GETTING STARTED
Kore.ai XO Platform
Virtual Assistants Overview
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Concepts and Terminology
Help & Learning Resources
Quick Start Guide
Accessing the Platform
Navigating the Kore.ai XO Platform
Building a Virtual Assistant
Using Workspaces
Release Notes
Current Version
Previous Versions
Deprecations
Request a Feature
CONCEPTS
Design
Storyboard
Overview
FAQs
Conversation Designer
Overview
Dialog Tasks
Mock Scenes
Dialog Tasks
Overview
Navigate Dialog Tasks
Build Dialog Tasks
Nodes & Connections
Overview
Node Types
Intent Node
Dialog Node
Entity Node
Entity Rules
Form Node
Confirmation Node
Message Nodes
Logic Node
Bot Action Node
Service Node
Webhook Node
Script Node
Process Node
Agent Transfer
Node Connections Setup
Sub-Intent Scoping
User Prompts
Voice Call Properties
Dialog Task Management
Supported Entity Types
Supported Company Names
Supported Colors
Knowledge Graph
Introduction
Knowledge Extraction
Build Knowledge Graph
Create Node Structure
Build the Graph
Add FAQs
Add FAQs from an Existing Source
Run a Task
Traits, Synonyms, and Stop Words
Manage Variable Namespaces
Update Knowledge Graph
Introduction
Move Question and Answers Between Nodes
Edit and Delete Terms
Edit Questions and Responses
Knowledge Graph Analysis
Knowledge Graph Import and Export
Prepare Data for Import
From a CSV File
From a JSON File
Importing Knowledge Graph
Exporting Knowledge Graph
Auto-Generate Knowledge Graph
Alert Tasks
Small Talk
Digital Skills
Overview
Digital Forms
Digital Views
Introduction
Widgets
Panels
Session and Context Variables
Context Object
Train
NLP Optimization
ML Engine
Overview
Model Validation
FM Engine
KG Engine
Traits Engine
Ranking and Resolver
Training Validations
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NLP Guidelines
Intelligence
Introduction
Event Handlers
Default Standard Responses
Contextual Memory
Contextual Intents
Interruption Management
Multi-intent Detection
Amending Entities
Default Conversations
Conversation Driven Dialog Builder
Sentinment Management
Tone Analysis
Test & Debug
Overview
Talk to Bot
Utterance Testing
Batch Testing
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Health and Monitoring
Deploy
Channels
Publishing
Versioning
Analyze
Introduction
Overview Dashboard
Conversations Dashboard
Users Dashboard
Performance Dashboard
Custom Dashboards
Introduction
Custom Meta Tags
Create Custom Dashboard
NLP Insights
Conversations History
Conversation Flows
Analytics Dashboard Filters
Usage Metrics
Containment Metrics
Smart Bots
Universal Bots
Introduction
Universal Bot Definition
Universal Bot Creation
Training a Universal Bot
Universal Bot Customizations
Enabling Languages
Store
Manage Assistant
Plan & Usage
Overview
Usage Plans
Support Plans
Invoices
Authorization
Multilingual Virtual Assistants
Get Started
Supported Components & Features
Manage Languages
Manage Translation Services
Multiingual Virtual Assistant Behavior
Masking PII Details
Variables
Collections
IVR Settings
General Settings
Assistant Management
Manage Namespace
Data as Service
Data Table
Table Views
App Definitions
Sharing Data Tables or Views
HOW TOs
Build a Travel Planning Assistant
Travel Assistant Overview
Create a Travel Virtual Assistant
Design Conversation Skills
Create an ‘Update Booking’ Task
Create a Change Flight Task
Build a Knowledge Graph
Schedule a Smart Alert
Design Digital Skills
Configure Digital Forms
Configure Digital Views
Train the Assistant
Use Traits
Use Patterns
Manage Context Switching
Deploy the Assistant
Configure Agent Transfer
Use Bot Functions
Use Content Variables
Use Global Variables
Use Web SDK
Build a Banking Assistant
Design Conversation Skills
Create a Sample Banking Assistant
Create a Transfer Funds Task
Create a Update Balance Task
Create a Knowledge Graph
Set Up a Smart Alert
Design Digital Skills
Configure Digital Forms
Configure Digital Views
Add Data to Data Tables
Update Data in Data Tables
Add Data from Digital Forms
Train the Assistant
Composite Entities
Use Traits
Use Patterns for Intents & Entities
Manage Context Switching
Deploy the Assistant
Configure an Agent Transfer
Use Assistant Functions
Use Content Variables
Use Global Variables
Intent Scoping using Group Node
Analyze the Assistant
Create a Custom Dashboard
Use Custom Meta Tags in Filters
APIs & SDKs
API Reference
API Introduction
API List
API Collection
koreUtil Libraries
SDK Reference
SDK Introduction
SDK Security
SDK Registration
Web Socket Connect and RTM
Using the BotKit SDK
BotKit SDK Tutorial - Blue Prism
Widget SDK Tutorial
Web SDK Tutorial
ADMINISTRATION
Introduction to Admin Console
Administration Dashboard
User Management
Add Users
Manage Groups
Manage Roles
Assistant Management
Enrollment
Invite Users
Send Bulk Invites
Import User Data
Synchronize Users from AD
Security & Control
Using Single-Sign On
Security Settings
Cloud Connector
Analytics
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  1. Home
  2. Docs
  3. Virtual Assistants
  4. Advanced Topics
  5. Smart Bot
  6. Defining a Smart Bot

Defining a Smart Bot

Starting Release 8.1.0, the support for the Smart Bots functionality is deprecated. You may continue to use the existing Smart Bots but you will no longer be able to create new Smart Bots. This feature will be discontinued in the upcoming releases.

