Powerbot Messenger 🤖

• Powerbot Messenger 🤖
  • Including
    • Configuration options
  • Server
    • Starting server
    • Catching events
    • Server events
    • Formed Message vs Raw Message
    • Replying to handover events
      • Usage example
  • Sender
    • Methods
      • text(message, options)
      • quickReplies(message, replies, options)
      • buttons(text, buttons, options)
      • attachment(type, url, options)
      • generic(elements, options)
      • media(element, options)
      • oneTimeNotificationRequest (title, payload, options)
  • Helpers
    • Button
    • Generic Message
    • Media Message
    • Get Started Button
    • Greeting
    • Quick Reply
  • User object
    • Get user data
    • Send message
    • Manage user's thread with Handover Protocol
  • Static elements
    • pbm.send.setting(data)
      • Greeting
      • Get Started Button
      • Persistent Menu
  • Personas
    • Creating persona
    • Deleting persona
    • Using persona with reply method
    • Using persona with Frame class
  • Natural typing
  • Generator Module
    • Supported types
      • Text
      • Quick Replies
      • Buttons
      • Generic
      • Media
      • One Time Notification Request
    • Frame class
      • options
      • Normal response
      • Message tag
      • Message tag shorthand
  • Handover Protocol
    • Pass Thread Control
    • Take Thread Control
    • Request Thread Control
    • Secondary Receivers List
    • Thread Owner
    • Handover methods as reply
      • Important notice
  • Comments & Posts reactions
    • Reply to comment
    • Reply to post
  • Uploader module
    • Upload from URL
  • Examples
    • Echo bot full example
  • License

Table of contents generated with markdown-toc

Including

const PowerbotMessenger = require('@chatbots-pl/powerbot-messenger')
const pbm = new PowerbotMessenger({
    access_token: config.facebook.access_token
})

Configuration object should be passed like new PowerbotMessenger(configObject).

Configuration options

Name	Descrition	Type	Default
access_token	App's access token for desired page	string	null
api_version	Graph API version to use inrequests	string	'v5.0'
endpoint	Sets endpoint to listen on	string	'/webhook'
log_level	Logging level, one of: debug, info, warning, error or off	string	'debug'
log_to_console	Enables or disables Powerbot Messenger logger console output	bool	true
mark_seen	Automatically check received messages as seen	bool	true
natural_typing_speed	Speed of message typing in characters per second	int	50
natural_typing	Enable or disable natural typing feature	bool	true

Server

Starting server

const Koa = require('koa')
const bodyParser = require('koa-bodyparser')
const PowerbotMessenger = require('@chatbots-pl/powerbot-messenger')
const pbm = new PowerbotMessenger(config)
const app = new Koa()

const messengerWebhook = pbm.Server.init()

app.use(bodyParser())
app.use(messengerWebhook.router.routes())

app.listen(3000)

Now server is listening on /webhook. Your console should display your verify token. Server always returns status 200 to facebook!

pbm.Server.init() returns object with server and bot properties.

routes property is passed from PowerbotMessenger Koa Router instance.

bot property is event listener which is designed to catch server events.

Catching events

Catching events after starting a server is as simple as:

bot.on('text', async (message, raw) => {
    ...
})

