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08.suggested-actions

README.md

suggested actions sample

Bot Framework v4 suggested actions bot sample

This bot has been created using Microsoft Bot Framework, it shows how to use suggested actions. Suggested actions enable your bot to present buttons that the user can tap to provide input.

Prerequisites

  • Node.js version 10.14 or higher 
    # determine node version
node --version

To try this sample

  • Clone the repository 
    git clone https://github.com/Microsoft/botbuilder-samples.git
  • In a terminal, navigate to samples/javascript_nodejs/08.suggested-actions 
    cd samples/javascript_nodejs/08.suggested-actions
  • Install modules 
    npm install
  • Start the bot 
    npm start

Testing the bot using Bot Framework Emulator v4

Microsoft Bot Framework Emulator is a desktop application that allows bot developers to test and debug their bots on localhost or running remotely through a tunnel.

  • Install the Bot Framework Emulator version 4.2.0 or greater from here

Connect to the bot using Bot Framework Emulator v4

  • Launch Bot Framework Emulator
  • File -> Open Bot Configuration
  • Navigate to samples/javascript_nodejs/08.suggested-actions folder
  • Select suggested-actions.bot file

Suggested Actions

Suggested actions enable your bot to present buttons that the user can tap to provide input. Suggested actions appear close to the composer and enhance user experience. They enable the user to answer a question or make a selection with a simple tap of a button, rather than having to type a response with a keyboard.

Unlike buttons that appear within rich cards (which remain visible and accessible to the user even after being tapped), buttons that appear within the suggested actions pane will disappear after the user makes a selection. This prevents the user from tapping stale buttons within a conversation and simplifies bot development (since you will not need to account for that scenario).

Deploy this bot to Azure

Prerequisites

Provision a Bot with Azure Bot Service

After creating the bot and testing it locally, you can deploy it to Azure to make it accessible from anywhere. To deploy your bot to Azure:

# login to Azure
az login
# set you Azure subscription
az account set --subscription "<azure-subscription>"
# provision Azure Bot Services resources to host your bot
msbot clone services --name "<your_bot_name>" --code-dir "." --location westus --sdkLanguage "Node" --folder deploymentScripts/msbotClone --verbose

Publishing Changes to Azure Bot Service

As you make changes to your bot running locally, and want to deploy those change to Azure Bot Service, you can publish those change using either publish.cmd if you are on Windows or ./publish if you are on a non-Windows platform. The following is an example of publishing

# run the publish helper (non-Windows) to update Azure Bot Service.  Use publish.cmd if running on Windows
./publish

Getting Additional Help Deploying to Azure

To learn more about deploying a bot to Azure, see Deploy your bot to Azure for a complete list of deployment instructions.

Further reading