@tekpill/botframework-webchat-core v1.0.5

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Bot Framework Web Chat

This repository contains code for the Bot Framework Web Chat component. The Bot Framework Web Chat component is a highly-customizable web-based client for the Bot Framework V4 SDK. The Bot Framework SDK v4 enables developers to model conversation and build sophisticated bot applications.

This repo is part of the Microsoft Bot Framework - a comprehensive framework for building enterprise-grade conversational AI experiences.

Upgrading to 4.6.0

Starting from Web Chat 4.6.0, we requires React 16.8.6 or up.

Although we recommend that you upgrade your host app at your earliest convenience, we understand that host app may need some time before its React dependencies are updated, especially in regards to huge applications.

If your app is not ready for React 16.8.6 yet, you can follow this sample to dual-host React in your app.

Migrating from Web Chat v3 to v4

There are three possible paths that migration might take when migrating from v3 to v4. First, please compare your beginning scenario:

My current website integrates Web Chat using an <iframe> element obtained from Azure Bot Services. I want to upgrade to v4.

Starting from May 2019, we are rolling out v4 to websites that integrate Web Chat using <iframe> element. Please refer to the embed documentation for information on integrating Web Chat using <iframe>.

My website is integrated with Web Chat v3 and uses customization options provided by Web Chat, no customization at all, or very little of my own customization that was not available with Web Chat.

Please follow the implementation of sample 01.c.getting-started-migration to convert your webpage from v3 to v4 of Web Chat.

My website is integrated with a fork of Web Chat v3. I have implemented a lot of customization in my version of Web Chat, and I am concerned v4 is not compatible with my needs.

One of our team's favorite things about v4 of Web Chat is the ability to add customization without the need to fork Web Chat. Although this creates additional overhead for v3 users who forked Web Chat previously, we will do our best to support customers making the bump. Please use the following suggestions:

• Take a look at the implementation of sample 01.c.getting-started-migration. This is a great starting place to get Web Chat up and running.
• Next, please go through the samples list to compare your customization requirements to what Web Chat has already provided support for. These samples are made up of commonly asked-for features for Web Chat.
• If one or more of your features is not available in the samples, please look through our open and closed issues, Samples label, and the Migration Support label to search for sample requests and/or customization support for a feature you are looking for. Adding your comment to open issues will help the team prioritize requests that are in high demand, and we encourage participation in our community.
• If you did not find your feature in the list of open requests, please feel free to file your own request. Just like the item above, other customers adding comments to your open issue will help us prioritize which features are most commonly needed across Web Chat users.
• Finally, if you need your feature as soon as possible, we welcome pull requests to Web Chat. If you have the coding experience to implement the feature yourself, we would very much appreciate the additional support! Creating the feature yourself will mean that it is available for your use on Web Chat more quickly, and that other customers looking for the same or similar feature may utilize your contribution.
• Make sure to check out the rest of this README to learn more about v4.

How to use

For previous versions of Web Chat (v3), visit the Web Chat v3 branch.

First, create a bot using Azure Bot Service. Once the bot is created, you will need to obtain the bot's Web Chat secret in Azure Portal. Then use the secret to generate a token and pass it to your Web Chat.

Here is how how you can add Web Chat control to your website:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
   <body>
      <div id="webchat" role="main"></div>
      <script src="https://cdn.botframework.com/botframework-webchat/latest/webchat.js"></script>
      <script>
         window.WebChat.renderWebChat(
            {
               directLine: window.WebChat.createDirectLine({
                  token: 'YOUR_DIRECT_LINE_TOKEN'
               }),
               userID: 'YOUR_USER_ID',
               username: 'Web Chat User',
               locale: 'en-US',
               botAvatarInitials: 'WC',
               userAvatarInitials: 'WW'
            },
            document.getElementById('webchat')
         );
      </script>
   </body>
</html>

userID, username, locale, botAvatarInitials, and userAvatarInitials are all optional parameters to pass into the renderWebChat method. To learn more about Web Chat props, look at the Web Chat API Reference section of this README.

Integrate with JavaScript

Web Chat is designed to integrate with your existing website using JavaScript or React. Integrating with JavaScript will give you moderate styling and customizability.

You can use the full, typical webchat package that contains the most typically used features.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
   <body>
      <div id="webchat" role="main"></div>
      <script src="https://cdn.botframework.com/botframework-webchat/latest/webchat.js"></script>
      <script>
         window.WebChat.renderWebChat(
            {
               directLine: window.WebChat.createDirectLine({
                  token: 'YOUR_DIRECT_LINE_TOKEN'
               }),
               userID: 'YOUR_USER_ID'
            },
            document.getElementById('webchat')
         );
      </script>
   </body>
</html>

See the working sample of the full Web Chat bundle.

