Creating Your Own Bot From Scratch

This document outlines the steps required to create your first bot with Rocket.Chat.

Steps to Create a Bot

1. Create a bot user

In order to talk to your chatbot, there must be a user account pre-configured on the Rocket.Chat server that the bot can use to log in.

To add user accounts you need to have admin privileges:

  • Navigate to Administration > Workspace > Users.

  • Click +New to create a new user.

  • Fill in the user information, verify the user, and assign it a bot role.

  • Click Save

Once saved, the bot's credentials can be configured with the CHAT_USER and ROCKETCHAT_PASSWORD environmental variables of your bot.

To avoid creating multiple accounts for bot emails, you can use Gmail +address alias. For example: youremail+botnam@gmail.com. See this issue for more.

2. Code your bot

To make the process of coding a bot easier and faster, you may want to check our existing guides below to deploy a basic bot instance quickly. As an advanced alternative, you can create your bot from the scratch using your favorite framework.

Developing a Hubot can serve as a good entry point in learning chatbot principles.

3. Talk to your bot

If the bot is configured to listen to direct messages (RESPOND_TO_DM=true), and messages are prepended with BOT_NAME or a preconfigured BOT_ALIAS, the bot will usually respond to all messages addressed directly to the bot user (depending on the particular bot framework).

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Rocket.Chat versions receive support for six months after release.