Masterclass for Developers Messenger Platform Sample Bot

This project is an example server built in Node. It is used in the Masterclass for Developers training curriculum and is based on the project originally posted here.

This version contains the following functionality:

• Webhook (specifically for Messenger Platform events)
• Send API
• Messenger Platform v1.1 features

You can learn more about the Messenger Platform here.

Getting Started

Get the code

git clone git@github.com:rodnolan/messenger-bot.git

Study the commit history

git log --oneline

Checkout a version of the code that represents a basic starting point

git checkout <commit hash of the 'first commit'>

Store that code in a branch so you can track your progress as you work through the lab exercises

git checkout -b <branch-name-holding-your-version-of-the-project>

At any time you can refer to the completed version of the application.

git log --oneline
git checkout <commit hash of the final commit>

If you prefer to work without git you can use these files:

the starter version of the project is here: https://rodnolan.github.io/posterific-static-images/bot-base.zip

the completed version of the bot application is here: https://rodnolan.github.io/posterific-static-images/bot-final.zip

Setup and start your server

Before starting the server, you must do some basic setup to prepare your server to run.

1. install all dependencies

npm install

or

yarn install

2. start your local server

npm start

Customize application settings to match your Facebook application

These steps are covered in more detail in the course manual but here's the quick reference:

1. edit the variables defined in config/default.json to match those associated with your own Facebook application. Descriptions of each parameter can be found in app.js.
2. restart your node server so that the latest values are read from config/default.json
3. start ngrok to expose your local server to the Messenger Platform

ngrok http 5000

This tool will allow you to run your server locally while enjoying the ability to develop and debug the code in your IDE. Don't forget to restart your node server every time you make changes to your code.

4. Configure your Facebook application's webhook subscription to connect to your bot server via your ngrok tunnel: https://abcd1234.ngrok.io/webhook.

5. Send a message to your bot using the Send Message button on your Facebook Page and ensure that the message is received by your bot.

   Use the ngrok Web Interface http://127.0.0.1:4040 to view requests to your ngrok url

Learn more about the Messenger Platform

All webhook code is in app.js. All requests from the Messenger Platform are routed to /webhook. This project handles callbacks for authentication, messages, delivery confirmation and postbacks. More details are available at the reference docs.