Integrate with React

For full customizability, you can use React to recompose components of Web Chat.

To install the production build from NPM, run npm install botframework-webchat.

import { DirectLine } from 'botframework-directlinejs';
import React from 'react';
import ReactWebChat from 'botframework-webchat';

export default class extends React.Component {
  constructor(props) {
    super(props);

    this.directLine = new DirectLine({ token: 'YOUR_DIRECT_LINE_TOKEN' });
  }

  render() {
    return (
      <ReactWebChat directLine={ this.directLine } userID='YOUR_USER_ID' />
      element
    );
  }
}

You can also run npm install botframework-webchat@master to install a development build that is synced with Web Chat's GitHub master branch.

See a working sample of Web Chat rendered via React.

Integrate with Cognitive Services Speech Services

You can use Cognitive Services Speech Services to add bi-directional speech functionality to Web Chat. Please refer to this article about using Cognitive Services Speech Services for details.

Customize Web Chat UI

Web Chat is designed to be customizable without forking the source code. The table below outlines what kind of customizations you can achieve when you are importing Web Chat in different ways. This list is not exhaustive.

See more about customizing Web Chat to learn more on customization.

Supported Activity Types on the Web Chat Client

Please refer to ACTIVITYTYPES.md for list of Web Chat supported activity types.

Speech changes in Web Chat 4.5

There is a breaking change on behavior expectations regarding speech and input hint in Web Chat. Please refer to this section on input hint behavior before 4.5.0 for details.

Samples list

Web Chat API Reference

There are several properties that you might pass into your Web Chat React Component (<ReactWebChat>) or the renderWebChat() method. Feel free to examine the source code starting with packages/component/src/Composer.js. Below is a short description of the available props.

Browser compatibility

Web Chat supports the latest 2 versions of modern browsers like Chrome, Edge, and FireFox. If you need Web Chat in Internet Explorer 11, please see the ES5 bundle demo.

Please note, however:

• Web Chat does not support Internet Explorer older than version 11
• Customization as shown in non-ES5 samples are not supported for Internet Explorer. Because IE11 is a non-modern browser, it does not support ES6, and many samples that use arrow functions and modern promises would need to be manually converted to ES5. If you are in need of heavy customization for your app, we strongly recommend developing your app for a modern browser like Google Chrome or Edge.
• Web Chat has no plan to support samples for IE11 (ES5).
  • For customers who wish to manually rewrite our other samples to work in IE11, we recommend looking into converting code from ES6+ to ES5 using polyfills and transpilers like babel.

How to connect client app to bot

Web Chat provides UI on top of the Direct Line Channel. There are two ways to connect to your bot through HTTP calls from the client: by sending the Bot secret or generating a token via the secret.

We strongly recommend using the token API instead of providing the app with your secret. To learn more about why, see the authentication documentation on the token API and client security.

For further reading, please see the following links:

• Using Web Chat with Azure Bot Services authentication

• Enhanced Direct Line authentication features

How to test with Web Chat's latest bits

Testing unreleased features is only available via MyGet packaging at this time.

If you want to test a feature or bug fix that has not yet been released, you will want to point your Web Chat package to Web Chat's daily feed, as opposed the official npmjs feed.

Currently, you may access Web Chat's dailies by subscribing to our MyGet feed. To do this, you will need to update the registry in your project. This change is reversible, and our directions include how to revert back to subscribing to the official release.

Subscribe to latest bits on myget.org

To do this you may add your packages and then change the registry of your project.

1. Add your project dependencies other than Web Chat.
2. In your project's root directory, create a .npmrc file
3. Add the following line to your file: registry=https://botbuilder.myget.org/F/botframework-webchat/npm/
4. Add Web Chat to your project dependencies npm i botframework-webchat --save
5. Note that in your package-lock.json, the registries pointed to are now MyGet. The Web Chat project has upstream source proxy enabled, which will redirect non-MyGet packages to npmjs.com.

Re-subscribe to official release on npmjs.com

Re-subscribing requires that you reset your registry.

1. Delete your .npmrc file
2. Delete your root package-lock.json
3. Remove your node_modules directory
4. Reinstall your packages with npm i
5. Note that in your package-lock.json, the registries are pointing to https://npmjs.com/ again.

Contributing

See our Contributing page for details on how to build the project and our repository guidelines for Pull Requests.

This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct. For more information see the Code of Conduct FAQ or contact opencode@microsoft.com with any additional questions or comments.

Reporting Security Issues

Security issues and bugs should be reported privately, via email, to the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) at secure@microsoft.com. You should receive a response within 24 hours. If for some reason you do not, please follow up via email to ensure we received your original message. Further information, including the MSRC PGP key, can be found in the Security TechCenter.

Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.