages);
        });

sdk.clearAgentSession

This function is used to clear the Agent session and reestablish the conversation with the Bot.
Usage
In an Agent Transfer scenario, when the agent closes the conversation with the user, chat_closed event gets triggered from 3rd party provider. In such situations, this function is invoked to re-establish the conversation with the bot
Syntax:

sdk.clearAgentSession(requestData, callback)

Parameters:

  • requestData – as follows:
    requestData.baseUrl+ '/clearAgentSession/' + requestData.requestId

    where

    • requestId – the session id
  • callback – The function to call at event completion.

Examples

//this example is from the LiveChat.js
//where the function is invoked to clear agent session when the chat is closed by the user
    if (event.type==="chat_closed"){
       console.log('chat_closed');
       delete userResponseDataMap[visitorId];
       delete _map[visitorId];
       sdk.clearAgentSession(data);
    }

sdk.startAgentSession

This function is used to notify the platform that an Agent session has started.
Usage
This function is used when an Agent Transfer is initiated and you want to indicate to the Bot that the agent transfer is in progress. Followed by this, the data object received by BotKit at onMessages(), for instance, would have agent session as true. Further, if the sdk.clearAgentSession is called from BotKit, the platform is notified that agent session is completed and the data object received by the BotKit would have the agent session set to false.
Syntax:

sdk.startAgentSession(requestData, callback)

Parameters:

  • requestData – as follows:
     requestData.baseUrl + '/startAgentSession/' + requestData.requestId

    where

    • requestId – the session id
  • callback – The function to call at event completion.

Examples

//The following function call is used in the LiveChat.js for connectToAgent() function
//Invoking the startAgentSession before invoking the initChat function will ensure that
// the Bot is aware of the Agent transfer in progress
function connectToAgent(requestId, data, cb){
    var formdata = {};
    formdata.licence_id = config.liveagentlicense;
    formdata.welcome_message = "";
    var visitorId = _.get(data, 'channel.channelInfos.from');
    if(!visitorId){
       visitorId = _.get(data, 'channel.from');
      }
    userDataMap[visitorId] = data;
     data.message="An Agent will be assigned to you shortly!!!";
     sdk.sendUserMessage(data, cb);
     sdk.startAgentSession(data, cb);
    formdata.welcome_message = "Link for user Chat history with bot: "+ config.app.url +"/history/index.html?visitorId=" + visitorId;
    return api.initChat(visitorId, formdata)
     .then(function(res){
     _map[visitorId] = {
     secured_session_id: res.secured_session_id,
     visitorId: visitorId,
     last_message_id: 0
    };
   });
 }

sdk.resetBot

This function is used to clear the context and discard the current task silently.
Usage
At run time, during the execution of dialog, if the user input might want to clear the Bot using “reset bot” command. Then the context can be cleared and the task discarded.
Syntax:

sdk.resetBot(requestData, callback)

Parameters:

  • requestData – as follows:
    requestData.resetBotUrl
  • callback – The function to call at event completion.

Examples

on_user_message : function(requestId, data, callback) {
     if (data.message==="reset bot"){
	sdk.resetBot(data, callback);
      }

sdk.extendRequestId

This function is used to extend the time allocated for botKit to send messages to the platform.
Usage
This function is used when an Agent Transfer is initiated and after sometime platform might not be receiving messages. This can be addressed by extending the time allocated for the botKit to send messages to the platform.
Syntax:

sdk.extendRequestId(requestData, callback)

Examples

function onBotMessage(requestId, data, cb) {
    console.log("bot message",JSON.stringify(data));
    var visitorId = _.get(data, 'channel.from');
     event =  schedular.scheduleJob("*/4 * * * *", function() {
                pub.get(visitorId+':data',function(err,reply){
                    if(err) throw err;
                    sdk.extendRequestId(data,cb);
                })
    });
	}
 on_user_message: function(requestId, data, callback) { 
        var visitorId = _.get(data, 'channel.from');
        registerEvent(visitorId, data);
        if(event){
            event.cancel();
        }else{
            console.log(new Date(),'event not found');
        }
        event =  schedular.scheduleJob("*/4 * * * *", function() {
            pub.get(visitorId+':data',function(err,reply){
                if(err) throw err;
                    sdk.extendRequestId(data,callback);
            })
        });
Menu