Develop a Botkit Bot

​Botkit is the leading developer tool for building chat bots, apps and custom integrations for major messaging platforms.
Botkit offers everything you need to design, build and operate an app:
Easy-to-extend starter kits;
Fully-featured SDK with support for all major platforms;
​Tons of plugins and middlewares​
In addition, Botkit works with all the NLP services (like Microsoft LUIS and IBM Watson), it can use any type of database, and runs on almost any hosting platform.
Botkit Integration Architecture
Botkit Quick Start Guide
Botkit is a Node.js module and works with Node and npm.
The fastest way to start with Botkit is using botkit-starter-rocketchat:
Get the Botkit Bot Boilerplate Code
Open up terminal in the directory you wish to develop your bot in and run the following commands to fetch from our repository and install all dependencies
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git clone https://github.com/RocketChat/botkit-starter-rocketchat
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cd botkit-starter-rocketchat/
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npm install
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Next, create a .env file in the working directory if it doesn't exist and fill it with the following configurations. Rename to match your details
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# Environment Config
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​
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# store your secrets and config variables in here
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# only invited collaborators will be able to see your .env values
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# reference these in your code with process.env.SECRET
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​
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# Specify a Botkit Studio token so your bot can access cloud-hosted content and features
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# Get one here: https://studio.botkit.ai/
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studio_token=''
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​
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# Specify your instance of RocketChat
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ROCKETCHAT_URL='http://localhost:3000'
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​
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# Specify the bot user name in RocketChat
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ROCKETCHAT_USER='botkit.user'
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​
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# Specify the bot user password in RocketChat
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ROCKETCHAT_PASSWORD='botkit'
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​
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# Specify with true or false the usage of SSL
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ROCKETCHAT_USE_SSL=false
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​
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# Specify the list of public rooms that the bot will be added.
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# Add channels like this: 'GENERAL, channel2, ...'
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ROCKETCHAT_ROOM='GENERAL'
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​
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# Specify the channels that the bot only can answer when mentioned.
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# The bot will answer all messages for default, add channels like this:
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# 'GENERAL, channel2, ...'
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MENTION_ROOMS='GENERAL'
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​
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# Specify if the bot it's allowed to answer direct messages
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RESPOND_TO_DM=true
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​
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# Specify if the bot it's allowed to answer live chat messages
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RESPOND_TO_LIVECHAT=true
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​
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# Specify if the bot it's allowed to answer edited messages
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RESPOND_TO_EDITED=true
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​
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# Enable learning mode, a set of features
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# that allow your bot to update itself using Botkit Studio's API
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LEARNING_MODE=true
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​
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When the configuration is done, run the following script to start the bot
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npm start
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After executing the command, botkit will try to connect to the Rocket.Chat instance and then will listen to messages in general room
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$ npm start
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​
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> [email protected] start C:\Users\COMPUTER^CARE\Desktop\RocketChat\Bots\botkit-starter-rocketchat
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> node bot.js
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​
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~~~~~~~~~~
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Botkit Studio Starter Kit
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You problably forgot to update your environment variables
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Get a Botkit Studio token here: https://studio.botkit.ai/
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~~~~~~~~~~
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Initializing Botkit v0.6.16
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info: ** No persistent storage method specified! Data may be lost when process shuts down.
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debug: Setting up a handler for spawned
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debug: Setting up a handler for heard_trigger
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debug: Setting up a handler for command_triggered
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debug: Setting up a handler for remote_command_end
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debug: Setting up a handler for direct_message 
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debug: Setting up a handler for live_chat      
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debug: Setting up a handler for channel        
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debug: Setting up a handler for private_channel
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[connect] Connecting {    
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  username: 'botkit.user',
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  password: '12345',      
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  ldap: false,
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  host: 'localhost:3000', 
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  useSsl: false,
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  timeout: 20000,
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  rooms: [ 'GENERAL' ],   
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  allPublic: false,
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  dm: true,
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  livechat: true,
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  edited: true,
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  integrationId: 'js.SDK',
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  roomCacheMaxSize: 10,
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  roomCacheMaxAge: 300000,
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  dmCacheMaxSize: 10,
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  dmCacheMaxAge: 100000
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}
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debug: Setting up a handler for message_received
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debug: Setting up a handler for message_received
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debug: Setting up a handler for message_received
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debug: Setting up a handler for sticker_received
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debug: Setting up a handler for image_received
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debug: Setting up a handler for audio_received
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debug: Setting up a handler for heard_trigger
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debug: Setting up a handler for conversationStarted
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debug: Setting up a handler for message_received
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debug: Setting up a handler for message_received
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debug: Setting up a handler for message_received
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debug: Setting up a handler for message_received
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debug: Setting up a handler for message_received
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~~~~~~~~~~
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NOTE: Botkit Studio functionality has not been enabled
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To enable, pass in a studio_token parameter with a token from https://studio.botkit.ai/
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[connect] Connected
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[login] Logging in botkit.user
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[getRoomIdByNameOrId] Calling (caching): GENERAL
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[getRoomIdByNameOrId] Success: "GENERAL"
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[joinRoom] Calling (async): ["GENERAL"]
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[joinRoom] Success: true
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[subscribe] Preparing subscription: stream-room-messages: __my_messages__
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[subscribe] Stream ready: 4
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[reactive] Listening for change events in collection stream-room-messages
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After running the bot, Log in to the server as a regular user (not the BOT user), go to general room, and try to talk to your bot. The bot will listen to every message in the channel.
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[received] Message in room GENERAL
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Message receive callback ID Nhbc6R84s24ahHwiM at Wed Nov 24 2021 10:56:07 GMT+0100 (West Africa Standard Time)
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[Incoming] rodriq: hello
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[getRoomNameById] Calling (caching): GENERAL
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[getRoomNameById] Success: "general"
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I RECEIVED {
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  _id: 'Nhbc6R84s24ahHwiM',
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  rid: 'GENERAL',
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  msg: 'hello',
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  ts: 1637747767569,
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  u: { _id: '5y8XK9YBhCHBDL4rx', username: 'rodriq', name: 'Rodriq' },
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  _updatedAt: { '$date': 1637747767627 },
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  urls: [],
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  mentions: [],
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  channels: [],
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  md: [ { type: 'PARAGRAPH', value: [Array] } ],
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  type: 'message_received',
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  raw_message: {
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    _id: 'Nhbc6R84s24ahHwiM',
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    rid: 'GENERAL',
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    msg: 'hello',
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    ts: { '$date': 1637747767569 },
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    u: { _id: '5y8XK9YBhCHBDL4rx', username: 'rodriq', name: 'Rodriq' },
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    _updatedAt: { '$date': 1637747767627 },
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    urls: [],
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    mentions: [],
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    channels: [],
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    md: [ [Object] ],
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    type: 'message_received'
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  },
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  _pipeline: { stage: 'receive' },
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  text: 'hello',
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  user: 'rodriq',
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  channel: 'GENERAL'
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}
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debug: RECEIVED MESSAGE
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Botkit bot is talking
Running Botkit with Docker
To fire up a docker instance of your botkit bot, run the following command.
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docker-compose up mongo rocketchat
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Develop a Rocket.Chat SDK Bot

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Contents

Botkit Integration Architecture

Botkit Quick Start Guide

Get the Botkit Bot Boilerplate Code

Running Botkit with Docker