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https://github.com/omatt/messenger-chatbot

Facebook Messenger chat bot using Heroku + Firebase
https://github.com/omatt/messenger-chatbot

chatbot firebase javascript

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Facebook Messenger chat bot using Heroku + Firebase

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README 

        

---



**NOTE:**



This sample project uses Heroku's free-tier to host the chat bot. [Heroku's pricing change](https://blog.heroku.com/next-chapter) will be removing their free-tier and there are no plans to move this sample chat bot project to a paid-tier. While this project can still be used, the project will **no longer be actively maintained**.



---



# messenger-chatbot

A simple Facebook Messenger chat bot using Heroku + Firebase



![](https://github.com/omatt/messenger-chatbot/blob/master/res/heroku_firebase.png "Heroku + Firebase")



Q: Why not just use one or the other?



A: Hosting Messenger chatbot using Firebase Functions would require external invocations - which is currently only available on [Paid Plan](https://firebase.google.com/pricing/). See Functions > Outbound Networking. Also, I want to demonstrate Firebase Realtime Database using javascript.



Try [Magic X Ball](https://m.me/magicxball) Messenger Bot now.



![](https://github.com/omatt/messenger-chatbot/blob/master/res/sample_chat.PNG "is the weather good today?")



## Setup

1. Install [Heroku CLI](https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/heroku-cli). Create an account on [Heroku](https://www.heroku.com/) if you don't have one.

2. Install [nodejs](https://nodejs.org/en/download/). Open your terminal and make sure that you have the updated version. If you're having issues with your npm version, you may use nvm and follow this guide [here](https://github.com/creationix/nvm)



    ```

    sudo npm install -g npm 

    npm -v       // Check npm version

    ```

3. Create a folder for your project and create a initialize a new Node project.



    ```

    npm init

    ```

4. Install additional Node dependencies. Express is for the server, request is for sending out messages, and body-parser is to process messages.



    ```

    npm install express request body-parser --save

    ```

5. Follow steps on [Facebook docs](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform/guides/quick-start) for the setup of your Messenger chatbot and getting the required API Keys. 



6. You may use the index.js on this project as a base and fill the required API Keys for your app to work.



    ``` javascript

    const token = "FB_PAGE_ACCESS_TOKEN"

    ```

    Get the Page Access Token by following the Step 3 of the [docs](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform/guides/quick-start).



7. This app mimics a Magic 8 Ball. The bot will only accept answers when called as 'magic ball' or 'magicball'. An answer will be detected if the message from the user has a '?' at the end of the sentence.



    ``` javascript

    var engaged = false;  // set as false by default

    if (messageText) {

      // If we receive a text message, check to see if it matches a keyword

      // and send back an answer. Otherwise, ask the question again.

      if (messageText.toLowerCase().replace(/\s+/g, '')includes("magicball")){

        engaged = true; // Start accepting questions

        sendTextMessage(senderID, "Yes?");

      } else if (engaged && messageText.toLowerCase().includes("?")) {

        engaged = false;  // Once question is answered - set to false again

        sendAnswer(senderID);

      } else if (engaged){

        sendTextMessage(senderID, "Could you repeat your question again?");

      }

    } else if (messageAttachments) {

      sendTextMessage(senderID, "Message with attachment received");

    }

    ```



8. For Firebase, currently, we'll only be using Realtime Database to fetch data. Create an account on [Firebase](https://firebase.google.com/) if you don't have one.



9. For Realtime Datbase, you may follow the quickstart guide [here](https://firebase.google.com/docs/database/web/start). You can find your Realtime Database URL in the Database tab in the [Firebase console](https://console.firebase.google.com). It will be in the form of https://.firebaseio.com.



    ``` javascript

    /** Firebase **/

    var firebase = require("firebase");

    // Set the configuration for your app

    var firebaseConfig = {

      apiKey: "FIREBASE_API_KEY",  // Firebase Console > Project > Settings > Web API Key

      authDomain: ".firebaseapp.com",

      databaseURL: "https://.firebaseio.com",	// This chatbot only utilizes Firebase RTDB

      storageBucket: ".appspot.com"

    };

    firebase.initializeApp(firebaseConfig);

    // Get a reference to the database service

    var database = firebase.database();

    ```

    

10. Reading from Firebase Realtime Database. You may read the docs [here](https://firebase.google.com/docs/database/web/read-and-write#read_data_once).



    ``` javascript

    function sendAnswer(senderID){

      let listAnswers = [];

      database.ref('xball/answers').once('value').then(function(snapshot) {

        snapshot.forEach(function(childSnapshot) {

          var answer = {};	// initialize new object

          // key

          answer['answerType'] = childSnapshot.key;

          // childData

          answer['answerText'] = childSnapshot.val();

          listAnswers.push(answer);

          console.log("sendAnswer " + answer.answerType + " " + answer.answerText);

        });

        let min = Math.ceil(0), max = Math.floor(Object.keys(listAnswers).length);

        // Generate random num

        let randNum = Math.floor(Math.random() * (max - min + 1)) + min;

        console.log("sendAnswer [" + randNum + "] ");

        sendTextMessage(senderID, listAnswers[randNum].answerText);

      });

    }

    ```

    The data is based from the list of possible answers of a [Magic 8 Ball](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_8-Ball)

    

    ![](https://github.com/omatt/messenger-chatbot/blob/master/res/sample_db.png "Magic 8 Ball Answers")

    

11. Create a file named Procfile and copy the line below. This is so Heroku can know what file to run.



    ```

    web: node index.js

    ```

    

12. Commit all the code with Git then create a new Heroku instance and push the code to the cloud.

    

    ```

    git init

    git add .

    git commit --message "Initial commit"

    heroku create  // This will create a new project on Heroku, do this if you don't have a project for your chatbot yet.

    git push heroku master

    ```



13. Test your bot



14. Make your bot public! Try this bot now - [Magic X Ball](https://m.me/magicxball)

    * You may share your bot by sharing its link https://m.me/

    * If you haven't published your bot yet, it can only respond to registered Developers/Testers on your [Facebook App](https://developers.facebook.com/apps/APP_ID/roles/)

    * Publish your Facebook App (Messenger Bot) by following their guide [here](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform/product-overview/launch).



## Sources

This won't be possible without the sources from:

* Facebook Messenger Platform guide [link](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform/guides/quick-start)

* Firebase docs [link](https://firebase.google.com/docs/database/web/start)

* jw84/messenger-bot-tutorial [link](https://github.com/jw84/messenger-bot-tutorial)