Controlling Web Chat using JavaScript
Controlling the Webchat Widget
This library is a toolkit that provides various tools (or functions) to interact with the Botpress Webchat.
window.botpressWebChat = {
init,
mergeConfig,
onEvent,
sendPayload,
sendEvent,
}
Initializing the Widget
This function initializes the webchat and connects it to your bot. You must do this before anything else.
window.botpressWebChat.init({
botId: '<botID>',
hostUrl: 'https://cdn.botpress.cloud/webchat/v1',
messagingUrl: 'https://messaging.botpress.cloud',
clientId: '<clientID>',
})
You can find information on the configuration parameters here.
Changing the Widget's Configuration
After initializing the widget, if you want to update it, send a configuration object for the changes you want. You don't need to re-include everything else.
window.botpressWebChat.mergeConfig({ showTimestamp: false })
You can find information on the configuration parameters here.
Send user data from your website to Botpress
You can send data from your website to the webchat using the init
function. Important : the mergeConfig
doesn't allow you to pass user data.
To send information, submit a flat (without nested objects) object to the userData
property.
window.botpressWebChat.init({
userData: {
name: 'Jack Black',
},
})
You can receive data from the webchat in Botpress by using Get User Data
Card in the flow. In the User ID field, add {{event.userId}}
.
Trigger Widget Actions
This function allows you to send a custom event to the chat. Think of it as sending a signal to the chat for it to do something specific.
// Show the chat
window.botpressWebChat.sendEvent({ type: 'show' })
// Hide the chat
window.botpressWebChat.sendEvent({ type: 'hide' })
// Toggle the chat
window.botpressWebChat.sendEvent({ type: 'toggle' })
// Toggle the bot info page
window.botpressWebChat.sendEvent({ type: 'toggleBotInfo' })
// Create a new conversation
window.botpressWebChat.sendEvent({ type: 'createConversation' })
// Load a conversation by ID
window.botpressWebChat.sendEvent({ type: 'loadConversation', conversationId: '6ffe8622-49fd-4de9-81e5-412ba2296913' })
To load a conversation, you must provide the conversation ID. You can get the conversation ID from the event payload of a MESSAGE.SENT
event.
Sending messages or instructions from your website
You can use the sendPayload
function to send a specific message (or instruction) to the chatbot. For sending instructions, please refer to Triggers.
window.botpressWebChat.sendPayload({ type: 'text', text: 'I am a message sent through code' })
You can see examples of all of the message types you can send to the chatbot here.
Listening to Widget Events
This function lets you listen for certain events happening in the chat and then do something when they happen. It's like setting up a watch for specific actions.
You can find the list of events here.
window.botpressWebChat.onEvent(
(event) => {
if (event.type === 'MESSAGE.RECEIVED') {
console.log('A new message was received!')
}
},
['MESSAGE.RECEIVED']
)
Next Steps
Updated 3 months ago