Kore.ai’s Smart Bots allow enterprises to build Bots centrally and allow various teams within the enterprise to reuse and extend the Bot configurations to suit their requirements. Smart Bots expedite the bot building process by allowing new bots to inherit the configuration and tasks of pre-defined bots.

For a detailed overview, click here.

This document deals with how you can create your own Smart Bots and use it within your enterprise account.

Creating a Smart Bot is similar to very similar to Creating a Standard bot and involves the following steps:

  • Creating bot,
  • Defining bot tasks,
  • Testing the bot,
  • Configuring channels,
  • Defining bot settings, and
  • Publishing.

Few of the above steps need special mention in the context of Smart Bots and are discussed in this document.

Creating a Smart Bot

  1. Open the Bot Builder.
  2. Click New Bot and select the Start from Scratch option
  3. On the Create New Bot window, enter a name, and set the default bot language.
  4. From the Bot Type drop-down list, select Smart Bot.
  5. It opens the Bot Tasks window of the smart bot.
  6. Define your Bot as you would any Standard Bot by adding tasks, flows, testing, and deploying.

Configure Bot Settings

Some Bot Settings that need to be configured specially for a Smart Bot are mentioned in this section.

Setup Options for Bot Variables

Bot Variables allow you to define variables centrally and reuse them across bot definition. For example, during bot building, developers typically use staging endpoints for testing. You can set those endpoints as variables. When you export or publish the bot, you can replace such variable values with the production endpoints. Defining Bot Variables remains the same as Standard Bots. Refer here to learn how to configure the Bot Variables.

Global Variables of Smart Bots will have an additional option to define the visibility or usage of variables during inheritance:

  • Pre-Populated: Use this option to allow the child bot developers to see and edit the variable value in the Setup Variables tab while inheriting the bot.
  • Hidden: Use this option when you do not want to allow the child bot developers to see or edit the variable value while inheriting the bot. They can, however, view the name and value of the variable on the Bot Variables page after inheriting.
  • Ask on Install: Use this option to get the value of the bot variable from the child bot developer while inheriting the bot. Developers of the inherited bot cannot see the variable’s value set up in the smart bot and they cannot complete inheriting the bot without entering a value.

Smart Bot Settings

Configuration settings required to inherit the smart bot can be set from the Smart Bot Settings tab in the Bot Settings. These settings serve as an aid in the discovery, preview, and installation of the Smart Bot.

Following are the steps to configure them:

  • Hover over the side navigation panel of the bot and click Settings > Smart Bot Settings.
  • Configure the following settings:
    • Allow User to Test the Bot in Marketplace: This option allows the user to try the smart bot from the marketplace before installing it.
      • Yes, allow users to try using developer authorization: Use this option to allow the Try option for this bot, so your developers can chat with this bot by logging into your account’s marketplace.
      • No, do not enable try capability: Use this option to disallow the Try options for this bot in your account’s marketplace.
    • Smart Bot Description: Enter a description for the Smart Bot to show it in your account’s marketplace.
    • Configuration Instructions: Instructions can be given to the developers using the Smart Bot for installing the same. This should include details like the list of tasks available and their purpose, bot variables that need to be populated, and so forth. The purpose of these instructions is to ensure that the developers inheriting this bot can put it to maximum use. Developers can see these instructions while inheriting the bot. You can either upload a PDF file containing the instructions or enter it in a plain text format.
    • Configuration Instructions URL: Additionally, you can provide a URL, if any, for the configuration instructions details.
  • Save the settings.

Inheriting a Smart Bot

Bot developers can view and install a Smart Bot published within their account.

NOTE: In order for the developers to see and inherit your smart bot, you need to publish it. Refer here for details on Publishing the Bot.

