botbuilder-adapter-web

Connect Botkit or BotBuilder to the Web.

This package contains an adapter that communicates directly with the web via webhooks or websocket connections. This package can be used alongside your favorite bot development framework to build bots that work on a website or within an existing app.

Install Package

Add this package to your project using npm:

npm install --save botbuilder-adapter-web

Import the adapter class into your code:

const { WebAdapter } = require('botbuilder-adapter-web');

Get Started

If you are starting a brand new project, follow these instructions to create a customized application template.

Use WebAdapter in your App

WebAdapter provides a translation layer for Botkit and BotBuilder so that bot developers can connect directly to users on the web.

Botkit Basics

When used in concert with Botkit, developers need only pass the configured adapter to the Botkit constructor, as seen below. Botkit will automatically create and configure the webhook endpoints and other options necessary for communicating with the web.

Developers can then bind to Botkit's event emitting system using controller.on and controller.hears to filter and handle incoming events from the messaging platform. Learn more about Botkit's core feature →.

A full description of the WebAdapter options and example code can be found in the class reference docs.

const adapter = new WebAdapter();
const controller = new Botkit({
    adapter,
    // ...other options
});

// TODO: expose chat client

controller.on('message', async(bot, message) => {
    await bot.reply(message, 'I heard a message!');
});

BotBuilder Basics

Alternately, developers may choose to use WebAdapter with BotBuilder. With BotBuilder, the adapter is used more directly with a webserver, and all incoming events are handled as Activities.

Read more →

Class Reference

• WebAdapter

Reference Chat Client

This package includes a reference implementation of a chat client written in HTML/JS/CSS that serves as a base for building a customized chat widget.

Using typing indicators with the reference chat client

Event List

Event	Description
message	a message sent by the user
hello	event sent when a user first connects
welcome_back	event sent when a user reconnects
identify	an extended user profile is being sent by the client to be associated with the user id

Botkit Extensions

In Botkit handlers, the bot worker for web contains all of the base methods as well as the following platform-specific extensions:

adapter.createSocketServer()

Configures the webserver to accept websocket connections. This method is called automatically by Botkit, but must be manually called when using with BotBuilder.

Community & Support

Join our thriving community of Botkit developers and bot enthusiasts at large. Over 10,000 members strong, our open Slack group is the place for people interested in the art and science of making bots. Come to ask questions, share your progress, and commune with your peers!

You can also find help from members of the Botkit team in our dedicated Cisco Spark room!

About Botkit

Botkit is a part of the Microsoft Bot Framework.

Want to contribute? Read the contributor guide

Botkit is released under the MIT Open Source license