mirror of https://github.com/zulip/zulip.git
87 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
87 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
# About bots
|
|
|
|
Bots allow you to
|
|
|
|
* Send content into and out of Zulip.
|
|
* Send content to and from another product.
|
|
* Automate tasks a human user could do.
|
|
|
|
A bot that sends content to or from another product is often called an
|
|
**integration**.
|
|
|
|
## Pre-made bots
|
|
|
|
Zulip natively supports integrations with over one hundred products, and with
|
|
almost a thousand more through Zapier and IFTTT. If you're looking to add an
|
|
integration with an existing product, see our
|
|
[list of integrations](/integrations), along with those of
|
|
[Zapier](https://zapier.com/apps) and [IFTTT](https://ifttt.com/search).
|
|
|
|
## Anatomy of a bot
|
|
|
|
You can think of a bot as a special kind of user, with limited permissions.
|
|
Each bot has a **name**, **profile picture**, **email**, **bot type** and **API key**.
|
|
|
|
* The **name** and **profile picture** play the same role they do for human users. They
|
|
are the most visible attributes of a bot.
|
|
|
|
* The **email** is not used for anything, and will likely be removed in a
|
|
future version of Zulip.
|
|
|
|
* The **bot type** determines what the bot can and can't do (see below).
|
|
|
|
* The **API key** is how the bot identifies itself to Zulip. Anyone with the
|
|
bot's API key can impersonate the bot.
|
|
|
|
## Bot type
|
|
|
|
The **bot type** determines what the bot can do.
|
|
|
|
Bot type | Permissions | Common uses
|
|
---|---|---
|
|
Generic | Like a normal user account | Automating tasks, bots that listen to all messages on a stream
|
|
Incoming webhook | Limited to only sending messages into Zulip | Automated notifications into Zulip
|
|
Outgoing webhook | Generic bot that also receives new messages via HTTP post requests | Third party integrations, most custom bots
|
|
|
|
It's generally best to pick the most restricted bot type that is sufficient
|
|
to do the task at hand. Anyone with the bot's API key can do anything the
|
|
bot can.
|
|
|
|
A few more details:
|
|
|
|
* Bots can send messages to any stream that their owner can,
|
|
inheriting their owner's [sending permissions](/help/stream-sending-policy).
|
|
|
|
* Bots can be subscribed to streams, and their role can be modified if
|
|
they need to have permission to do administrative actions.
|
|
|
|
* **Generic**: A generic bot is like a normal Zulip user account that
|
|
cannot log in via a browser. Note that if you truly want to
|
|
impersonate yourself (e.g. write messages that come from your Zulip
|
|
account), you'll need to use your **personal API key**.
|
|
|
|
* **Outgoing webhook**: The bot can read direct messages where the bot is a
|
|
participant, and stream messages where the bot is [mentioned](/help/mention-a-user-or-group). When the
|
|
bot is DM'd or mentioned, it POSTs the message content to a URL of your
|
|
choice. The POST request format can be in a Zulip format or a
|
|
Slack-compatible format.
|
|
|
|
This is the preferred bot type for interactive bots built on top of Zulip
|
|
Botserver.
|
|
|
|
## Adding bots
|
|
|
|
By default, anyone other than guests can [add a bot](/help/add-a-bot-or-integration) to a
|
|
Zulip organization, but administrators can
|
|
[restrict bot creation](/help/restrict-bot-creation). Any bot that is added
|
|
is visible and available for anyone to use.
|
|
|
|
## Related articles
|
|
|
|
* [Add a bot or integration](/help/add-a-bot-or-integration)
|
|
* [Edit a bot](/help/edit-a-bot)
|
|
* [Request an integration](/help/request-an-integration)
|
|
* [Deactivate or reactivate a bot](/help/deactivate-or-reactivate-a-bot)
|
|
* [Restrict bot creation](/help/restrict-bot-creation)
|
|
* [View all bots in your organization](/help/view-all-bots-in-your-organization)
|