Server events

Event	Description	Passed parameters
request_incoming	Every request to your webhook	body, ctx
request_outgoing	Every request sent from bot via Powerbot Messenger library	body, ctx
log	Any log from Powerbot Messenger (except throwed errors)	logObject
message_sent	Every message sent from bot via Powerbot Messenger library	body, ctx
entry	Each entry in received object	entry
echo	Any message sent by bot (every message with is_echo: true)	formedMessage, rawMessage
message	Any message received (each object of entry.messaging)	formedMessage, rawMessage
text	Text message received	formedMessage, rawMessage
location	Each message attachment with type: 'location'	formedMessage, rawMessage
image	Each message attachment with type: 'image'	formedMessage, rawMessage
video	Each message attachment with type: 'video'	formedMessage, rawMessage
audio	Each message attachment with type: 'audio'	formedMessage, rawMessage
file	Each message attachment with type: 'file'	formedMessage, rawMessage
fallback	Each message attachment not recognized by messenger platform	formedMessage, rawMessage
payload	Any payload received (button or quick reply)	formedMessage, rawMessage
postback	Payload from button reveived	formedMessage, rawMessage
quick_reply	Payload from quick reply received	formedMessage, rawMessage
referral	Referral received from m.me link	formedMessage, rawMessage
change	Each change in received object (ex. new comment on page)	rawChange
comment	New comment created on page	formedChange, rawChange
post	New user post created on page	formedChange, rawChange
optin	Each message containing optin property	formedMessage, rawMessage
one_time_notif_req	Each message containing token for One Time Notification	formedMessage, rawMessage
message_read	Each request with information about message read	formedMessage, rawMessage
handover_thread_received	Chatbot received thread ownership for a user	formedMessage, rawMessage
handover_thread_taken	Thread ownership for a user has been taken away by another application	formedMessage, rawMessage
handover_thread_requested	Some app asks to take thread ownership for a user.	formedMessage, rawMessage
handover_roles_changed	Administrator of connected page changed Handover Protocol role of chatbot.	formedMessage, rawMessage
standby_message	Same as message but received on standby subscription channel	formedMessage, rawMessage
standby_message_read	Same as message_read but received on standby subscription channel	formedMessage, rawMessage
standby_location	Same as location but received on standby subscription channel	formedMessage, rawMessage
standby_image	Same as image but received on standby subscription channel	formedMessage, rawMessage
standby_video	Same as video but received on standby subscription channel	formedMessage, rawMessage
standby_audio	Same as audio but received on standby subscription channel	formedMessage, rawMessage
standby_file	Same as file but received on standby subscription channel	formedMessage, rawMessage
standby_fallback	Same as fallback but received on standby subscription channel	formedMessage, rawMessage
standby_postback	Same as postback but received on standby subscription channel	formedMessage, rawMessage
standby_quick_reply	Same as quick_reply but received on standby subscription channel	formedMessage, rawMessage
standby_payload	Same as payload but received on standby subscription channel	formedMessage, rawMessage
standby_text	Same as text but received on standby subscription channel	formedMessage, rawMessage
standby_echo	Same as echo but received on standby subscription channel	formedMessage, rawMessage

Formed Message vs Raw Message

As you probably noticed in table above,a lot of events have passed data named formedMessage and rawMessage. First object is object created by Powerbot Messenger library containing most useful informations like sender, type or content. It also contains reply (and handover, check Handover methods as reply for more information) object which allows you to reply to the message sender without passing recipient id. Second object is unmodified object received from Messenger Platform.

Replying to handover events

Handover events that with associated user id (handover_thread_*) are treated like messaging events. This means, that first parameter of event callback has reply and handover fields.

Usage example

For example, some app wants to take thread control to talk with user. You want to inform user about this and then pass thread control to this app:

bot.on('handover_thread_requested', async (ev, raw) => {
  try {
    await ev.reply.text('Some app wants to talk to you, passing thread control...')
    await ev.handover.passThreadControl('263902037430900')
  } catch(e) {
    console.error(e)
  }
})

Sender

pbm.send.METHOD()
// OR
message.reply.METHOD()

Each method last parameter is option parameter, which is object. In this object you can pass recipient_id and messaging_type. (Options object will be propably changed soon)

It's recommended to use sender with Powerbot Messenger helpers which allows you to create messeges in a clean way.

All examples below are presented as replying to message

Methods

text(message, options)

Sends text to client

await message.reply.text('Your message')

quickReplies(message, replies, options)

Sends quick replies to client.

let qrs = [
  new pbm.Helpers.QuickReply('text', 'Yes', 'ANSWER_YES')
  new pbm.Helpers.QuickReply('text', 'No', 'ANSWER_NO')
]
await message.reply.quickReplies('Your message', qrs)

buttons(text, buttons, options)

Sends buttons template to user

let buttons = [
  new pbm.Helpers.Button('postback', 'Some postback', 'POSTBACK')
  new pbm.Helpers.Button('web_url', 'Some link', 'http://example.com')
]
await message.reply.buttons('Your message', buttons)

attachment(type, url, options)

Sends attachment to user

await message.reply.attachment('image', 'https://example.com/assets/image.png')

generic(elements, options)

Sends generic template to user.

