https://github.com/philnash/ruby-whatsapp-bots
A repo of WhatsApp bots built in Ruby
https://github.com/philnash/ruby-whatsapp-bots
ruby sinatra twilio twilio-api twilio-whatsapp whatsapp whatsapp-bot
Last synced: 4 months ago
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A repo of WhatsApp bots built in Ruby
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/philnash/ruby-whatsapp-bots
- Owner: philnash
- License: mit
- Created: 2020-02-17T00:35:07.000Z (over 5 years ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2023-04-12T05:53:43.000Z (over 2 years ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-03-27T17:47:04.809Z (7 months ago)
- Topics: ruby, sinatra, twilio, twilio-api, twilio-whatsapp, whatsapp, whatsapp-bot
- Language: Ruby
- Size: 30.3 KB
- Stars: 24
- Watchers: 3
- Forks: 8
- Open Issues: 3
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# WhatsApp Bots built in Ruby
This is a repo of WhatsApp bots built in Ruby using the [Twilio API for WhatsApp](https://www.twilio.com/docs/sms/whatsapp/api).
## Available bots
There is one bot so far:
* [Keyword bot](keywords/README.md): a Sinatra application that can return facts and pictures about dogs and cats based on the keywords you send to it
## How to build a bot
See the blog post [Build a WhatsApp chatbot with Ruby, Sinatra and Twilio](https://www.twilio.com/blog/whatsapp-chatbot-ruby-sinatra-twilio) to see how to get started with building bots.
## Running the bots
You will need the following to run the bots in this repo:
* [Ruby](https://www.ruby-lang.org/en/downloads/) and [Bundler](https://bundler.io/) installed
* [ngrok](https://ngrok.com/) so we can [expose our local webhook endpoints to the world in style](https://www.twilio.com/blog/2015/09/6-awesome-reasons-to-use-ngrok-when-testing-webhooks.html)
* A [WhatsApp account](https://www.whatsapp.com/)
* A Twilio account (if you don't have one, [sign up for a new Twilio account here and receive $10 credit when you upgrade](https://twil.io/philnash))
### Configure the Twilio sandbox for WhatsApp
* Head to the [_WhatsApp sandbox_ area of the Twilio console](https://www.twilio.com/console/sms/whatsapp/learn), or navigate from [the console](https://www.twilio.com/console/) to [_Programmable SMS_](https://www.twilio.com/console/sms) and then [WhatsApp](https://www.twilio.com/console/sms/whatsapp/learn)
* The page will have the WhatsApp sandbox number on it. Open your WhatsApp application and start a new message to that number
* The page also has the message you need to send, which is "join" plus two random words, like "join flagrant-pigeon". Send your message to the sandbox number
### Running an application
#### Download or clone the app
Clone the application to your machine with the following command:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/philnash/ruby-whatsapp-bots.git
cd ruby-whatsapp-bots
```
#### Install dependencies
Install the dependencies with bundler:
```bash
bundle install
```
#### Configure the environment
Copy the config example file:
```bash
cp config/env.yml.example config/env.yml
```
Get your Twilio auth token from your [Twilio console](https://www.twilio.com/console/) and add it to `config/env.yml`.
To use the location bot, [sign up for a free Dark Sky API key](https://darksky.net/dev/register) and add that to `config/env.yml`.
#### Run the app
Change into the directory of the bot you want to run. Then run the application with:
```bash
bundle exec rackup
```
#### ngrok
Run ngrok to tunnel through to localhost:9292:
```bash
ngrok http 9292
```
Take your ngrok URL and the path to your bot, `https://YOUR_NGROK_SUBDOMAIN.ngrok.io/bot` and enter it in the [WhatsApp sandbox admin](https://www.twilio.com/console/sms/whatsapp/sandbox) in the input marked "When a message comes in" and save the configuration.
Now _send your bot a message_ and wait for the response.
## License
These bots are licensed under the [MIT license](./LICENSE).