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: [email protected]. 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.
Develop a Rocket.Chat SDK Bot
Develop a Botpress Bot
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).

Last modified 3mo ago