let buttons = [
    new pbm.Helpers.Button('postback', 'Button no.1', 'PAYLOAD'),
    new pbm.Helpers.Button('web_url', 'Button no.2', 'https://example.com/')
  ]

let card1 = {
  title: 'Card One',
  subtitle: 'Subtitle no. 1',
  image_url: 'https://example.com/images/1.png',
  buttons: buttons
}

let cards = [
  new pbm.Helpers.Generic(card1),
  new pbm.Helpers.Generic('Card Two', 'Subtitle no.2', 'https://example.com/images/2.png', buttons)

]
await message.reply.generic(cards)

media(element, options)

Sends media element to user

  const o = {
    buttons: [new pbm.Helpers.Button('web_url', 'URL', '<URL_ADDRESS>'), new pbm.Helpers.Button('postback', 'PAYLOAD', '<DEV_PAYLOAD>')],
    url: '<URL_TO_MEDIA>',
    media_type: 'image'
  }

  await message.reply.media(o)

oneTimeNotificationRequest (title, payload, options)

Sends One Time Notification request to user

  await message.reply.oneTimeNotificationRequest('Get notified when something happened...', 'MY_PAYLOAD')

Helpers

Using helpers is the easiest way to send desired message to facebook. Helpers are returning object for

Button

Actually, this helper supports following types of buttons:

• postback
• web_url
• phone_number
• element_share

new pbm.Helpers.Button(type, title, payload)

  let postback = new pbm.Helpers.Button('postback', 'Send Payload', 'PAYLOAD')
  let web_url = new pbm.Helpers.Button('web_url', 'Go', 'https://example.com/')
  let phone_number = new pbm.Helpers.Button('phone_number', 'Call Us', '+15105559999')
  let share = new pbm.Helpers.Button('element_share')
  let login = new pbm.Helpers.Button('account_link', 'https://example.com/auth')
  let logout = new pbm.Helpers.Button('account_unlink')

Generic Message

As first argument of generic message helper you can pass object or string.

new pbm.Helpers.Generic(title, subtitle, image_url, buttons, default_action)

let card1 = {
  title: 'Card One',
  subtitle: 'Subtitle no. 1',
  image_url: 'https://example.com/images/1.png',
  buttons: [...]
}

let cards = [
  new pbm.Helpers.Generic(card1),
  new pbm.Helpers.Generic('Card Two', 'Subtitle no.2', 'image_url', buttons)
]

Media Message

As first argument of media message helper you can pass object or string.

new pbm.Helpers.Media(type, url|attachemnt_id, buttons)

  const o = {
    buttons: [new pbm.Helpers.Button('web_url', 'URL', '<URL_ADDRESS>'), new pbm.Helpers.Button('postback', 'PAYLOAD', '<DEV_PAYLOAD>')],
    url: '<URL_TO_MEDIA>',
    media_type: 'image'
  }
    
  const m = new pbm.Helpers.Media(o) // Single media element, this is automatically wrapped in normal usage

Get Started Button

As argument you can pass own paylod, default payload is 'GET_STARTED'.

new pbm.Helpers.GetStartedButton(payload)

let get_started = new bot.Helpers.GetStartedButton('OWN_PAYLOAD')

Greeting

You can pass locale string as second argument, default locale string: default

new pbm.Helpers.Greeting(text, locale)

let greeting = new bot.Helpers.Greeting('Greeting text', 'zh_CN')

Quick Reply

new pbm.Helpers.QuickReply(type, title, payload, image_url)

let qr = new bot.Helpers.QuickReply('text', 'Start!', 'START')

User object

pbm.User(messenger_id) allows to perform some basic operations on specific user.

Get user data

You can fetch user data like first_name, gender, etc with .getData(...fields) method.

let data = awiat pbm.User(this.data.messenger_id).getData('first_name', 'last_name', 'id')

Attention! Remember that for some fields like gender you need special permissions from facebook, unless your request will fail with status code 400!

Send message

You can send message directly to messenger id using User's send object. The rules are the same as using send or reply object.

const user = pbm.User(message.sender_id)
await user.send.text('Hi!')

Manage user's thread with Handover Protocol

You can call handover methods for managing thread with User object:

const user = pbm.User(message.sender_id)

// Pass user's thread control to another app:
await user.handover.passThreadControl(123456789, 'optional metadata')

// Request user's thread control:
await user.handover.requestThreadControl('optional metadata')

// Take control over user's thread:
await user.handover.takeThreadControl('optional metadata')

Static elements

Powerbot Messenger allows you to easily set static elements of your bot, like Get Started Button, Greeting text or persistent menu.

pbm.send.setting(data)

This function allows you to send any object to graph apip /me/messenger_profile endpoint. To easily send basic elements to API use Helpers as shown below.

