Weather Bot Meets Facebook Messenger!

Bot on Facebook Messenger

• Chatbot App ---- (Send & Receive API) --- Facebook Messenger ----> User Interface (phone,laptop, etc);

Process

1. Create a Facebook Page
2. Create a Facebook App
3. Add the Messenger Platform to the app
4. Code your chatbot / use as a service
5. Link your chatbot app to the Messenger platform using webhooks.
6. Test and Train
7. Submit for Review

Express Server

• Weather Bot (Server Instance) <------------> Facebook Messenger.
• The bot requires a server instance to interact with the facebook messenger.
• FBeamer - It is the interface being built for the Facebook Messenger platform.

Create a Facebook App

• Facebook App -> My Apps -> Create a New App.
• Product Dashboard - Messenger - setup.
  • Page Access Token
    • Token Generation -> Select a page - Authorise access.
    • Token is generated.
  • Verify Token (Register chatbot API on the Messenger platform)
    • webhooks are urls that accept get and post requests.
    • Verify Token Generation
      • In cmd
        • node
        • require('crypto').randomBytes(24).toString('hex')

FBeamer

• Register Webhooks
• Receive Messages from Messanger
• Send text Messages
• Send Image Messages

Registering Webhook b/w FB and Bot

• Messenger [Register Webhook] --Get ---(mode - 'subscribe', verifytoken, challenge) ---> Bot [Receiver/send challenge] --- challenge --> Messenger.
• The interaction between Messenger and Bot requires a webhook to be accessible over a HTTPS connection.
• Inorder to setup HTTPS service locally require NGROK.

Messenger --- (https://something.ngrok.io) -----ngrok----- (http://localhost:3000) -----[webhook]-----> chatbot (local nodejs app).

• Start the ngrok -> http 3000
• In the facebook developers app - setup the webhook.
  • Webhook - setup webhook
  • Paste the ngrok url in the Callback URL.
  • Verify Token - copy the created one.
  • Subscription Fields - messages.
  • verify -> main page - complete.
  • cmd -> nodemon - "webhook registered".