mirror of https://github.com/zulip/zulip.git
208 lines
7.6 KiB
Markdown
208 lines
7.6 KiB
Markdown
# Interactive bots
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Zulip's API has a powerful framework for interactive bots that react
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the messages in Zulip. This page documents how to run a bot
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implemented using that framework, both on your laptop for quick
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testing as well in a production server environment.
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On this page you'll find:
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* A step-by-step [tutorial](#running-a-bot) on how to run a bot.
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* A [guide](#zulip-botserver) on running a Zulip botserver.
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* Common [problems](#common-problems) when developing/running bots and their solutions.
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## Installing the Zulip bots package
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## Running a bot
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This guide will show you how to run a bot on a running Zulip
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server. It assumes you want to use one of the existing bots
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found in [`zulip_bots/bots`](
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https://github.com/zulip/python-zulip-api/tree/master/zulip_bots/zulip_bots/bots)
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in your Zulip organization.
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*Hint: Looking for an easy way to test a bot's output? Check out [this](
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writing-bots#testing-a-bots-output) guide.*
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You need:
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* An account in an organization on a Zulip server
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(e.g. [chat.zulip.org](https://chat.zulip.org) or
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yourSubdomain.zulipchat.com, or your own development server).
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Within that Zulip organization, users will be able to interact with
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your bot.
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* A computer where you're running the bot from.
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**Note: Please be considerate when testing experimental bots on
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public servers such as chat.zulip.org.**
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1. Run `pip install zulip_bots` to install the package.
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*Hint: Do you want to install the latest development version? Check
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out [this](
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writing-bots#installing-a-development-version-of-the-zulip-bots-package)
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guide.*
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2. Register a new bot user on the Zulip server's web interface.
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* Log in to the Zulip server.
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* Navigate to *Settings (<i class="fa fa-cog"></i>)* -> *Your bots* -> *Add a new bot*.
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Select *Generic bot* for bot type, fill out the form and click on *Create bot*.
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* A new bot user should appear in the *Active bots* panel.
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3. Download the bot's `zuliprc` configuration file to your computer.
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* Go to *Settings* -> *Your bots*
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* In the *Active bots* panel, click on the little green download icon
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to download its configuration file *zuliprc* (the structure of this file is
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explained [here](writing-bots#configuration-file)).
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* The file will be downloaded to some place like `~/Downloads/zuliprc` (depends
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on your browser and OS).
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* Copy the file to a destination of your choice, e.g. to `~/zuliprc-my-bot`.
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4. Run the bot.
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* Run
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```
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zulip-run-bot <bot-name> --config-file ~/zuliprc-my-bot
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```
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(using the path to the `zuliprc` file from step 3).
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* Check the output of the command. It should start with the text
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the `usage` function returns, followed by logging output similar
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to this:
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```
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INFO:root:starting message handling...
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INFO:requests.packages.urllib3.connectionpool:Starting new HTTP connection (1): localhost
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```
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* Congrats! Your bot is running.
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You can now play around with the bot and get it configured the way you
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like. Eventually, you'll probably want to run it in a production
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environment where it'll stay up, by deploying it on a server using the
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Zulip Botserver.
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## Zulip Botserver
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The Zulip Botserver is for people who want to
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* run bots in production.
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* run multiple bots at once.
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The Zulip Botserver is a Python (Flask) server that implements Zulip's
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Outgoing Webhooks API. You can of course write your own servers using
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the Outgoing Webhooks API, but the Botserver is designed to make it
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easy for a novice Python programmer to write a new bot and deploy it
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in production.
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### Installing the Zulip Botserver
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Install the `zulip_botserver` PyPI package using `pip`:
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```
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pip install zulip_botserver
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```
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### Running bots using the Zulip Botserver
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1. Register new bot users on the Zulip server's web interface.
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* Log in to the Zulip server.
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* Navigate to *Settings (<i class="fa fa-cog"></i>)* -> *Your bots* -> *Add a new bot*.
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Select *Outgoing webhook* for bot type, fill out the form and click on *Create bot*.
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* A new bot user should appear in the *Active bots* panel.
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2. Download the `flaskbotrc` from the `your-bots` settings page. It
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contains the configuration details for all the active outgoing
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webhook bots. It's structure is very similar to that of zuliprc.
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3. Run the Zulip Botserver by passing the `flaskbotrc` to it. The
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command format is:
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```
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zulip-bot-server --config-file <path_to_flaskbotrc> --hostname <address> --port <port>
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```
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If omitted, `hostname` defaults to `127.0.0.1` and `port` to `5002`.
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4. Now set up the outgoing webhook service which will interact with
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the server: Create an **Outgoing webhook** bot with its base url
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of the form:
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```
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http://<hostname>:<port>/bots/<bot_name>
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```
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`bot_name` refers to the name in the email address you specified
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for the bot. It can be obtained by removing `-bot@*.*` from the
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bot email: For example, the bot name of a bot with an email
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`followup-bot@zulip.com` is `followup`.
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In the development environment, an outgoing webhook bot and
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corresponding service already exist, with the email
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`outgoing-webhook@zulip.com`. This can be used for interacting
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with flask server bots.
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5. Congrats, everything is set up! Test your botserver like you would
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test a normal bot.
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### Running Zulip Botserver with supervisord
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[supervisord](http://supervisord.org/) is a popular tool for running
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services in production. It helps ensure the service starts on boot,
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manages log files, restarts the service if it crashes, etc. This
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section documents how to run the Zulip Botserver using *supervisord*.
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Running the Zulip Botserver with *supervisord* works almost like
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running it manually.
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0. Install *supervisord* via your package manager; e.g. on Debian/Ubuntu:
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```
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sudo apt-get install supervisor
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```
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1. Configure *supervisord*. *supervisord* stores its configuration in
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`/etc/supervisor/conf.d`.
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* Do **one** of the following:
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* Download the [sample config file][supervisord-config-file]
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and store it in `/etc/supervisor/conf.d/zulip-botserver.conf`.
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* Copy the following section into your existing supervisord config file.
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```
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[program:zulip-bot-server]
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command=zulip-bot-server --config-file=<path/to/your/flaskbotrc> --hostname <address> --port <port>
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startsecs=3
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stdout_logfile=/var/log/zulip-botserver.log ; all output of your botserver will be logged here
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redirect_stderr=true
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```
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* Edit the `<>` sections according to your preferences.
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[supervisord-config-file]: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zulip/python-zulip-api/master/zulip_botserver/zulip-botserver-supervisord.conf
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2. Update *supervisord* to read the configuration file:
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```
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supervisorctl reread
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supervisorctl update
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```
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(or you can use `/etc/init.d/supervisord restart`, but this is less
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disruptive if you're using *supervisord* for other services as well).
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3. Test if your setup is successful:
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```
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supervisorctl status
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```
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The output should include a line similar to this:
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> zulip-bot-server RUNNING pid 28154, uptime 0:00:27
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The standard output of the bot server will be logged to the path in
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your *supervisord* configuration.
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## Common problems
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* My bot won't start
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* Ensure that your API config file is correct (download the config file from the server).
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* Ensure that your bot script is located in zulip_bots/bots/<my-bot>/
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* Are you using your own Zulip development server? Ensure that you run your bot outside
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the Vagrant environment.
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* Some bots require Python 3. Try switching to a Python 3 environment before running
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your bot.
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