Steps to  Inherit a Smart Bot

  1. Open the Bot Builder.
  2. On the top-right side of the landing page, click New Bot.
  3. Select the Install Smart Bot option. The Select Smart Bot window opens.
  4. On the Select Smart Bot window, search or scroll to the bot you want to inherit. Hover over the Smart Bot’s name and click Install.  The Configure Smart Bot window opens.
  5. The Bot Name field is auto-filled with a suffix added to the Smart Bot name. Replace it with a name of your choice.
  6. If you want to add a custom icon for the bot, select Custom Icon in the icon field and upload the file.
  7. Update Preference can be set, which decides how the updates to the parent bot are to be handled by the child bot. When there are changes to the parent bot, the updates to the child bot can be made to the published version or the in-development version of the child bot.
    1. Add bot definition updates directly to published version when available is the default setting whereby all the updates get inherited by the published version of the child bot. In case the published version is not available, then the updates are applied to the in-development version  
      Note that this setting overrides the bot setting of ‘hold all deployment requests and publishing only on explicit approval from admin’ from the Admin Console.
    2. Always add bot definition updates to the in-development version will apply the changes to the in-development version of the child bot. If the in-development version is not available it is created in the locked inheritance state. Note that if any tasks or nodes are unlocked in the in-development version the same will be applied to the published version. 
      Note: This setting can be modified later from the Advanced Settings of the child bot.
  8. Next, click the Setup Variables tab. It shows the list of variables that are configured with Pre-Populated or Ask on Install settings. Enter the values for Ask on Install variables. Optionally, make edits to Pre-Populated variables if any.
  9. The Configuration Installation file opens. Read the instructions carefully and then click Next.
  10. The child bot gets created, and the Bot Tasks page of the bot opens.

The child bots can use the Smart Bot as is or extend the inherited functionality by adding tasks and knowledge queries, as well as localize relevant parameters using variables. The Inheritance Scenarios section below provides the list of elements that get inherited by the child bot and the conditions under which the inheritance continues or gets overridden.

Inheritance Scenarios

In a child bot, the inheritance applies in the following ways:

  • No inheritance where some elements do not get inherited by the child bot;
  • One-time inheritance wherein inheritance is a one-time process and any further changes to some bot elements in the parent smart bot will not be inherited by the child bot; and
  • Continued inheritance where changes to some bot elements in the parent smart bot will be inherited by the child bot. Update Preference settings configured at the time of bot installation or later from the Advanced Settings tab will decide which version of the child bot – published or in-development – will get the updates.

Disable Inheritance: Inheritance can be disabled at the bot level, from the Advanced Settings of the child bot using the Smart Bot Inheritance option. This option will permanently delink the child bot from the parent smart bot and should be used with caution.

The following sections show the list of bot elements with no, one-time and continuous inheritance and the actions that unlock the inheritance.

Bot Elements that are not Inherited

  • Any Configured Channels
  • Any apps created in the Smart Bot for connecting to BotKit or Web SDK

Bot Elements with One-Time Inheritance

  • Entity Synonyms
  • Bot Settings
  • Auth Profiles
  • Default Dialog

Note: While the Entity Synonyms of existing bot tasks have a one-time inheritance, the NLP entries of any new task created in the parent bot will get inherited by the child bots.

Bot Elements with Continued Inheritance

Bot Tasks inherited by the child bot have a continued inheritance which means that any published changes to the bot tasks in the parent automatically reflect in the child bot. You can override or “unlock” the continued inheritance of bot elements by editing a certain portion of them. The following table shows the list of bot elements that acquire a continued inheritance and provides the steps to unlock the inheritance.

Feature Name Unlocking of Inheritance
Dialog Tasks On the Dialog tasks page, click the lock icon against the task name, and then click Unlock.

Once unlocked, the following dialog components will stop receiving updates and should be managed by the child bot developer:

  • Dialog Settings and Interruption Settings
  • Order of node connections
  • Deletion of Nodes
  • Addition of New nodes

Note: When you unlock a Dialog Task, all the Dialog Nodes are still locked until you unlock them individually. The locked nodes continue to receive updates from the parent bot.

Dialog Nodes All Dialog node definitions except Synonyms and Patterns remain in the continued inheritance with the parent bot. To unlock the inheritance of the node:

  1. Unlock the inheritance of all the Dialog tasks using the node.
  2. Open the node and click the lock icon on the top-right corner of the node window.
  3. Click Confirm on the Confirmation Message window to unlock the node.


Note: For a node that is used by multiple tasks, you might want to unlock the inheritance for a specific task and not all tasks.

Knowledge Graph Child bots get continued inheritance of all terms, FAQs, path synonyms, term usage property, child terms, and their synonyms. You can unlock the inheritance of a Knowledge Graph at any of the first-level nodes. When you click the lock icon of a first-level node and confirm unlocking it, the inheritance of the term and all its child terms becomes unlocked.

When unlocked, the following components will stop receiving updates:

  • Synonyms, class association, and other term specific settings of the unlocked term and all its child terms
  • All questions and answers added either to the term or its child terms
  • Additional child terms, additional questions can be added and managed
  • Inherited classes are always in a non-editable state

Answers can be unlocked when the associated first-level term is in a locked state by editing and training the same. When an answer is unlocked:

  • Path and the question will continue to get the inheritance
  • Answers, alone,  will not get updates

Note:

  • You cannot modify inherited classes even after unlocking. However, you can duplicate the class definition by re-creating it and apply it to appropriate classes.
Language Management Any Languages Enabled by the parent bot are inherited by the child bot. Following scenarios unlock the inheritance in the child bot:

  • Manage Language from the child bot will unlock the inheritance for the selected language.
  • Enable Language from the child bot will unlock any future inheritance for that language i.e if the parent bot enables the same language it will not be inherited by the child bot.
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