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 Graph
Terminology
Building Knowledge Graph
Generation of Knowledge Graph
Importing and Exporting Knowledge Graph
Knowledge Graph Analysis
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
Custom 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
Custom Dashboard
Patterns for Intents & Entities
Build Knowledge Graph
  1. Home
  2. Docs
  3. Bots
  4. How Tos
  5. How to use Global Variables

How to use Global Variables

In this How-To, we will explore a scenario in a Banking Bot, where Bot Variables can be used. We will see how Global Variables can be used to pass API endpoints and change them easily when migrating from development to testing to production environments.

For details on what Bot Variables are and how they are implemented in the Kore.ai Bots platform, refer here.

Problem Statement

In our Banking Bot, we have two tasks:

  1. Get Balance which makes a service call with a given account number to get the balance in that account
  2. Update Balance which makes a service call to update a given account with the specified amount.
  3. Both the above tasks call the same service and the service API endpoint changes for development, testing, and production environments.
  4. Changing the service call in both the Dialog Tasks is cumbersome and leading to errors, if the change is not done properly.

In this document, we will see how Global Variable can be used to store the API endpoint and use it for the service calls.

Pre-requisites

  • Bot building knowledge
  • A Banking Bot with the dialogs as mentioned below:
    • Get Balance – Dialog task prompting the user for their Account Number and displaying the available balance in the account.
    • Update Account – Dialog task prompting the user for Account Number that needs to be updated, the Amount to be updated and whether the amount needs to be credited or debited and updating the Account balance accordingly.

Implementation

Declaring a Global Variable to hold the API endpoint will help the transition easier and faster.

  1. From Settings -> Config Settings select Global Variables section.
  2. Click Add Global Variable to open the corresponding window.
  3. Enter Variable Name, and Variable Value. For this use case were are calling the Variable accountURL, and for value we are entering the Service API call endpoint.
  4. Save.
  5. Now open the Get Balance Dialog Task.
  6. Select the GetAccountBalance Service Node.
  7. Click Edit Request under the Request Definition
  8. Replace the request URL with the Global Variable created above. using the env prefix followed by any parameters needed. In this case:
    {{env.accountURL}}{{context.entities.AccountNumber}}
  9. Repeat for Update Balance Dialog Task.
  10. Now when you Export and Import the Bot to another environment, all you need to worry about is to change the value of the Global Variable and the changes will be effective in both the Dialog Tasks.
Menu