Wit.ai is a really approachable API for adding Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities to bots. It works great for Slackbots that run on Beep Boop 👍
npm install --save witbot
var Witbot = require('witbot')
var witbot = Witbot(witToken)
Witbot doesn't assume any bot framework or even Slack but you have to wire up message events or whatever text will
trigger calls to Wit.ai. The first parameter to process is the text for Wit to consider. The remaining arguments will
be passed to the handlers your register for each Wit intent.
witbot.process(text, any, additional, arguments)
For example, if you're using botkit with Slack and you want Wit.ai to process messages for all direct messages and direct mentions:
controller.hears('.*', 'direct_message,direct_mention', function (bot, message) {
var wit = witbot.process(message.text, bot, message)
})
Use hears to receive a message that matches an intent for messages you process:
wit.hears(intent_name, confidence, callback)
hears expects these parameters:
-
intent_nameis the name of a Wit intent -
confidenceis the minimum confidence (e.g. 0.6) between 0 and 1 -
callbackis a function to fire when the intent is matched. Callback will be passed the parameters you registered withprocessand then anoutcome parameterwit.hears('greeting', 0.5, function (bot, message, outcome) { bot.reply(message, 'Hello to you as well!') })
outcome has the following properties:
_textis the original text passed to witconfidenceis a number between 0 and 1intentis the first intent that was matchedentitiessee the Wit API to learn more about matched entities
For example, if you call process with foo and bar:
var wit = witbot.process(text, foo, bar)
Then register intent handlers that expect those parameters in the callback:
wit.hears(hello, 0.5, function (foo, bar, outcome) {
// use foo, bar and outcome
})
wit.any(function (foo, bar, outcome) { // access intent through outcome.intent })
If you're processing incoming messages with witbot and want to provide a catch-all for unmatched intents and/or
no intents, use witbot.otherwise like this:
wit.otherwise(function (foo, bar) {
// use foo, bar and outcome
})
Your otherwise callback will pass along the same parameters you registered with process
You can chain all of the witbot calls for convenience. For example you could do
witbot.process(response.text)
.hears('good', 0.5, function (outcome) {
convo.say('I am so glad to hear it!')
convo.next()
})
.hears('bad', 0.5, function (outcome) {
convo.say('I\'m sorry, that is terrible')
convo.next()
})
.otherwise(function (outcome) {
convo.say('I\'m cofused')
convo.repeat()
convo.next()
})
Here's a full example using botkit including a nested conversation flow and this sample wit.ai project
var Botkit = require('botkit')
var Witbot = require('../')
var slackToken = process.env.SLACK_TOKEN
var witbot = Witbot(process.env.WIT_TOKEN)
var controller = Botkit.slackbot({ debug: false })
controller.spawn({ token: slackToken }).startRTM(function (err, bot, payload) {
if (err) throw new Error('Error connecting to Slack: ', err)
console.log('Connected to Slack')
})
// wire up DMs and direct mentions to wit.ai
controller.hears('.*', 'direct_message,direct_mention', function (bot, message) {
var wit = witbot.process(message.text, bot, message)
wit.hears('hello', 0.53, function (bot, message, outcome) {
bot.startConversation(message, function (_, convo) {
convo.say('Hello!')
convo.ask('How are you?', function (response, convo) {
witbot.process(response.text)
.hears('good', 0.5, function (outcome) {
convo.say('I am so glad to hear it!')
convo.next()
})
.hears('bad', 0.5, function (outcome) {
convo.say('I\'m sorry, that is terrible')
convo.next()
})
.otherwise(function (outcome) {
convo.say('I\'m cofused')
convo.repeat()
convo.next()
})
})
})
})
wit.otherwise(function (bot, message) {
bot.reply(message, 'You are so intelligent, and I am so simple. I don\'t understnd')
})
})
Don't forget to install this module and botkit:
npm install --save botkit witbot