Greeting

let greeting = new bot.Helpers.Greeting('This is greeting text!')
await pbm.send.setting(greeting)

Get Started Button

let get_started = new bot.Helpers.GetStartedButton()
await pbm.send.setting(get_started)

Persistent Menu

Actually, Powerbot Messenger hasn't got any helper for menu, so you have to craft menu object on your own and then send it.

let menu = {
    persistent_menu: [{
        locale: "default",
        call_to_actions: [{
            title: "Options",
            type: "postback",
            payload: "OPTIONS"
        }]
    }]
}

await pbm.send.setting(menu)

Personas

Powerbot supports Personas API since version v1.1.0. Library can create and delete personas and utilize them with sender module.

Creating persona

  const personaId = await pbm.personas.create('Persona name', '<IMAGE_URL>')

Deleting persona

  await pbm.personas.delete('<IMAGE_URL>')

Using persona with reply method

    await message.reply.attachment('image', '<ATTACHMENT_URL|ATTACHMENT_ID>', { persona_id: '<PERSONA_ID>' })

Using persona with Frame class

    const message = new pbm.Message.Text('Text message created with Generator class')
    const framedMessage = new pbm.Frame(message, '1489852771114961', {
      persona_id: '<PERSONA_ID>'
    })
    await pbm.send.raw(framedMessage)

Natural typing

Powerbot Messenger by default sets timeout to your messages that contiant text and displays typing animation to client. This feature is turned on by default and can be configured vie config object passed to Powerbot Messenger instance.

Generator Module

Generator module was created to easily create messages for Broadcast API Creative Messages, but it can be also used to create advanced or unusual messages that are not covered by send methods and helpers. In brief, generator return message in facebook format which you can edit.

Generator module is accessible as Message object (pbm.Message)

Supported types

Text

pbm.Message.Text(text, options)

const message = new pbm.Message.Text('This is message created with generator module')

Quick Replies

pbm.Message.QuickReplies(text, replies, options)

const replies = [
  new pbm.Helpers.QuickReply('text', 'Super', 'PAYLOAD_1'),
  new pbm.Helpers.QuickReply('text', 'Ok', 'PAYLOAD_2')
]

const message = new pbm.Message.QuickReplies('This is message created with generator module', replies)

Buttons

pbm.Message.Buttons(text, buttons, quick_replies, options)

If quick_replies parameter is not an array it's interpreted as options object!

const buttons = [
  new pbm.Helpers.Button('postback', 'Button 1', 'PAYLOAD_1'),
  new pbm.Helpers.Button('postback', 'Button 2', 'PAYLOAD_2')
]

const message = new pbm.Message.QuickReplies('This is message created with generator module', buttons)

Generic

pbm.Message.Generic(elements, options)

const card = {
  title: 'Card',
  subtitle: 'Subtitle',
  image_url: 'https://example.com/images/1.png',
  buttons: [...]
}

const cards = [card, card, card]

const message = new pbm.Message.Generic(cards)

Media

pbm.Message.Media(element, options)

  const o = {
    buttons: [new pbm.Helpers.Button('web_url', 'URL', '<URL_ADDRESS>'), new pbm.Helpers.Button('postback', 'PAYLOAD', '<DEV_PAYLOAD>')],
    url: '<URL_TO_MEDIA>',
    media_type: 'image'
  }
    
  const m = new pbm.Helpers.Media(o) // Single media element, this is automatically wrapped in normal usage
  const message = new pbm.Message.Media(m) // Wrapped here

One Time Notification Request

pbm.Message.oneTimeNotificationRequest (title, payload, options)

  const message = new pbm.Message.oneTimeNotificationRequest('Get notified when something happened...', 'MY_PAYLOAD')

Frame class

pbm.Frame(message, recipient_id, options)

Above examples of supported messages shows how to use Generator module. Any generator returns only message body. It means that there isn's recipient object etc and message is compatible only with Broadcast API Creative Message (which is depracated now). If you want to send message from creator as reply to message you will have to use MessageFrame class, which is accessible as pbm.Frame

When message is in frame you can send it using pbm.send.raw() or message.reply.raw() (if reply object is available). This is exactly the same, because message in frame has already defined recipient id.

options

Option	Type	Description
messaging_type	String	Messaging type param, if desired other than 'RESPONSE'
tag	String	Message tag in case of messaging_type set to 'MESSAGE_TAG'

As options you can pass also string, which will be treated as tag. In that case, messaging_type will be automatically set to 'MESSAGE_TAG'.

