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https://github.com/erikboesen/bot-tutorial-python

An example GroupMe bot written in Python and hosted on Heroku.
https://github.com/erikboesen/bot-tutorial-python

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An example GroupMe bot written in Python and hosted on Heroku.

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README 

        
# Sample GroupMe Python Bot

**Python** | [**JavaScript**](https://github.com/groupme/bot-tutorial-nodejs)



## Introduction



A simple GroupMe bot that reacts to messages sent within a group.



## Contents



  * [Quickly get our sample bot up and running in your groups](#deploy)

    * Deploy the code to heroku

    * Create a bot

    * Configure to your bot's credentials

  * [Make changes to the bot](#pull)

    * Pull the code down to your local machine

    * Configure the local environment variables to your bot's credentials



## Requirements:



  * GroupMe account

  * Heroku account

  * [Heroku CLI](https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/heroku-cli)



# Get your bot up and running



## Deploy to Heroku:



Be sure to log in to Heroku, using your Heroku credentials, then click the link below.



[![Deploy](https://www.herokucdn.com/deploy/button.png)](https://heroku.com/deploy)



You should be taken to a page that looks like this:



![Deploy to Heroku](http://i.groupme.com/837x662.png.36c63698644a4f61a9ff3d5af91caa5e)



Optionally, you can give your app a name, or instead leave it blank and let Heroku name it for you (you can change it later).



![Success](https://i.groupme.com/959x932.png.85e7959a8a9a41c6b20f5f6b50aceecb)



## Next, create a GroupMe Bot:



Go to:

https://dev.groupme.com/session/new



Use your GroupMe credentials to log into the developer site.



![Log into dev.groupme.com](https://i.groupme.com/640x292.png.38c9e590383149c1a01424fc61cdce4e)



Once you have successfully logged in, go to https://dev.groupme.com/bots/new



![Create your new bot](http://i.groupme.com/567x373.png.242d18352d7742858cf9a263f597c5d9)



Fill out the form to create your new bot:



  * Select the group where you want the bot to live

  * Give your bot a name

  * Paste in the URL of your newly deployed Heroku app

    * `http://your-app-name-here.herokuapp.com/`

  * (Optional) Give your bot an avatar by providing the URL of an image

  * Click submit!



## Find your Bot ID:



Go here to view all of your bots:

https://dev.groupme.com/bots



Click on the one you just created.



![Select your new bot](http://i.groupme.com/871x333.png.5a33ef2b6ab74ea59d5aaa5569aaaf23)



On your Bot's page, copy the Bot ID



![Copy your Bot ID](http://i.groupme.com/615x295.png.3256190e86ed4cd7ae6cf09899c1f9a8)



## Add your Bot ID to your Heroku app:



Go here to see all of your Heroku apps and select the one you just created before:



https://dashboard-next.heroku.com/apps



![Select your heroku app](http://i.groupme.com/920x722.png.46154d6b95f249539c594b129ddb7732)



On your app page, click settings in the top navigation:



![Go to your app's settings](http://i.groupme.com/722x127.png.27c0a2e83c524064bd41bb66df76d14c)



On your app's setting page, find the Config Vars section and click the Reveal Config Vars button:



![Reveal your environment variables](http://i.groupme.com/606x181.png.94d5157963bc419886e98e038e3195c3)



Then click edit:



![Edit your environment variables](http://i.groupme.com/796x212.png.b8979454fc4742c7bae688ac67262755)



Fill out the form to add an environment variable to your app:



  * In the "key" field type: BOT_ID

  * In the "value" field paste your Bot ID that you copied in the previous steps

  * Click the save button



![Add the Bot ID environment variable](http://i.groupme.com/784x148.png.5790498a7acd46b289aca2be43e9c84e)



## Now go test your bot!



Go to GroupMe and type "/ping" in the group where your bot lives to see it in action.



![Test your Bot](http://i.groupme.com/821x587.png.7bcf55bed1c64acab83fa2c2ad0b0862)



# Make it your own



## Pull the code to your local machine



Within terminal, change directory to the location where you would like the files to live, then run this command:



```sh

heroku git:clone -a YOUR_APP_NAME_HERE

```



And then change directory into the new folder



```sh

cd YOUR_APP_NAME_HERE

```



## Configure your local `BOT_ID` environment variable



You will need to set the `BOT_ID` environment variable so that your bot will know where to send its messages.



If you don't know what your Bot ID is, please refer back to [this](#get-bot-id) section, where it is explained how to retrieve it.



In your terminal, run

```sh

export BOT_ID=INSERT_YOUR_BOT_ID_HERE

```

You may wish to add this to a file that runs each time you start your shell, such as `~/.bashrc`.



For Heroku, run:

```sh

heroku config:set BOT_ID=INSERT_YOUR_BOT_ID_HERE

```



## Start the server



To test your bot locally, open terminal and install dependencies:



```sh

pip3 install -r requirements.txt

```



Then start a local server.



```sh

FLASK_APP=bot.py flask run

```

or use gunicorn to imitate the production Heroku environment:

```sh

gunicorn bot:app

```



Then navigate to `http://localhost:8000` in a browser.



![Local bot](http://i.groupme.com/502x133.png.f06c630467954f5dab4c742dc67b71bf)



## All done! Go play around and make the bot your own.