Normal response

const message = new pbm.Message.Text('Text message created with Generator class')
const framedMessage = new pbm.Frame(message, '1489852771114961')
await pbm.send.raw(framedMessage)

Message tag

const message = new pbm.Message.Text('Text message created with Generator class')
const framedMessage = new pbm.Frame(message, '1489852771114961', {
  messaging_type: 'MESSAGE_TAG',
  tag: 'NON_PROMOTIONAL_SUBSCRIPTION'
})
await pbm.send.raw(framedMessage)

Message tag shorthand

const message = new pbm.Message.Text('Text message created with Generator class')
const framedMessage = new pbm.Frame(message, '1489852771114961', 'NON_PROMOTIONAL_SUBSCRIPTION')
await pbm.send.raw(framedMessage)

Handover Protocol

Powerbot handles requests to handover protocol API. Assume that message in all of the following examples is message object received in .on('text')

Pass Thread Control

pbm.handover.passControl(appId, userId, metadata)

await pbm.handover.passControl(123456789, message.sender_id)
// Or with metadata:
await pbm.handover.passControl(123456789, message.sender_id, 'some data here')

Take Thread Control

pbm.handover.takeControl(userId, metadata)

await pbm.handover.takeControl(message.sender_id)
// Or with metadata:
await pbm.handover.takeControl(message.sender_id, 'some data here')

Request Thread Control

pbm.handover.requestControl(userId, metadata)

await pbm.handover.requestControl(message.sender_id)
// Or with metadata:
await pbm.handover.requestControl(message.sender_id, 'some data here')

Secondary Receivers List

pbm.handover.getSecondaryReceivers(...fields)

const data = await pbm.handover.getSecondaryReceivers()
// Or with fileds:
const another = await pbm.handover.getSecondaryReceivers('id', 'name')

Thread Owner

pbm.handover.getOwner(userId)

const data = await pbm.handover.getOwner(message.sender_id)

Handover methods as reply

Listed below methods are available as reply to incoming messages (just like message.reply).

// Pass sender's thread control to another app:
await message.handover.passThreadControl(123456789, 'optional metadata')

// Request sender's thread control:
await message.handover.requestThreadControl('optional metadata')

// Take control over sender's thread:
await message.handover.takeThreadControl('optional metadata')

Important notice

In some cases handover reply object can be supplied without recipient_id. In such case above functions will throw Graph API Error.

Comments & Posts reactions

You can receive and reply to comments and posts created on your fanpage. Of corse you will need manage_pages permission and feed activated for your webhook.

Powerbot has 2 events to perform that actions - comment and post. Reply method of both supports all messages types available in Sender class.

Reply to comment

bot.on('comment', async comment => {
  await comment.reply.buttons('Comment message with buttons', [new pbMessenger.Helpers.Button('postback', 'Button title', '<PAYLOAD>')])
})

Reply to post

bot.on('post', async post => {
  await post.reply.buttons('post message with buttons', [new pbMessenger.Helpers.Button('postback', 'Button title', '<PAYLOAD>')])
})

Uploader module

Module for uploading attachments via Attachments API

Upload from URL

pbm.upload.fromUrl(type, url)

Sends attachment upload request and return uploaded attachment ID. Type param must be supported by Attachments API.

Examples

Echo bot full example

const Koa = require('koa')
const bodyParser = require('koa-bodyparser')
const PowerbotMessenger = require('@chatbots-pl/powerbot-messenger')

const pbm = new PowerbotMessenger({
  access_token: '<ACCESS_TOKEN>'
})
const app = new Koa()
const messengerWebhook = pbm.Server.init()

const bot = messengerWebhook.bot

bot.on('message', async (message) => {
  try {
    await message.reply.text(message.text)
  } catch (e) {
    console.error(e)
  }
})

app.use(bodyParser())
app.use(messengerWebhook.router.routes())

app.listen(3000)

License

This software is licensed under MIT License.